Product Comparison: Uniden Bearcat 880 vs Cobra 29 LX

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Uniden Bearcat 880 CB Radio

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Cobra 29 LX CB Radio with Instant Access Weather Stations

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General Specifications

Brand

Uniden

Cobra

Model

Bearcat 880

29 LX

Origin

China

USA

About the Product

The Bearcat 880 CB radio gives you the clearest reception, strongest transmissions and greatest range. It features a large, easy-to-read display and channel. The illuminated control panel is easy to use in all light conditions. It also has a noise cancelling microphone that cancels out background noise. This CB radio has 40 channel operation and dynamic squelch control and an extra long mic cord.

The 29 LX features a modern aesthetic design with a selectable LCD Dot Matrix display in red, green, blue or amber to compliment the interior of any cab. The display also has customizable night and day settings to enhance readability in both very bright and dark conditions. Based on the 29 LTD Classic platform with added features: A 4-color display where the user can program any one of four colors, radio check diagnostic to allow the operator to monitor the vehicles antenna system, the voltage system and the radio's RF output power.

Key Specs

Channels

Frequency Range From

26.965 MHz

Frequency Range To

27.405 MHz

Frequency Stability

0.001 %

0.005 %

Frequency Control

PLL Synthesizer

Modulation

Input Voltage

13.8 V DC

13.2 V DC

What customers say about "Key Specs"

Uniden Bearcat 880 CB Radio

I have this unit as a base station and have been very pleased for the past two years. I hooked an echo mic to it and have transmitted and received quite well.
Had to remove the headliner (lots of work FYI) to install the antenna then it was perfect. I am an amateur radio operator and had a CB a long time ago, will be nice to get back into the action.
Very useful radio. I use it while off-roading. The speaker is plenty loud for my needs. Aside from the standard CB fare, it looks sharp and you can set your own personal preferences (color, brightness, and so on). Pretty solid radio!
I installed this radio in my car and it works great with my antenna. No problems with the lighting or the extra gadgets. Everything has its draw back. When I turn my ventilation on, the radio picks a signal up but not that much of a problem for me.
I just have one bad note on the Uniden 880; it sounds a bit phony

Cobra 29 LX CB Radio with Instant Access Weather Stations

The reception is excellent, people say it sounds clear, and it pretty.
Works really well channel scan option is great the color changing display is really cool you can have it match any interior or color of your truck or close to it it works great with my astatic 636l microphone.
I paired it up with a Firestick Firefly and after tuning my antenna I got a 1.5 on channel 1 and 40. Which is as good as I could get it. Any higher and my channel 1 SWR would be too high.
It was so good that I had to order one for myself. 40 channels with scan are nice and radio is clear with a decent antenna. Have it hooked to a 25 watt pa speaker under the hood and does everything expected.
Okay so I just got this CB radio and opened it up and I find out my cb Mike button is pressed in and won't come out. So another words it's stuck in the talk position.

Size & Weight

Height

2.2 in.

2.49 in.

Width

6.3 in.

7.6 in.

Depth

6.3 in.

8.6 in.

Weight

2.2 lbs.

4.5 lbs.

Transmitter

Power Output (AM)

4 W

Frequency Response Min

300 Hz

Frequency Response Max

2500 Hz

3000 Hz

Frequency Tolerance

0.002 %

0.005 %

What customers say about "Transmitter"

Uniden Bearcat 880 CB Radio

It was rainy, sleet and snowy conditions here a few days ago, and I was still able to pick someone up 15 miles away like they were right next to me. And they heard me perfectly fine as well.
Great sound quality, both transmitted and received, easy to use, easy to read display, and nice bonus features such as the colors, weather, and scan. Highly recommend this unit
I can hear roughly 20 miles ahead of me while driving vs my old Convex at maybe 10 miles.
The speaker is nice and clear and can be turned quite loud if you have a noisy vehicle to mount it in.
Works great has a great distance. Great lights I would purchase again

Cobra 29 LX CB Radio with Instant Access Weather Stations

Ive had a few cb radios and the is by far one of the best ones ive had there are a lot of people that complain about the on off switch but if your carefull with it you wont have any problems. I like it and it transmitts like a champ I give it 5 stars for quality and use.
Transmits and receives from really far away. I also like the calibration features for the antenna.
The transmit and receive in all the cobra 29s are the same. the exception is all the other things each model has to offer. the key is you have to have the radio peaked and tuned to get any kind of perfomance out of any brand name.
The Radio itself seems nice, but the unit had a dead transmitter on arrival. I would like to add that I did NOT fry the transmitter on a bad antenna setup. Everything was connected properly, and all grounds/connections were tested with a multimeter.
I have had nothin but problems with this cb. Half of the time the people cant hear me... It just doesnt transmit, or the other half they are breakin up so bad

