The Baofeng UV-25 and UV-25 Pro are bit radios, as in really big. The only Baofeng radio I have ever worked with this big was the AR-152. Does that large size and huge antenna make for a better radio? Let’s find out!
The Yaesu FT3DR was Yaesu’s top-of-the-line handheld radio from 2019-2021 and broke new ground by having not only a beautiful, large, full color screen, and also that the screen was a touchscreen. Its predecessor from 2015, the FT2DR was also a touchscreen, but was monochrome.
This Abbree AR-730 comes just days after my review of the Abbree AR-518, which won the award for lowest scores every achieved in the history of my tests. Everyone can make a dud, so I am hoping for better from this radio. I have to admit, I am a little worried though as this one starts off advertising 6-bands just like the last one. I guess we will see.
Believe it or not, the Yaesu VX-8G was my first Yaesu radio, and my third ever handheld radio. I saved up some money and wanted to buy a really top-of-the-line radio to replace my Kenwood that was having problems. My new radio had to also have a bevy of the latest features and most capabilities of anything out in 2011. That’s a lot of pressure on a little radio.
The Kenwood TH-K20A came into my possession because I have always had a thing for Kenwood. Home stereo, car stereo, MINI-Disc recorders, and yes, ham radios. My first serious ham radio was a Kenwood TH-79, which I dearly loved. So when I saw a K20A for a reasonable amount, I grabbed it.
The Wouxun KG-UV6D V2 is a fairly popular dual-band radio from Wouxun that has been around a while. It shares the same basic layout and looks as the other Wouxun radios released around the same time. In fact, if you ignore the green button on the front labeled RPT, it is really hard to tell the UV6D and UV3D apart from a couple feet away. The question becomes, what is the difference, if any?
I have reviewed some Tidradio products before, so I got a Tidradio TD-H8 to see how their highest end (without going DMR) performed. They have some innovative products like their BL-1 wireless programmer that replaces the standard programming cable, so I was excited to see what the H8 could do.
The JJCC JC-8629 is another in a group of recent radios that all claim a large number of bands (in this case, 7), high-power output, a large battery, a full color screen and a bevy of other features, in this case Bluetooth and GPS. All this in a radio slightly bigger than a UV-5R and at a price between $60 and $90. Most fail to live up to the hype, and some fail spectacularly, like my recent review of the Abbree AR-518. Read it if you want a laugh.
Rarely do I get a chance to review a radio that claims to do as much as the Abbree AR-518. According to the ads it is a 6-band, 256 channel, LCD color (is that supposed to be color LCD?), police scanner and aviation radio with a 8800mAh battery. All for under $60.
The Baofeng UV-21 comes in three flavors, the standard UV-21, the UV-21R, and the UV-21 Pro. The only difference, I have found so far, is that the Pro comes with the new menu system and GPS. The rest of the radio appears identical, and in fact, sitting on my desk turned off, I can’t tell the difference.