The Baofeng NA-K6 is the second radio in this design to be reviewed here and sports the same bright orange ring around the volume knob, the same square screen, and the same battery as the K68. In fact, if you squint your eyes a little, one could be forgiven for mistaking one radio for another. Are they the same? Let’s find out.
Holding the radio seems just like holding the K68, and I would be willing to bet good money that no one could tell the difference holding one over the other unless they felt the speaker grill on the front of the radio. It has that same odd feeling in my rather large hands that I just can’t quite put my finger on. For some odd reason it makes me grip the radio a little weird, causing my middle, ring, and pinky to come up on the front around the buttons. It isn’t bad, just odd.
The Baofeng NA-K6 is the second radio in this design to be reviewed here and sports the same bright orange ring around the volume knob, the same square screen, and the same battery as the K68. In fact, if you squint your eyes a little, one could be forgiven for mistaking one radio for another. Are they the same? Let’s find out.
Holding the radio seems just like holding the K68, and I would be willing to bet good money that no one could tell the difference holding one over the other unless they felt the speaker grill on the front of the radio. It has that same odd feeling in my rather large hands that I just can’t quite put my finger on. For some odd reason it makes me grip the radio a little weird, causing my middle, ring, and pinky to come up on the front around the buttons. It isn’t bad, just odd.
Just like the K68, the Baofeng NA-K6 has larger buttons than a UV-5R, which are closer together. Even with the reduced space between them, they seem easier to use and less likely for me to accidentally hit the wrong one. They are, however, a little less “crisp” when pressed, which is notable but doesn’t affect the use of the radio.
I was going to say that the PTT was just like the K68 too, but that isn’t true, it is worse. As long as you press the button right in the middle, it works fine, but move your finger a little up, or a little down, and pressing it does nothing. If you are dead on accurate all the time, this is not an issue, I am not.
Looking at the top deck, you have the same large round knob as on the K68 with the same hard orange ring. The knob works fine, but I would really think a slightly soft orange ring would be a lot nicer. Also, like it’s cousin, there is a shield on the side of the radio to keep you from accidental volume adjustments. This has always been one of my favorite features on any radio.
As far as the screen goes, the new backlight is nice, the use of the screen is pretty well laid out, and it is easy to read. It does not have as much contrast as a typical UV-5R which is unfortunate, but the extra room makes the layout, particularlly in the menu, much nicer.
Speaking of the screen, the Baofeng NA-K6 has the same 1.77″ monochrome screen with a soft pale blue backlight that can be reversed using the Reflex setting in the menu. I am not sure that is an improvement, but it is there none the less.
The menu is a typical Baofeng style menu with a little better layout that uses more of the screen. The menu item is shown on top, a line, and then the setting for that menu item below it. Since everything is a little bigger it is pretty easy to quickly scroll through the menu to get to what you want.
–Find out what battery fits the Baofeng NA-K6 with our battery finder tool–
The Baofeng NA-K6 is just as easy (or difficult, depending on how you see it) to program from the front panel as any other Boofeng radio. Using a standard Baofeng programming cable and CHIRP with the Baofeng K6 settings worked well for me. I get the feeling you could copy the same configuration from your K68 to this radio without any trouble at all.
Performance:
Antenna tests reveal that the antenna for this Baofeng NA-K6 is just as horrible as the K68, with virtually no performance on 2m or 1.25m. It is reasonably good at 70cm, so if that is your primary band you might be fine with it. If you use 2m or 1.25m get a coat hanger, it will perform better.
Output power is worse than it’s brother which surprised me, and the spectrum analysis shows a little more concentration of signal, but it is a little less consistent. Transmitted audio is a little brighter than the K68 with a little more sibilance, but still more than clear enough for most people.
Spurious emissions testing shows about the same problems on 2m as the K68 with the Baofeng NA-K6 having three harmonic spikes over -60dBm. 70cm is better than 2m, but worse than the K68 with about three spikes over -60dBm with kind of a mess at the transmitted frequency.
Images:
Radio Specifics:
| Screen readability | Good | |
| In-hand feel | Odd – Good | |
| Included antenna | Poor | |
| Construction quality | Good | |
| Belt clip | Good | |
| Programmability | Very Good | |
| Transmit audio | CLICK TO LISTEN | |
| Frequency accuracy | 145.000 @ 145.000 | |
| Maximum power output 2m/70cm | 3 watts / 1.9 watts | |
| Actual weight | 295 | |
| Battery advertised mAh | 2600mAh | |
| Battery tested mAh | 2060mAh | |
| Receiver sensitivity | 132.0/133.0 dBm | |
| Screen brightness | 30.3lux | |
| Max audio level | 86.4dB | |
| Radio manual | CLICK TO DOWNLOAD | |
| Programming software | CLICK TO DOWNLOAD | |
| Performance score | B | |
| Value score | A | |
| Ergonomics score | C |
Test Images:
If you are interested, click here for an article on how I test radios.
FEATURES:
- Tri-Band (2m, 1.25m, 70cm)
- 5W output
- NOAA/FM/Air RX
- 2600mAh battery
- USB-C charging
- CHIRP programmable
- 999 Memory channels
- Large 1.77″ monochrome screen
- Includes drop-in charger
| PROS: | CONS: |
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Like the K68, this includes both a USB-C charging cable and a desktop drop-in charger right in the box. This makes it nice when you are either at home, or traveling. As I said in my review of the K68, I wish all radios today came with both.
Conclusions
This is a better radio than the K68, but the differences are very minor. The receiver sensitivity is a little better, the transmitted audio is a little better, and the transmitted signal is a little better. Note my repeated use of the word “little”. If you were going to choose between the two, this one is just a tad better option, although both are poor choices considering the amazing radios out there like the Tidradio H3 and H8, as well as the Baofeng 5RM.
No, this is not that bad, but it isn’t that great either. You have better options for your money.
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