Baofeng UV-9S Plus Tri-Band Band Radio Review – The Best Ham Radio Articles, Tips & Reviews

The Baofeng UV-9S Tri-Band is a tri-band (2m/1.25m/70cm) radio that comes in standard black or this bright red version. Let’s see how it stacks up with other Baofeng offerings.

I was really looking forward to playing with the Baofeng UV-9S since my favorite cheap Chinese radio is its cousin, the UV-9R Plus. From looking at the description and specs, it looks a lot like this radio is very similar to that one with the addition of a third band.

The fact that the Baofeng UV-9S comes with two antennas was a little worrisome. My other tri-band radio, the Kenwood TH-D74, uses one antenna that works pretty well on all three bands so I wondered what was going on with this one.

What I discovered is that it seems they tried to make an antenna that does all three bands but for whatever reason, they failed miserably. Why do I say that? Look at the VNA chart below, you can clearly see it is a good antenna for both 2m and 70cm, but look closely at the VSWR portion at the 1.25m mark and you can see the drop. This just screams that they tried to make the antenna work on that third band, but it the result is only slightly better than a coathanger (showing my age there).

Sure, they give you an antenna that is better tuned at the 1.25m band in the box with the Baofeng UV-9S but that is a pain to remember to carry it with me, and then a pain to have to change it out.

I honestly do not really need or use 1.25m so let’s just ignore that and move on to other aspects of the Baofeng UV-9S such as the build quality.

One nice thing about many of the Baofeng radios such as the UV-9R and UV-5R is that they feel pretty solid, this is simply not the case with the Baofeng UV-9S. The plastics feel cheap, the buttons and knob on top, and particularly the belt clip all feel substantially inferior to other Baofeng radios. Even the cover over the headphone and mic jacks feels just cheap.

Speaking of feeling, some genius decided to put a charging jack on the batter of the Baofeng UV-9S right where your hand wraps around the radio and it has a sharp edge! Someone needs to fire this person. In-hand comfort is an important aspect of the radio for me and this one little “feature” just kills it for me. So far this is the only Baofeng radio I have seen do this.

My next problem with the Baofeng UV-9S is the battery. While it seems to work well, and it is a 2200mAh so it has plenty of power, the problem is that I have been unable to find replacements. This could be more of a problem with me as maybe I just haven’t found it yet, but while I certainly have found batteries for my other radios including the Baofeng UV-5R, 5RS, 9R, 6R, UV-82, and others, I have not seen one for the UV-9S anywhere. I guess you could just but another radio and use its battery but that seems a bit much when I can easily find batteries for my UV-9R for $14.

Photos

Baofeng UV-9S Test Results:

Screen readability	Very Good
In-hand feel	OK
Included antenna	Very Good
Construction quality	OK
Belt clip	OK
Programmability	Very Good
Transmit audio	CLICK TO LISTEN
Maximum power output (2m/70cm)	4.1 watts / 2 watts
Size	250 * 59 * 41 mm
Actual weight	9.6 oz
Baofeng UV-9S manual	CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
Programming software	CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
Baofeng UV-9S Overall score

Baofeng UV-9S Tri-Band VNA Antenna Test – Click to enlarge

Baofeng UV-9S Tri-Band SRD spectrum analysis – Click to enlarge

If you are interested, click here for an article on how I test radios.

FEATURES:
Frequency Range: VHF/UHF136-174Mhz&220-225Mhz&400-520Mhz Dual-Band Display, Tri Freq. Display, Dual-Standby Output Power: 5Watts 128 Channels Built-in VOX Function 1750Hz Brust Tone FM Radio (65.0MHz-108.0MHz) LED Flashlight Large LCD Display Hight /Low RF Power Switchable 25KHz/12.5KHz Switchable Emergency Alert Low Battery Alert Battery Saver Time-out Timer Keypad Lock Monitor Channel ROGER SET
PROS:	CONS:
Good screen Uses CHIRP programming software Has three bands The red color is nice	Poor performance on 1.25m Terrible in-hand feel Cheap build quality

Conclusions

The Baofeng UV-9S is a hard sell for me. The transmit audio quality is nice, and the frequency accuracy is above average but the cheap feel, clunky addition of a third band, and horrible feel in my hand makes it a radio that never leaves its box. I just don’t want to carry it. I feel like it was a rushed makeover of their excellent UV-9R.

Overall I will just have to recommend people pass on the Baofeng UV-9S unless you just have to have a red radio that works on 1.25m. There are better radios for the same or less money like the UV-9R which is about the best Baofeng radio for the money out there.