One of my favorite inexpensive radios is the Baofeng UV-9R Plus, is the Baofeng UV-9R Pro basically the same radio? That is what I wanted to find out so let’s take a deep dive into these two radios and see how they compare.
Ergonomics
I frequently seem to start my reviews with how a radio feels in the hand, and this UV-9R Plus and Pro comparison is no different. If the radio is a pain to use, or hard to hold on to, then the rest of the functionality may not matter. I am lucky enough that I have a large selection of radios to choose from when I grab one and head out the door, and that comfort in the hand is a huge factor in what I grab.
The size of the two radios appears to be almost exactly the same, at 64mm wide and 38mm(Plus) and 39mm(Pro) thick without the clip. Button placement is virtually identical on both radios, however the buttons on the UV-9R Pro stick out past the LCD screen by quite a bit causing some dragging issues when carrying the radio in a pocket or holster. This is not an issue on the UV-9R Plus as those same buttons are tucked well behind the LCD.
Speaking of buttons, the UV-9R Pro appears to use a single rubber keypad where when you press any key on the top row, you can watch the entire keypad move. This is not a problem functionally, but feels weird and does not make you think of high build quality. I also have a harder time feeling the difference between buttons which makes it harder for me to use the keypad when I am not looking at it. The keypad on the UV-9R Plus feels, and looks, much better. Not that it really matters, but I like the colors used on the Plus as in my opinion, it makes the radio look more “professional”.
While we are on the keypad used in the Baofeng UV-9R Plus and Pro, the backlight is substantially different. On the Plus, the backlight comes out of the designated areas on each button exactly how you expect, lighting up the numbers and letters perfectly. On the Pro you would think the backlight is even easier being one contiguous piece of rubber, but you would be mistaken. A large amount of white light spills out the space above the keypad, and then all around the top three buttons. When using the radio in the daylight, this is easy to dismiss, as it does not detract from the keys too much. When in the dark, however, I find it extremely distracting, almost like reading a book with a flashlight shining in your eyes across the top of the book.
In the image above you can clearly see a huge gap between the case and the top three numeric buttons (1, 2, and 3) on the Pro. You can also see larger gaps between the top row of buttons on the Pro than the Plus. This is in addition to the substantial amount of glow coming through the plastic of the case, particularly just to the left and right of the LCD.
One other question this brings to my mind is exactly how is the Pro supposed to be IP68 waterproof (submersion of greater than 1m) when I can clearly see the light bulbs around the buttons?
While you may think that since both the Baofeng UV-9R Plus and Pro are almost the exact same size and have the same button layout, that it would feel the same in the hand. It does, kinda.
The Pro is a fraction of an ounce heavier but the real difference is in the molding of the plastic. They feel almost the same, but the Pro just has a couple of sharp edges where I would not expect them (see above image). Initially I did not even really notice this, but after extensive using I kept wondering why I had never noted these edges on my Baofeng UV-9R Plus? Was it because I was holding it different? Maybe because I had not carried the Plus in a while? No, it was because those edges simply were not there on the Plus.
The last thing I want to discuss on the ergonomics of the Baofeng UV-9R Plus and Pro is the little guard on side of the volume knob. This seems pretty insignificant, but it isn’t. That little piece of plastic keeps me from accidentally changing volume, turning the radio on, or even turning the radio off as the radio brushes up against something. I can not tell you how many times with some of my radios I will brush it against my seatbelt, my jacket, or the edge of the couch and turn the volume down so low I never hear it, or so high that when a signal comes in my cats launch into orbit. I can’t believe this is missing from the Pro.
Programming & Functions
As we mentioned earlier, the radios have the same buttons in an almost identical layout. All of those buttons have identical functions from one radio to the next. Want to turn on the flashlight? Press the bottom button on the side under the PTT button, on either radio. Even the press and hold functions for the buttons are the same.
Both the Baofeng UV-9R Plus and Pro have the same 41 menu entries and when scrolling through them side-by-side, they appear identical. While I did not go into each one of those 41 menu items and check, the few I did check had the exact same options available for each menu item.
