When it comes to choosing two-way portable radios for your business communications, digital is the way to go. Digital radios provide far better voice quality and coverage than analog.

With a two-way analog radio, your environment can severely hinder the quality of your communications. Signal interference on analog radios compromises voice quality for those on the receiving end of messages.

Digital radios come equipped with built-in noise reduction devices that enable crisper and sharper communication. This is especially important for operations-critical applications when clear communication between your business’s workgroups is a must.

There are many reasons to make the switch from analog to digital, but how do you know what digital radio is the best for your business?

In this article, we’ll compare two popular digital radios: the Motorola XPR 3500e and the Motorola XPR 3300e to help you determine which one makes the most sense for your business’s radio fleet.

Both the XPR 3300e and the XPR 3500e belong to the Motorola 300e series of radios. 

This series is designed with the everyday worker in mind. For those in industries such as hospitality, security, light manufacturing, education, recreation, and retail, transportation among others, Motorola 300e Series radios deliver clean, crisp audio at a cost-effective price point.

If you’re investing in radios for manufacturing, utilities, public safety, etc., you will likely want to invest in Motorola’s 700 series radios or more rugged radios such as the new MOTOTRBO R7.

But for the most cost-friendly option for the businesses mentioned above, radios in the Motorola 300e Series deliver loud and clear audio with a number of advanced features: integrated Wi-Fi, a longer battery life than analog radios, extended range, and much more.

The chart below gives you a side-by-side comparison of the XPR 3500e and the XPR 3300e from the Motorola 300e Series of Digital Two-Way Radios.

While both the XPR 3500e and the XPR 3330e have integrated Wi-Fi available for over the air programming, and both are digital-capable, two-way radios available in either UHF and VHF frequencies, they differ in two important ways.

The XPR 3500e has 128 programmable channels, while the XPR 3330e has 16 channels. This can be important depending on the size of your organization, and how many people will be communicating across your radio system.

Channels, as you might guess, allow you to select who can communicate with whom. In large organizations, certain channels need to be designated for particular users. For smaller businesses, you may not need as many channels. 

Most two-way business radios have between 1-32 channels. The XPR 3300e actually has a sufficient number of channels for most (if not all) businesses.  At 128 channels, the XPR 3500e can accommodate the communication needs of even the largest businesses. 

More channels means greater flexibility if you plan on operating on the Mototrbo radio system. More channels increases the number of talkgroups you can have for your teams.

The other key difference between these radios is that the XPR 3300e doesn’t have a keypad, while the XPR 3500e does. This can make a difference when it comes to programming your radio, but it’s mainly a matter of personal preference.

Truth be told, there is not a ton of difference between these two radios. Their similarities are reflected in their price: typically, the XPR 3300e costs about $60-$70 dollars less than the newer XPR 3500e. 

This is not a huge difference when you’re comparing professional-tier two-way digital radios. 

Some of the highlights of both radios:

• Superior Range: Both radios offer much greater range than analog radios, and even earlier Motorola 300e Series radios—an increase in range of between 5-8%.
• Durability: The XPR 3500e and XPR 3300e are both extremely durable. Less expensive, mid-tier business radios feature an IP54 rating. With their IP67 rating, these radios are completely dust-tight and submersible in water at a depth of 3 feet for 30 minutes.
• Wi-Fi: As we mentioned above, both radios are Wi-Fi compatible.
• Extended Battery Life: The battery life on the XPR 3500e and XPR 3300e is 29 hours on a single charge! These radios get you through first shift, second shift, third shift, and more than halfway through fourth shift, without needing to be recharged.

All radios in Motorola’s 300e Series help your work teams:

Stay Connected

The XPR 300e Series delivers crystal clear operations-critical voice communications. Integrated Wi-Fi means over-the-air software updates. On the XPR 3500e (another difference between the two models), the Channel Lock feature temporarily disables the channel knob to prevent you from inadvertently switching channels.

Enhance Safety

Radios in the XPR 3000e Series enhance the safety of your business. With Push-to-Talk (PTT), you receive rapid responses from your employees that cell phones and other devices simply can’t replicate. Both the XPR 3300e and XPR 3500e feature privacy options that protect your organization’s communications.

Improve Efficiency

With noise cancellation technology, and voice messages crisper and clearer than ever before, the XPR 3300e and XPR 3500e will enable your employees to communicate to maximize productivity. A battery life of greater than 24 hours means that your workers will never be stopped by a dead radio.

When it comes to commercial business radios, you really can’t go wrong with either the XPR 3300e or the XPR 3500e. Both represent the best Motorola has to offer in terms of everyday business radios.

When push comes to shove, the XPR 3300e and the XPR 3500e are quite similar in terms of what they offer businesses for their operations-critical communications’.

If you run a large organization, you may want to go with the XPR 3500e for your work teams simply because they have such a large channel capacity. You’ll need to obtain an FCC license for all the channels because they will be operating on different frequencies. 

But Amerizon Wireless is happy to help with FCC licensing for all the radios in your fleet.

If you’re more cost-conscious, you may want to consider purchasing the XPR 3300e for your business. At $70 less or so per radio, you’ll save money depending on how many radios you plan to purchase.

Further questions about the best commercial two-way radios for your business?

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