Review on TYT MD-UV380: Ultimate Dual Band VHF UHF DMR Handheld Walkie Talkie by Jayshawn Cuatlayol

I have an FM version of this radio and have had it for several years now. It's not my favorite radio but it does the job and is excellent value for money. I recently had to purchase a dual band DMR/Analog radio and have looked at several models. Neither of them did as well, but I went with this one because it uses the same body, battery, and accessories as the older UHF-only model. Outwardly, however, they are physically identical. The new version of UV has some really cool new features. It has two receivers that allow you to view 2 different channels on the screen at the same time and then use the up and down buttons to switch between them. It took me a few minutes to figure out how it works because I kept getting "Not Programmed" on the second line. In the zone list in the software you have 2 windows to add channels. All your channels can be added to any window. If you do not fill the second window with channels, you will not be able to use the dual reception function. It also gives you the option to disable one of the screen feeds so it doesn't bother you. I haven't found a way to simply copy the contents of channel block 1 to channel block 2 yet. It would be better to be able to select different zones for each receiver instead of having 2 channel windows for each zone. Possibly in a future software update. While there's a bit of a learning curve in programming to take full advantage of dual recording, it's still very nice. more than 16 channels per zone, their knob is not very good. The UHF-only version had a 16-position channel knob. This one has an infinite grip, meaning it twists and turns. The problem is that it changes channel by channel one by one as you turn the knob. Whether you rotate it by one click or by 5, it still only advances one channel. Sometimes it even goes backwards. For example, if I want to change from channel 1 to channel 5, it becomes 2, 3, 2, 3, 4, 5. Even if you turn the knob clockwise, the hardware sometimes misinterprets the rotation. This also allows you to change channels at only about 1 channel per second. The volume control is also quite strange. I'd rather see up/down buttons instead of those edge buttons. I would say this is an "entry level" radio at best but has a lot of nice features for the price. These cheap Chinese radios have come a LONG way since I bought my first Puxing in 2009. From what has been said here I think this radio represents good value for money if you are not expecting anything close to Motorola quality.