Uniden BC355N Review
For beginners, the Uniden BC355N 800 MHz 300-channel Base Mobile Scanner is a great option loaded with all the essential features you need. It provides 300 channels, great range, service search, lockouts, and the Uniden signature Close Call Capture Technology. It’s reasonably priced and ideal for home or vehicle use.
When it comes to staying updated on community news, having a police scanner at hand is a useful tool to have. And as there are many brands and models of police scanners in the market, choosing the right one might be a bit of a challenge. With it, you can tune in to police, firefighters, marines, aircraft, CB, and other local agencies in order to keep yourself informed of all the goings-on in your area. The Uniden BC355N is portable and easy to use.
This Uniden BC355N review will walk you through everything you need to know before purchasing this scanner.
What’s in the box:
- 1 BC355N mobile scanner
- 1 suction cup antenna
- 1 telescoping antenna
- 1 mounting bracket with hardware
- 1 AC adapter
- 1 DC cigarette lighter adapter
- 1 DC hardwire adapter
- User Manual
Features
Design
Lightweight and compact, the Uniden BC355N is great for home and vehicle use. While it’s not a handheld device like the BC75XLT and Whistler WS1040, it’s small enough to be discreet, which is one of the things you want in a police scanner. In fact, it’s smaller than it looks in the pictures, which was honestly a pleasant surprise. The compact size of the BC355N makes it easy for you to carry around so you listen to your favorite channels whether you’re at home or on the road.
It has a pretty simple interface that’s fairly straightforward and not so intimidating for first-time users. The buttons are well-spaced and the operation is friendlier than other police scanners out there. The backlit display is also convenient to read especially in low-light conditions like when you’re driving at night. If you’re just starting to ease into using scanners, the BC355N is a great beginner-friendly option.
Channels
The Uniden BC355N has 300 channels, providing you with an extensive array of frequencies to listen to. Whether it’s police, ham radio, emergency services, CB, or other frequencies, you’ll have more than enough room for your preferred channels. This leaves you with just the need to learn the scanner codes in use among the police and other services.
Close Call RF Capture Technology
Close Call Capture is a unique Uniden feature that’s available in other models such as the Uniden BC125AT. Designed to “catch” close signals, you can set up the Close Call feature to give alerts whenever there are nearby transmissions. Basically, this technology tunes in to signals that are near you, so you’re updated whenever communications are happening in close proximity to where you are.
Service Search
The preprogrammed service search function also adds another level of convenience by making it easier to detect interesting active channels. This prioritizes police services, marine, emergency services, fire departments, CB, and aircraft bands. As such, the important channels are always there at the surface, ready for you at a moment’s notice.
Lockouts
If you find certain frequencies to have uninteresting transmissions, you can easily shut them out with the Uniden BC355N’s search lockout function. When you lock out a channel, the BC355N automatically skips over them to save you time from manually skipping.
Banks
You can program channels into banks with the Uniden BC355N. Banks are simply groups of frequencies that have similar transmissions. You can listen to police frequencies in one bank, aircraft frequencies on another, and so on. So if for instance, you only want to hear medical services frequencies, you can turn on this bank and turn off the others. If you frequently travel to different cities, you can listen to area-specific frequencies depending on where you are. For instance, if you’re in New York, you can opt to listen to New York transmissions only.
With these features, it’s safe to say that this Uniden BC355N review is definitely leaning in favor of the unit. It’s one of the police scanners that pack in convenience, portability, and functionality.
Nevertheless, here are the pros and cons of this product:
- Can store up to 300 channels, which is a major upgrade from older police scanner models that allow only 50 channels or less
- Preprogrammed service search function — prioritizes police, fire, aircraft, CB, emergency services, weather bands, and even marines
- Close Call RF Capture Technology that catches nearby transmissions
- Ideal for home use, car use, or both. It is compact and easy to transfer from your home to your vehicle and vice versa.
- Allows you to personalize your listening experience through the search lockout option that permits exclusion of uninteresting frequencies from future scanning
- Backlit display promotes readability even in low-light
- Reasonably priced
- Some customers say they find it hard to install and program
While the Uniden BC355N is still a far cry from advanced scanners, it’s still loaded with all the basic things you need a police scanner to do. Well-designed, compact in size, and packed with handy features, the Uniden BC355N keeps you updated on the happenings in your community even before they hit the news. If you’re after the local news and some extra programming management, the Uniden BC355N has you covered.
As with any mobile police scanner, one must do a bit of research to set it up. Especially if you’re a total beginner, you need to spend a couple of minutes familiarizing yourself with the device. There’s an owner’s manual included in the box, but you can always refer to blogs and video tutorials as well. Programming might also be manual during the first time, but once it’s set up, your Uniden BC355N will be ready for your personal needs.
Uniden BC355N Review Conclusion
Overall, the Uniden BC355N is a great police scanner for beginners who are looking for a simple yet feature-packed unit. It provides over 300 channels, Close Call capture technology, service search, and search lockouts. Definitely, the Uniden BC355N offers incredible performance at an affordable price.
Check more of our reviews of Uniden police scanners such as the sleek-looking and equally reliable BC365CRS.
William Johnson is the owner and founder of RatedRadarDetector.org. He writes about car accessories, with his passion stemming from a deep enthusiasm for all things automotive. His website, RRD, focuses on in-depth reviews of car accessories to help people find the best and latest products in the market.
