Review on 📻 BAOFENG UV-5X (UV-5G) GMRS Radio: Long Range, NOAA Alerts, Rechargeable, Chirp Support - 1 Pair by Bryce Marshall

First of all, my chargers overheated and melted. QC is not a strong point here. YMMV. Like all lithium-ion batteries, do not leave them unattended. Second is the UV-5X GMRS radio upgrade, which is itself an upgrade/frequency dependent version of the ubiquitous UV-5R, amateur radio. . YOU NEED AN AMATEUR LICENSE TO USE THIS MODEL. You need a license for that too, but the GMRS license is only $70 (soon to be $35), no exam. I see a lot of reviews from people who buy business and amateur radios for personal use who clearly don't understand that they are not allowed to work on these frequencies. Anyway, let's get to the point of the review. As already mentioned, this is an update of the UV-5R based Baofeng GMRS radio. The original didn't allow you to change channels or PL tones without a complicated hack, so communicating with someone who didn't have the same HT was useless. This has been fixed. The hardware is the same as the amateur version - cheap, tiny, lots of accessories, not the best build quality or sound quality. Great if you want to dive into GMRS, especially with repeaters, or want to use or borrow some spares. Despite reading numerous reviews of similar radios, I was very surprised at how small it is; it fits easily in the front pockets of your trousers. The battery suits this model and not only increases the talk/standby time but also gives it a bit more weight in the hand. Sound quality and TX/RX leaves a lot to be desired. The antenna can be replaced by unscrewing the small Allen key on the base and you'll probably want it. I believe this is a very cheap dual band helical antenna so your TX range is very limited. It would be nice to upgrade to a Nagoya, Diamond or Smiley antenna, especially on GMRS tuned models. In urban areas, I can meet repeaters within a few miles of me, but that's about the limit. HT-HT, this is a reasonable range and slightly better than most GMRS/FRS combo radios from more established brands. The speaker's sound is a bit tinny. The power rating is around 5 watts at high frequencies, but that's not a clean signal. The receiver doesn't have great noise cancellation either, but hey, it works. Their advantage is that they are very easy and flexible to program both from CHIRP and manually. Unlike the earlier version and the BTech GMRS-V1, you can program any memory channel of your choice on both the 2m and 70cm bands, but only transmit on standard GMRS channels. This means you can program the memory channels in any order - I put the "tactical" channel with PL tones in the first slot and removed the FRS 0.5W channels entirely. More importantly, you can program as many repeater channels as you like with different tones (and names) as long as you have a number in your area on the same frequencies but different access tones. Compared to GMRS-V1, it is half the price. (a pair for the price of one) and more flexible in programming. On the other hand, the V1 seems to be the more reliable HT, both in terms of construction and sound quality. I would give the benefit of UV-5G as input to GMRS as you will likely find less frustration with repeater programming. If you want to continue from there, it's worth exploring the Wouxun GMRS models, which have the world's best quality than the V1. All in all, not a bad radio, and they look a little cooler than your run-of-the-mill Midlands. Be careful with chargers.