Receiver

Sensitivity for 10dB (AM)

0.5 µV

1 µV

Image Rejection

65 dB

80 dB

Audio Power Output

5 W

4 W

What customers say about "Receiver"

Uniden Bearcat 880 CB Radio

The scan feature worked well, and weather radio reception was good (have not tried the weather alert feature yet).
This is a good CB and it get's out there clear an loud, price is good for this, I would expect to pay more any where else for this radio.
However I am greatly pleased with the performance of it and do recommend the 880 to anyone.
Great sound quality and the diognostics are a great feature.
Would give this 5 stars except sensitivity is specified at only 0.5 millivolts. Uniden and Cobra make many CBs with 0.1 millivolt sensitivity, which may help with more volume in a noisy cab.

Cobra 29 LX CB Radio with Instant Access Weather Stations

Very happy with this purchase. Installed the CB in a Jeep Wrangler JKU with a Firestik attenna. I get a very strong signal receiving and transmitting.
Fantastic radio. Looks great in my truck. With no modification and a Wilson 1000 antenna I can transmit and receive at least 6 miles loud and clear, probably more depending on terrain.
My favorite feature is the built in receiving capabilities for the weather radio, as being a full out weather nerd, as well as a degreed meteorologist, and a storm chaser, this is just flat out cool!
What's to say. Set up with center loaded antenna. Transmits and receives well. Pretty clear. Loud.
Sound is weak so is receiver range. Pulled it out n replaced it with a $40.00 ,15 year old Uniden which has loud sound and better reception .

Features

Display

7-Color LCD Display

LSD Display & Signal Strength Meter

Controls

Volume Control knob, Squelch Knob, Talkback Button, MIC Gain Button, Weather Button, Day/Night Button, Channel Selector Knob, S/RF/CAL/SWR Button, CB/PA Button, MEM/SCAN Button, 9/19/NORM Button, NB Button, RF Power Control

On/Off Volume Control, Squelch Control, Dynamike Knob, Menu/Enter/Channel Selector, RF Gain Button, Delta Tune, Talkback Control, SWR Calibration, Dim/Escape Button, Channel 9/Channel 19 Button, Scan/Memory Scan Button, CB/WX Weather/PA Button, NB/ANL Button, S/RF SWR CAL Button

Weather Alert

Yes

Extras

PA/CB Switch, Noise Cancelling Microphone, Radio Diagnostics, Digital SRF / SWR Meter, Wireless Mic Compatible

Selectable 4-Color LCD Display, 10 Weather Channels, Weather Scan, Emergency Weather Alert, Memory Channels, Radio Check Diagnostic, Heavy-Duty Dynamic Microphone, Front Panel 4-Pin Microphone Connector, Switchable Automatic Noise Limiter & Noise Blanker, Adjustable Dynamike Boost

Weather Alert

What customers say about "Features"

Uniden Bearcat 880 CB Radio

The built in SWR meter is very accurate compared to my standalone. Every feature I could want comes in this radio and doesn't require the manual to figure out how to use them.
Reception is spotty in some more congested areas, such as around buildings, houses, power lines, and malls where I live, but that is to be expected. Once you can separate yourself (partly) from a bulk of that interference, the reception (thanks mostly to the antenna) is outstanding.
Anyway, with the radio, love the large digital display; very easy to read at a quick glance.
Weather channels are awesome. I travel all over the mid west for personal reasons (family and friends) and am very anxious to use out on the highway on one of those trips.
I bought the 880 Bearcat right when I came out and haven't had any problems with it. It's user friendly and the bigger screen is nice.

Cobra 29 LX CB Radio with Instant Access Weather Stations

This radio has everything a CBer could want in features. It even gave a "check antenna warning" when installing my antenna and the SWR was very high.
I really like the scan feature on the CB and weather frequencies. Cobra has been around a long time and still make a quality product.
A bonus is the 10 channel weather stations. I live in socal, so knowing what the weather is gonna decide to do is a plus! The microphone that it comes with is good quality for the price.
The biggest selling point was the fact the radio would turn on if a weather alert was transmitted in your area. The second day on the road we came out to the car after dinner to find the radio on and transmitting a weather alert.
The two outside knobs are really small in diameter. Someone with big fingers might not like them.
Display light stopped working 3 month after install. Now can't see info. Lasted just long enough to get outside of return and replace time.

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

2 year(s)

Certifications

FCC

Other Information

Manufacturer

Link

Manual

Download

MSRP

179.99 $