Motorola T42 Review: Talkabout Walkie Talkies on Batteries

This post contains affiliate links. Learn more

The Motorola T42 is a pair of small, bright red walkie talkies that run on ordinary AAA batteries. No charging cables, no base station, no app. You put batteries in, pick a channel, and talk. I’ve used the Motorola T42 at home and it’s exactly as described: small, light, easy to carry and easy to use, which is what you want from something that has to work the first time you grab it in the dark.

This Motorola T42 review covers what the radios do, why AAA power suits an emergency kit so well, what range to expect in real life, and where a twin pack earns its place in a UK household. It runs on the licence-free PMR446 band, so there’s no exam, no licence and no registration. Two radios, one channel, and the household can stay in touch when the phones and the power have both gone quiet.

What Is the Motorola T42 Walkie Talkie?

The Motorola T42 walkie talkie is part of Motorola’s Talkabout range of consumer two-way radios, sold as a twin pack. Motorola has been making two-way radios for a very long time, and the Motorola Talkabout T42 is the simplest, most affordable way into that range.

It works on PMR446, the licence-free radio band in the UK. There are 16 channels around 446MHz, and anyone can buy, own and use a PMR446 radio without a licence. You need one radio, and somebody else with another one. The twin pack takes care of that.

The feature list is short and sensible. An LCD screen shows the channel you’re on. Keypad lock stops the channel being knocked out of place in a pocket or bag. Channel monitoring lets you check a channel before you use it. Simple Sync matches the settings on the two radios so they’re ready to talk to each other. That’s it, and that’s the point: there’s nothing to learn before you can use it.

Why the Motorola T42 Runs on AAA Batteries

This is where the Motorola T42 earns its place in emergency kit. Each radio takes three AAA batteries, so six for the pair. There’s no charging cable to lose and no rechargeable battery that’s quietly gone flat since the last time anybody thought about it.

Rechargeable gadgets are brilliant for everyday use. Emergency kit is different, because it can sit in a drawer for a year before it’s needed, and on the day you need it the power may already be off. The T42 only needs a pack of AAA batteries, and most homes already have some in the kitchen drawer. Keep a spare pack with the radios and you’re sorted.

Motorola T42 battery life averages around 18 hours, and how far that stretches depends on how much you talk. Listening uses far less than transmitting, so a quiet evening on standby goes a long way. For long-term storage, keep the batteries in the same box as the radios rather than inside them, and put them in when you need them. Clarissa would also want you to write the date on the pack.

Motorola T42 Range: What to Expect

The Motorola T42 range is listed as up to 3km. That figure is for open ground with a clear line of sight between the two radios, and it’s achievable when the conditions are right.

At home I get around a mile of use out of mine. I live somewhere rural, with open fields around the house, which is about as good as UK conditions get. In a town, walls, buildings and trees take a bite out of that, but it’s still plenty for the jobs a household actually needs: house to garden, upstairs to downstairs, one end of the street to the other, or a neighbour a few doors down.

Here’s the important bit, and it saves people a lot of money. Every PMR446 radio sold in the UK works under the same legal limit: the same channels and the same maximum transmit power. That means range doesn’t really vary between brands. You can pay several times more for a PMR446 radio with a long list of extras, but it won’t reach any further than the T42. What decides your range is the landscape between the two radios, not the price tag.

Motorola T42 Size and Everyday Use

The Motorola T42 is small and light enough to sit in a coat pocket, a grab bag or the kitchen drawer without you noticing it’s there. It’s easy to hand to anyone in the house, including people who have never touched a radio before: turn it on, check it’s on the agreed channel, press the button and talk.

Both radios come in bright red. In emergency kit terms that’s a real advantage. A red radio is easy to spot on a worktop, in the bottom of a bag or in long grass, and you’ll find it again in poor light.

It’s rated IP21 and water repellent, so it’s happy being carried out to the garden or down the lane in light rain.

Using the Motorola T42 in a Power Cut

When the power goes, mobile signal often follows within a few hours, because phone masts run on their own batteries and those don’t last for ever. That’s when a pair of walkie talkies stops being a toy and starts being useful.

A T42 twin pack covers the everyday emergency jobs. One radio stays in the house while someone checks on an elderly neighbour. One goes out to the shed or the car while the other stays with whoever is minding the children. On a farm or a smallholding it keeps the house in touch with whoever is out in the fields, which is where that mile of range comes in. Agree a household channel in advance, write it down with the radios, and everyone knows where to find each other.

Because the T42 works with any other PMR446 radio on the same channel, it also fits alongside radios you already own, or a neighbour’s set if you agree a channel between you.

Who the Motorola T42 Is For

The Motorola T42 suits any household that has nothing in place for communications yet and wants a simple, affordable starting point. It’s ideal for families, for rural homes with outbuildings, for checking on neighbours, and for anyone who wants a pair of radios they can hand to the least technical person in the house.

If you already run PMR446 radios, remember that range is set by the law, not the model, so a more expensive PMR446 set won’t add distance. The next step up from there is a different type of radio altogether, such as CB or amateur radio, which our off-grid communications guide covers.

Our Verdict on the Motorola T42

The verdict from this Motorola T42 review is straightforward. It’s a small, light, simple pair of licence-free radios from a brand that knows radios, and it runs on batteries you can buy in any corner shop. In my own use the Motorola Talkabout T42 does exactly what it says, with around a mile of range across open fields. For a household emergency kit, it’s one of the easiest and best value upgrades you can make. To see what other buyers think, check the reviews on Amazon.

What the Rest of the Team Think

Meet The Team →

Pros and Cons

Pros

• The Motorola T42 runs on standard AAA batteries, so there’s nothing to charge and it works in a power cut
• Twin pack: both radios ready to use together straight away
• 16 licence-free PMR446 channels, with no licence or registration needed
• Small and light enough for a pocket, a grab bag or the kitchen drawer
• Simple to use, with an LCD screen, keypad lock, channel monitoring and Simple Sync
• Talks to any other PMR446 radio on the same channel
• Bright red, so it’s easy to find when you put it down

Cons

• Motorola T42 range depends on the landscape: open fields reach much further than a built-up street (true of every PMR446 radio)
• No built-in charging, so keep a spare pack of AAA batteries with the radios
• IP21 rated: fine in light rain, but not made for heavy downpours

Frequently Asked Questions