Battery capacity
The capacity of the radio battery, in other words, the amount of energy that the battery can store. It is standardly measured in ampere-hours: 1 Ah means that the battery, when fully charged, is capable of delivering a current of 1 A for 1 hour. In portable electronics, measurements are typically made in a thousandth of a milliamp hour (mAh).
In general, the higher the battery capacity, the longer the radio is able to work; however, this is true only under otherwise equal conditions. In fact, due to differences in the specs of individual models (range, transmitter power, etc.), their power consumption can also vary significantly, and even situations when a model with a smaller battery capacity of two walkie-talkies will have greater battery life can happen. This is especially noticeable when comparing compact models of "urban" ranges and powerful "long-range" radios that require a lot of energy. Therefore, for walkie-talkies, the battery capacity itself is rather an auxiliary parameter — the operating time in different modes provided by this battery is of decisive importance (see below).
Talk Time
The maximum operating time of the radio in talk mode — i.e. with continuous radio traffic and approximately equal distribution of time between work for reception and transmission. You should pay special attention to this parameter if you plan to communicate intensively. Note that when receiving, much less energy is consumed than when transmitting. And therefore, in fact, the time in the talk mode, even with continuous radio exchange, may differ from the claimed one both downward (with large volumes of transmissions) and upward (when working mainly for reception).
Water protection
Walkie-talkies with this feature have a special protected housing that prevents dust and moisture from getting inside and damaging sensitive electronic components. If you often have to be in adverse conditions, you should pay attention to such walkie-talkies. At the same time, note that the specific degree of protection in different models can vary markedly, and here it is most convenient to evaluate it by IP marking. This marking consists of the letters IP and two numbers; resistance to dust — the first digit, resistance to moisture is described by the second, last digit. You can find the following options for protection against moisture:
— 4. Protection against splashes from any direction. Thus, the walkie-talkie will be fine during rain of medium intensity, regardless of the strength of the wind
— 5. Protection against water jets from any direction. Allows walkie-talkie to endure a combination of strong wind with a downpour.
— 6. Protection against strong water jets and sea waves. It is considered the minimum level of protection that allows use near water.
— 7. The possibility of short-term (less than half an hour) immersion under water to a shallow depth (less than 1 m); continuous operation in immersed mode is not expected.
— 8. The highest level of water protection. Allows long-term (more than 30 minutes) immersion under water to a depth of 1 m or more, and even permanent work in a submerged position. However, note that specific restr...ictions on the use in such walkie-talkies may be different, they must be clarified according to the manuals.
Dust protection values are presented more modestly:
5 — dust resistance without full closure (a certain amount of dust can get inside, but it is small and does not affect the operation of the device)
6 — full protection (dust is not able to penetrate inside the case).
At the same time, there are situations when the manufacturer did not test the device for dust resistance, but limited itself to water protection. In this case, instead of the dust protection number, there is an X, for example IPX7.