Most people who ask us about push-to-talk over cellular start the same way: which radio is the best one?
There is no best PoC radio. There is a radio that suits how your people actually work, and probably different models for different applications within a business. A security guard walking a twelve-hour night shift, a truck driver on the Desert Road, and a duty manager who only needs to hear the channel occasionally are three completely different purchases.
Here’s how we work through it.
Start with the use case
The form of the radio needed is the first place to start. Is it an application that lends to a handheld? Purely a vehicle radio? Is a body cam needed as well? Decisions here for PoC will be very similar to traditional two way radio, so conventional wisdom applies here. The D5 body cam being a unique stand out, being a two-for-one device,
An extension of the use case is the user, specifically if it will be for pool use or allocated to an individual. Radios allocated to an individual could allow for different models used for different staff, uniquely suited to their needs. Alternatively, are they all to be charged in a multi rack for the next shift to grab one off the rack (look to the T65 or T60).
Does the user actually need a screen?
This is the question that can save money, and improve useful life.
A screen gives you contact lists, text messages, group selection and status. For a supervisor coordinating several teams, that’s genuinely useful. For a guard, a cleaner, an event crew member or a warehouse picker, it’s a thing to get confused by, a thing to change settings on by accident, and the most fragile part of the device. Durability wise, less that can break is a good thing.
The T65 has no screen at all. Turn the knob to the channel, press the button, talk. Training takes about thirty seconds and there is nothing to misconfigure. The T60 is the same radio with a small display added, for the people who need it.
We see a lot of fleets that should be mostly T65s with a handful of T60s for the people running the shift and instead have screens on every unit because nobody asked.
How long is the shift?
Simpler radios often have better battery life, its a real upside.
Battery capacity in mAh can be hard to decipher. Customers generally find battery life the most useful value here:
| Device | Battery life |
|---|---|
| T3 | 30 hours |
| GP700 | 24 hours |
| T65 | 18 hours |
| T60 | 15 hours |
| T350 | 14 hours |
| T650 | 12 hours |
| D5 | 10 hours PTT |
Two things to watch. First, the T3’s 30 hours means one charge comfortably covers a twelve-hour shift with the radio left on overnight, which in practice means you stop running a charging roster. Second, the T650 is a smartphone as well as a radio, and twelve hours assumes it’s being used as one; if your supervisors are on it all day, plan for a mid-shift charge.
The D5 is the one to read carefully. It does ten hours of push-to-talk, but only six hours of continuous video recording, because recording is the expensive part. Its even more battery draining if the supervisor is constantly streaming the live video feed (although a super handy feature!). If you need a camera running for a full shift, a hot-swap battery is worthwhile.
Where does it get used?
Ingress protection ratings are widely misunderstood, so plainly: IP54 means dust-protected and splash-resistant. It will survive rain and a dusty site. IP68 means sealed against dust entirely and submersible.
The T350, T60, T65 and M50 are IP54. That covers the large majority of commercial use — retail, hospitality, warehousing, property, transport, most security work.
The GP700 is the one to specify when the environment is genuinely hostile. IP68, MIL-STD-810G tested, rated for drops to 1.8 metres. If you’re putting a health and safety case in writing and need equipment specification to stand up to scrutiny, this is the device that does it.
The D5 is IP67 and the T650 is IP68 with corner protection. The T3 and the vehicle-mounted M80 carry no published rating, they aren’t expected to be used in environments likely to be dusty or wet. If sealing matters for your application, talk to us before you specify either.
Does someone need to be found, or seen?
Being heard is the general case that PoC and other two way radio solutions solve. Can I talk to my staff and can they reach out. Any model can help address this need. Combined with the PoC dispatcher, several models also have the ability to Environmental monitor, which is basically turning on the mic to listen to what the radio can hear. A handy function if the staff member isn’t able to communicate discretely or a situation is ongoing.
Being found is SOS alarm or lone worker safety. An SOS or alarm key on the radio, and on the GP700 and M50, man-down detection, lone worker monitoring and geo-fencing through the dispatcher. Man-down triggers automatically if the device stops moving or goes horizontal, the point being that a worker who has collapsed cannot press a button. If you have people working alone, this is the feature that matters.
Being seen is evidence and situational awareness. The T650, M80 and D5 all stream live video to a dispatcher. That’s a different purchase, driven by incident documentation, complaint resolution and remote supervision rather than by safety compliance.
Mobile radios
The M50 is a straightforward dash-mounted radio. It runs off 13–24 V, so it suits both car and truck electrical systems, it’s powered all day, and it’s dual SIM for crossing carrier boundaries on long routes. For most fleets this is the answer.
The M80 is a dispatch terminal rather than a radio: a seven-inch touchscreen, an RFID card reader for driver identification and attendance, and support for front and rear cameras with infrared night vision. You specify this when the vehicle is a workplace that needs managing, not just a place someone takes calls from. Passenger transport and logistics dispatch are where it earns its keep.
Body-worn evidence
The D5 is the newest addition to the range and the only device here that is a body camera first and a radio second. It records 2K video with dual cameras and infrared night vision, marks important recordings, watermarks footage with time, device serial, user and position, and uploads automatically over Wi-Fi when the wearer returns to base. It also does full push-to-talk over cellular, with a dedicated SOS key.
If you’ve been running body cameras and radios as two separate devices on two separate belts, this is the one to look at.
Not everyone needs a radio
Worth saying because it’s frequently the cheapest fix available: staff who only occasionally need to be on the channel don’t need hardware at all. The Press2Talk app puts them on the same talkgroups from the phone already in their pocket, individual, group and temporary group calls, call recording, video, and the dispatcher sees them alongside everyone else.
Managers, on-call staff, part-timers, anyone who needs to be reachable but isn’t on the floor: put them on the app and spend the hardware budget where it does something.
You don’t have to choose just one
This is the part that surprises people. Every device above runs on the same PTToC service, so they all talk to each other. A single organisation can run screenless T65s for the floor, a GP700 for the lone worker, M50s in the trucks, a D5 on the supervisor, and the app for management, one set of talkgroups, one dispatcher view, no gateway between them.
Pick per role, not per organisation. It’s almost always cheaper, and it’s always a better fit.
Where to start
We’ve put the full range on a single-page comparison sheet — every device side by side on battery life, sealing, SIM arrangement, safety features and applications. Download it, or call us on 0800 454 756 and tell us how your people work. We’ll tell you which three devices are worth looking at and why the other six aren’t.