When programming in CHIRP, it only shows a UV-9R and a UV-9R Pro, no Plus version. Interestingly enough, both radios seemed to program fine in CHIRP next-20240901 using either profile, and both using the same cable. Although I have no idea why CHIRP has two different profiles, my suspicion is that the electronics in the two radios are either identical, or close enough to not matter.
Accessories
As far as I can tell, both the Baofeng UV-9R Plus and Pro use the exact same accessories. This includes the antenna, belt clip, battery, drop-in charger, and microphone. Two things about the accessories jumped out at me, the first of which was that the batteries were labeled differently and the second being the antennas were different.
The batteries for each radio were labeled with the radio model, and not the battery model. If you need a replacement for either radio, the correct battery number is a BL-9 and is available on Amazon. One thing I find very funny is that the battery on the Baofeng UV-9R Plus shows no mAh rating, which is not that unusual, but the Pro shows a mAh rating 12,800mAh. Why is that funny? Because that is the approximate amount of power of a group U1 car battery. The Baofeng branded BL-9 battery that actually works in both radios is an 1800mAh battery.
Note that some of the newer UV-9R Pro radios being sold online have an “upgraded battery” with a USB-C charging port in the rear of the battery. This battery is also sold on Amazon and claims to be 2800mAh with the same part number, BL-9. Be careful here, as many people have stated this battery will not fit certain radios that use a BL-9 battery, including the UV-9R Plus.
It is not at all unusual to see different antennas on different models of Baofeng radios, in fact, it is not unusual to see different antennas on the same exact model from different sellers. The difference in performance is usually negligible and probably is the result of current supply more than anything else.
Power & Audio
In a small, budget, handheld like the Baofeng UV-9R Plus or Pro the amount of power doesn’t usually make that much of a difference. Audio quality, both transmit and received, can. That being said, my Plus transmits almost twice the power (3.7 vs 1.6 watts) on 146.520MHz and just a tad less than the Pro (2.0 vs 2.5 watts) at 446.000MHz. Just by the numbers, this means you should get a bit more range in the 2-meter band with the Plus than the Pro.
I should point out here that these budget radios have a nasty habit of having poor quality control which often means that power output from two of the same radios, bought at the same time, made one right after another, can sometimes vary wildly in power output. Although repeating this test several times at different battery charges gave me similar results, I did not have a lot of each type of radio to compare.
The signal transmitted by the Baofeng UV-9R Pro is a little more accurate and a little more concentrated than the Plus as shown above. In a perfect world the red line would be slim and solid with perfectly straight sides, then the green surrounding it would be the same, a straight-sided narrow column. No radio is perfect but the closer you are to that ideal, the better your transmission as a general rule. I am not sure this small difference affects anything in the real world as they are extremely similar, but the difference is there.
The Baofeng UV-9R Pro audio (click the links to listen) is a little clearer than the Baofeng UV-9R Plus audio, which makes sense considering what we see above, but the volume of the transmission of the Plus is a little higher than the Pro too, which is also reflected in the spectrum above. This is being pretty subjective and may vary from one specific sample of a radio to another. In fact, if you were to turn the microphone gain down on the Plus you might wind up with pretty much the same audio quality between the two radios.
As far as received audio between the two different Baofeng UV-9R radios, I think the Plus has a slightly better sound although I admit I would be hard pressed to tell the difference in a blind test because they are extremely close. I suspect any difference I am hearing has more to do with the plastics used rather than any change in the speaker or electronics.
Conclusions
I suspect that the internals of the Baofeng UV-9R Plus and Pro are more alike than different. Having used both extensively, I can say I think the Plus is the better radio. It feels better in the hand, has a better looking and feeling keypad, better backlighting, and seems more likely to actually be waterproof. This might help explain why I often see the Plus selling for more than the Pro.
If I had to guess I would say the Pro is simply an effort to increase sales by taking the Plus and slapping some fancy new plastics on it. After all, I don’t see the Plus in colors other than black, while the Pro comes in several colors including black, yellow, green, red, and orange. The slight difference in transmit audio is probably either a different specification for tuning, or sample variance.
The bottom line, in my opinion, is just buy the Baofeng UV-9R Plus unless you absolutely have to have something other than black.
