If you are looking for a portable radio, then you may need to think about whether you want to pick up a CB radio or a walkie talkie. Both have their own pros and cons. On this page, we are going to look at a few different situations. We will compare the CB radio vs the Walkie Talkie, and tell you what the best is specific scenarios. This will help you to decide which option is the perfect one for you.
You need a huge range for your radio
A CB radio is able to offer a range of up to 20-miles.
A walkie talkie can give a range of 2-miles.
When you look at it like this, the CB radio is going to be an instant winner. Remember; that 2-mile quote for the walkie talkie is going to be for absolutely perfect conditions. In most cases (e.g. you are walking through the forest or there are buildings in the way) then you will find that the range will be much shorter. In fact, it is not uncommon to get a range of under a mile like this.
Good Audio Quality
In most cases, due to the way in which they work and the features they have included, a walkie talkie is probably going to give you far, far better audio quality. That being said, they do tend to have sub-par speakers built into them, so a lot of the quality of the audio will be lost when it comes out of the speaker. You may lose a lot of the audio quality if you pick up a cheap walkie talkie.
A CB radio will take a little bit of tinkering about with to get a decent audio. However, if you can do that, then the audio quality at 2-miles will be far superior to anything a walkie talkie will give you. However, we can’t stress enough that it will take some tinkering. A walkie talkie is just going to work right out of the box.
Private Conversations
A walkie talkie will win out here. If you want your conversations private, then a walkie talkie is as perfect as you can get without using a cell phone.
CB radio chatter takes place over 40 different channels. All of these channels are free to listen to for anybody in the immediate area who owns a CB radio. So, while you can have private conversations over CB radio, bear in mind that there is always a chance somebody else can be listening in on your conversations.
That being said, walkie talkies are not infallible. If somebody really wanted to listen to your private conversations on a walkie talkie connection,
You Want to Talk with More than People You Know
When you own a walkie talkie, you will (generally) only be able to talk with people who have paired their walkie talkie up with yours. It will often need to be the same brand too. Basically, your communication options are going to be fairly limited.
On the other hand, if you have a CB radio, you can talk with anybody who is tuned in to the same CB channel that you are.
You will find that truckers will often communicate via CB radio as it will provide them with instant access to other road users. Anybody driving through can be spoken to. No pairing up walkie talkies or anything like that.
Do remember that with a walkie talkie, you will often be limited by the number of people that can communicate at once. This number is going to be fairly low. You do not have any of these restrictions when you are on a CB radio. You can talk to as many people who are tuned into that CB station. This could be a decent number.
Portability
Walkie talkies are designed to be portable. It is right there in the name. If you go out and walk, then you can be sure that your walkie talkie is going to work. It doesn’t matter where you head because you will always be able to get a connection with the other walkie talkies that are within range.
Yes. There are some CB radios which are portable. However, they are not really designed to be as portable as a walkie talkie. They tend to be designed to be kept in fixed positions, often in a vehicle or on a desktop at home or place of business. If you shrink them down into a walkie talkie size, they lose a lot of their benefits.
Why is this? Well, it is because the antenna will instantly become shorter. This means that it is going to have a tougher time tuning into certain frequencies. A lot of the benefits of a CB radio come from being able to tune your antenna, and the ability to do that is lessened when you have a smaller device.
Obviously, CB radios are going to be far, far better if you want something that is portable when you are in your vehicle. If you have multiple vehicles talking to one another, it is unlikely that one will go out of range of the other. With a walkie talkie, if you are communicating, then it is easy to fall out of range. You lose your communication a lot easier.
Minimum Interference
Walkie talkies are quite prone to interference. They only operate on two frequencies, and the antenna is shorter. If you go somewhere with a lot of ‘blockages’, then you may not be able to connect with the other walkie talkie. You lose your communication options.
With a CB radio, you may still get some interference. It won’t happen as often as it would with a walkie talkie, but it can be there. If that happens, you can just switch to another channel without any hassle.
Conclusion
As you can see; both CB radios and walkie talkies have their own pros and cons. One option may be better than another in certain situations. For the most part, however, you are going to get more use out of a CB radio.
