Wirelessly posted (Opera/9.80 (BREW; Opera Mini/6.0.3/27.2354; U; en) Presto/2.8.119 320X240 LG VN530)
I believe the MR350R's are FRS/GMRS hybrids, with the capability to operate through repeaters on the GMRS pairs, hence the 'R' suffix.
They most likely put out not more than 2 watts on channels 1-7 and 15+, and are limited to 0.5 watts on channels 8-14.
Your range will vary greatly, based on how far away any repeaters are, how good of a receive antenna they have to hear you, local topography (flat? hilly?), type and amount of vegetation (lots of trees, especially evergreens, can absorb UHF radio waves), and how built up your area may be (buildings can cut your transmit & receive range).
35 miles is a very generous estimate in many areas.
The "R" suffix denotes that they are rechargeable. The R suffix has been used on several TalkAbout models that aren't repeater capable.
I have owned a pair of these a couple of years ago. These are waterproof and can withstand being submerged in water at 1 meter depth for 30 minutes, IIRC, if I've got the model number correct. If it's the waterproof model I'm thinking of (yellow in color) they worked great and actually are well made as far as bubble packs go. I figured they had to be reasonably well made to have the IP67 waterproof rating.
35 miles is a bit generous but technically not a lie since it can easily be done between two mountain tops 35 miles apart. As usual YMMV.
I've actually communicated on GMRS simplex with a 4W commercial handheld (which has Part 95 in addition to Part 90 type acceptance) to a bubble pack a little over 50 miles away. Some friends of mine were hiking up a mountain in NH and I was also hilltopping up in the White Mountains of NH on the same weekend. We were 50-60 miles apart but were able to communicate. I had no trouble hearing the bubble pack being used.
The antennas on the Moto TalkAbouts actually are pretty good and the receivers are pretty damn sensitive from what I've found from experience. I'm comparing the bubble pack's performance with some of my commercial radios while listening to weak signals from distant repeaters in my area. I should bring one of the bubble packs into my work QTH and do some receiver senstivity measurements. I would have to open up the radio and connect a coax directly to the antenna input instead of using the antenna. The receiver's performance overall behaves a lot like my Baofeng UV5R portable, suggesting the TalkAbout uses an SDR (Software Defined Radio) type design. The TalkAbout receivers are type accepted as having a "digital direct IF" and doesn't have a local oscillator like a conventional superhet receiver would have....another reason I suspect the TalkAbouts use an SDR at the heart of its design and why they appear to have very good sensitivity.
The Motorola TalkAbouts are designed and manufactured in China for Motorola by Giant International (
www.giantintl.com). Moto outsources their cheap radios as a purchase for resale deal but their higher end radios still are genuine Motorola.
EDIT: I just took a look on Giant International's website to refresh my memory. I was thinking of the MS350R yellow colored bubble packs that are waterproof and repeater capable. They are great radios and I've owned a pair of these. The OP asked about the MR350R radio and it's a different radio and not waterproof or repeater capable. The MR350R model makes the same 35 mile range claims as expected. YMMV.
Good luck.
