Very short version:
RF performance: Spectacular
Audio performance: Good
Ease of use: Better than most
Ergonomics: Needs improvement
Summary: Buy it! if you're an advanced user that wants best in class performance and doesn't mind the quirks that naturally come with a product like this.
Slightly longer version:
While I haven't nearly had time to truly test the MicroP25RX, the initial rf performance is hugely impressive. It easily bests my BCD436HP on weak signalmulticasts simulcast (thanks maus), and also with strong signal multicast simulcast distortion. It's able to easily pull in a remote site with the included antenna and no external filtering that I have to use base antennas, high end filters and a good pre-amp with my Airspy to reliably tune for SDR software to pick up. I can't rule out a this as a fluke (ducting, perfect conditions, etc) just yet, but it's massively impressive. I haven't needed to fiddle with gain, agc, pre-amp, anything.
The audio performance is good with caveats. There's a background noise during audio decode with the included headphones that is harsh. Using a set of nice over the ear cans dampens the sharpness a bit, but plugging in an external speaker makes it completely acceptable. Note this is different than the white noise from the "keep speaker awake" setting. Turning down the volume on the included ear buds also helps quite a bit. (It took an embarrassing amount of time to discover this, btw). Audio decode of P25 itself is impressively clear, very understandable. Definitely a step up from the BCD436HP and DSDPlus, I'd put it on par with OP25.
Putting my local systems on this was as easy as copying DSD .sites and .groups files to an sd card (I used my own, but you can also directly download from rr) and telling the MicroP25 to import them. Also, there are .csv files for zip code searching etc provided from BlueTail that are just copy and pasted. I was literally up and running in less than 5 minutes. Easiest setup I've ever done with a scanner or software.
The screen is awesome, responsive and easily legible. No lag on button pushes, etc. Boot time from plugging in to receiving audio for the whole system is roughly 4-5 seconds, which is a welcome surprise for anyone used to P25 capable scanners.
The weak points:
The included case: It makes pushing the button upwards a difficult process. The case design also results in removing the sd card turning into an annoying process in that is just easier to disassemble the thing just to get the card out. The case quality is pretty good, very sturdy. It is likely more sturdy than needed, with a fair amount of slack space that seems to be for the latching mechanism. There's definitely room for improvement here.
The cable attachment points are also a future point of failure. The cables are completely unsupported, which means a few tugs, drops or other mishaps is going to cause issues sooner rather than later, especially with the micro-usb connector. The good news here is repairability looks to be top notch, as long as you have basic smd skills. Even if you don't, the cpu board looks like a bog-standard Teensy 4.1, so with a few (30 some) through hole heats, you can replace the whole thing. Genius use of the Teensy, btw. I never would have thought to use it like this.
Another point of friction is the user interface. While it's miles ahead of typical scanners, there's still lots of room for ease of use improvements. Adjustments such as volume control, talkgroup following, and zone control are all in different modes. While I don't have anything against nested menus, the four-way button is annoyingly both difficult to finesse and overly sensitive at the same time. It's really easy to press the button while trying to move in a direction, and to move in a direction while trying to press the button. I think with a bit of practice and a few ui changes, this will cease to be a problem, though.
It feels like I'm being overly critical here. This thing is a small marvel, it's massively impressive on multiple levels. And that's without considering the price that seems so low it almost feels like stealing. There's a very solid foundation, good design choices, and so much potential. The negative issues all seem to be easily remedied, with most of them being very low hanging fruit. A well designed case that includes battery and speaker with reinforced antenna mount will make this thing near unstoppable. From my very rough and probably wrong calculations, a pair of high quality 18650 batteries should be good for 12 hours with a moderate speaker.
Conclusion: This is awesome. Even if it never gets a firmware or form factor update, it's very useable as it is. This may be best in class hardware. Todd, you should be proud of this product. I'll be buying another at some point in the near future.
Proof that I have it on-hand:
RF performance: Spectacular
Audio performance: Good
Ease of use: Better than most
Ergonomics: Needs improvement
Summary: Buy it! if you're an advanced user that wants best in class performance and doesn't mind the quirks that naturally come with a product like this.
Slightly longer version:
While I haven't nearly had time to truly test the MicroP25RX, the initial rf performance is hugely impressive. It easily bests my BCD436HP on weak signal
The audio performance is good with caveats. There's a background noise during audio decode with the included headphones that is harsh. Using a set of nice over the ear cans dampens the sharpness a bit, but plugging in an external speaker makes it completely acceptable. Note this is different than the white noise from the "keep speaker awake" setting. Turning down the volume on the included ear buds also helps quite a bit. (It took an embarrassing amount of time to discover this, btw). Audio decode of P25 itself is impressively clear, very understandable. Definitely a step up from the BCD436HP and DSDPlus, I'd put it on par with OP25.
Putting my local systems on this was as easy as copying DSD .sites and .groups files to an sd card (I used my own, but you can also directly download from rr) and telling the MicroP25 to import them. Also, there are .csv files for zip code searching etc provided from BlueTail that are just copy and pasted. I was literally up and running in less than 5 minutes. Easiest setup I've ever done with a scanner or software.
The screen is awesome, responsive and easily legible. No lag on button pushes, etc. Boot time from plugging in to receiving audio for the whole system is roughly 4-5 seconds, which is a welcome surprise for anyone used to P25 capable scanners.
The weak points:
The included case: It makes pushing the button upwards a difficult process. The case design also results in removing the sd card turning into an annoying process in that is just easier to disassemble the thing just to get the card out. The case quality is pretty good, very sturdy. It is likely more sturdy than needed, with a fair amount of slack space that seems to be for the latching mechanism. There's definitely room for improvement here.
The cable attachment points are also a future point of failure. The cables are completely unsupported, which means a few tugs, drops or other mishaps is going to cause issues sooner rather than later, especially with the micro-usb connector. The good news here is repairability looks to be top notch, as long as you have basic smd skills. Even if you don't, the cpu board looks like a bog-standard Teensy 4.1, so with a few (30 some) through hole heats, you can replace the whole thing. Genius use of the Teensy, btw. I never would have thought to use it like this.
Another point of friction is the user interface. While it's miles ahead of typical scanners, there's still lots of room for ease of use improvements. Adjustments such as volume control, talkgroup following, and zone control are all in different modes. While I don't have anything against nested menus, the four-way button is annoyingly both difficult to finesse and overly sensitive at the same time. It's really easy to press the button while trying to move in a direction, and to move in a direction while trying to press the button. I think with a bit of practice and a few ui changes, this will cease to be a problem, though.
It feels like I'm being overly critical here. This thing is a small marvel, it's massively impressive on multiple levels. And that's without considering the price that seems so low it almost feels like stealing. There's a very solid foundation, good design choices, and so much potential. The negative issues all seem to be easily remedied, with most of them being very low hanging fruit. A well designed case that includes battery and speaker with reinforced antenna mount will make this thing near unstoppable. From my very rough and probably wrong calculations, a pair of high quality 18650 batteries should be good for 12 hours with a moderate speaker.
Conclusion: This is awesome. Even if it never gets a firmware or form factor update, it's very useable as it is. This may be best in class hardware. Todd, you should be proud of this product. I'll be buying another at some point in the near future.
Proof that I have it on-hand:
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