Reviewed: Uniden XTRAK 80 PRO Ultimate Pack

Recently, I decided to upgrade the UHF comms in my FJ Cruiser, as I wasn’t happy with what was in there. Nor was I happy with the lack of a modern handheld UHF in my traveling kit. 

I rely on having reliable communication equipment in my vehicle, as the lead content creator for Unsealed 4×4. Slightly off-topic, but I feel having a handheld UHF is more beneficial for my style of driving. I can loan it to photographers while on shoots, I can help assist other people through tough spots and I can take it from vehicle to vehicle.

This is what made my decision to choose the Uniden XTRAK 80 Pro Ultimate Pack easy. It has everything I need in one box, including the correct length antenna whip for my four-wheel drive (it’s actually mounted on the rear door of my vehicle). And a powerful 5w handheld UHF which I use all the time. I like package deals like this, so decided to pull the pin and install the kit into my FJ Cruiser. 

Initial Impressions of the Uniden 80 Pro Ultimate Pack

Naturally, I’m not going to comment on the longevity of this gear, as it is early days. I’m confident it will last the distance, though. What I will say, is the Uniden XTRAK 80 is a huge improvement for my own personal touring setup.

It’s loud yet crisp and clear to receive information. It’s easy to use, just hold down the power button for 5 seconds and it fires up. However, there’s much more going on in terms of features if that’s your thing. Including one touch instant replay that allows you to record and replay up to six minutes of previous communications. You also have access to the XTRAK App, which allows you to location track on the radio through the app.

I’m also impressed with the range available. While I’m yet to measure this (I will), a trip to the Turon River last weekend proved to me that this is a serious unit. I was able to speak with other convoys that my old UHF would have had no chance of hearing. This is a powerful bit of kit, and I’m happy with this decision purely based on the boost in range and clarity of signals received.

Testing in the real world

This is a bit of a weird one, but it stuck with me. We had a very unique test recently, especially for the XTRAK 50 Pro 5W handheld UHF. We were tasked with shooting a video with a Mercedes Unimog as the star of the show. Now, if you’ve never driven a Mog before, basically they are loud inside. Really loud. Like, you can barely hear your passenger sitting next to you loud.

I loaned the driver of the Unimog my radio so he could be in constant communication with the rest of the crew. I was speaking to him with my in-car Uniden XTRAK 80 Pro which was receiving signal clearly as, which you’d expect. It is new after all, and expertly installed by yours truly… cough cough.

The main thing I took away from this experiment, is the Unimog driver could actually hear me. This XTRAK 50 Pro UHF handheld radio was capable of producing more than enough volume, clearly too.

Earlier in the day, he said he struggled to hear a phone call while parked with the engine running. The driver actually found me at the end of the day (12-hour shoot I might add) and commented that he was impressed with the performance of the unit. I was stoked, but really more impressed that someone remembered to return my radio without being asked… no way I’m losing this bad boy!

Uniden quotes up to 17km of range available from the handheld, and I’m confident we pushed that on this shoot while traveling through Western Sydney to the Blue Mountains on the highway.

Sadly, I can’t confirm how long the Uniden XTRAK 50 Pro will run as I didn’t charge it fully before use (I swear I’m a professional). Let’s just say it was switched on at 7am and turned off at 6pm with plenty of power in the tank still. Uniden quotes a standby time of up to 30 hours, which I believe. Solid battery life indeed.

So, is it worth the money?

This is definitely an investment, with the whole kit coming in at just under $1000. For my needs, having reliable communication gear is so important, I can’t tolerate poor performance. I rely on this every week producing content for Unsealed 4X4, as well as recreationally on weekends. I’m happy to spend money where it is required.

Everyone has different needs, so I’ll just say I personally have no regrets about installing the Uniden XTRAK 80 Pro Ultimate kit into the FJ Cruiser. Nor do I have any intentions of ever taking it out of the vehicle. And that’s a great feeling. I know I have the right product in my vehicle to suit what I need it to do.  

If you’d like to take a closer look, check out the Uniden website here: https://uniden.com.au/product/xtrak-80-pro-ultimate-pack/#1493714178990-db34738f-658e