Tidradio TD-H8 Dual-Band Radio Review

This one, however, fits nicely with my index finger on the PTT button and my thumb on the rubber cover over the headphone and microphone jacks. I also like the solid feel of the radio, unlike a lot of less expensive radios that feel like a Fisher Price toy (showing my age). Like the H3, the Tidradio TD-H8 has nicely rounded edges but adds angles on the clip to provide less poking in your palm. This wasn’t much of a problem on the little H3, but could have been on the H8.

Since there is more room on the larger body of the Tidradio TD-H8, the buttons are larger, and this is a really nice thing for me. On the H3, they did a good job with the buttons, but they sure were small. These are bigger with more spacing between them to make them much easier for my oversized pokers to get to. They provide a good amount of resistance so you are not likely to accidentally press them, but not so much that you have a hard time using them, and they provide nice tactile and audible clicks when they are pressed.

The knob on top moves smoothly and has a positive click for power on/off. Some radios put up a guard that comes up vertically on the side of the volume knob to keep you from accidently changing the volume, and I like that idea. The Tidradio TD-H8 does not have one, instead they made the top deck protrude out a little on both sides giving protection not only to the knob on top, but the buttons and covers on the side. Interesting idea, i’ll see how well it works in the long term.

While the screen on the Tidradio TD-H8 is obviously larger than the one on the H3, what is displayed on the screen is exactly the same. Nice colors and a good layout, although I wish they had rearranged things so that the frequency was bigger and took up all that blank space to the right. I don’t really see that as a negative as it is still quite readable, primarily due to the clear font and the fact that it is bright white text on a black background. I just think it could be better.

The menu system on the Tidradio TD-H8 is exactly what you would expect on any inexpensive radio, a Baofeng style. I will say it is extremely responsive allowing me to rapidly press the arrows to move though the menu. They opted for a light blue text color to differentiate it from the standard text on the screen while maintaining excellent readability.

It is interesting that the H8 has a larger battery than the H3, and yet is still has the same 2500mAh rating. It only weighs about 5g more than the H3 and since it has a larger shell and bigger belt clip my guess is the cells in the two batteries are the same. An interesting note here is the Tidradio TD-H8 has a different clip than the H3, and I much prefer the one on the H3. The one on the H8 works fine, but it is the same design as a lot of Yaesu radios use and I have bent my fingernail back trying to unlatch those before.

Both the H8 and H3 have USB-C charging on the bottom of the battery. This probably allows for the battery to be slimmer but the down side is that you can’t really use the radio while it is charging as you can’t set the radio down on the desk. The Tidradio TD-H8, just like his little brother came with wall chargers and USB cables, but no drop-in charger. I have seen kits for these radios that do include the desktop charger though, so be sure to check for what you want before clicking the buy button.

Programming the Tidradio TD-H8 can be accomplished with CHIRP, but it also can use their programming app for iOS or Android called Odmaster. Since I have so many radios and like to keep all my saved data files on my computer, I prefer CHIRP. I have also used Odmaster, and it works quite well and also gives you the capability to program out in the field without having access to a computer, which some people will really like.

Performance:

Performance of the Tidradio TD-H8 is pretty good, with 5 watts on 2m and 4.2 watts on 70cm. This is a nice bump up from the H3 and compares well to other radios in this class.

The antenna that comes with the radio is not very good, which is pretty common. It is tuned for 2m, 70cm, and a little for where you would find police/fire/ems. SWR is pretty high across the spectrum and return loss is pretty low. I would replace the antenna like the Nagoya NA-777 or a Diamond SRJ77CA pretty quickly to get some extra range.

Looking at the spectrum analysis, the signal from the Tidradio TD-H8 is pretty good with a reasonably consistent and stable output, just a little less concentrated than I would like to see, but still quite good. Audio transmitted is clear with very little sibilance, maybe a touch on the “f” but still very clear.

Images:

Radio Specifics:

Test Images:

• 10W power output
• Bluetooth programming to iOS or Android devices
• CHIRP compatible
• 2500mAh battery
• 1.77″ color screen
• HiFi sound quality
• Easily updatable firmware
• NOAA weather channels
• Dual-band
• USB-C or desktop charger (kit dependent)

The kit I got included the Tidradio TD-H8, two batteries, a nice speaker/microphone, a wall charger, and a USB charging cable. There was no desktop drop-in charger, but that is offset by having two batteries and the speaker/microphone. Other kits have different options, so look around if you don’t find what you want in the kit.

Conclusions

Would I recommend the Tidradio TD-H8? Absolutely. It is a nice radio that performs well, with excellent items included in the kit for an extremely reasonable amount of money. I like the H3 too, but it is just too small for my hands. With this, you get a lot of the same great features of the H3 on steroids. When you couple the radio with their Odmaster Bluetooth programming software, you have a really nice combination.

Here are some reviews of the Tidradio TD-H8!