BAOFENG K5PLUS Tri-Band Ham Radio Long Range Walkie Talkies High Power Two-Way Radio with One Touch Frequency Finder Button, USB-C Charging, Color Large Screen Display, NOAA Weather, 999CH

K5+ reviewI like the look and feel. It's bigger and heavier than a UV-5R. All 3 side buttons have a click sound when pressed that I don't care much for but I can live with it. The PTT button feels cheap (thin plastic outer button that wiggles) but it's the switch underneath that counts as long as the button doesn't come off. The battery connection is in the middle of the back, rather than at the top as on UV-5R, but whether that is an improvement I'm not sure yet. The sticker on the back of the radio does say 10W. (Manufacturer is Pofung in Hong Kong.) The on/off and volume knob is good and tight and the orange marking on the side save me the trouble of marking it for volume level indication. The manual is written in better English than the older Baofengs were but some of the print is tiny. The English voice prompt is distorted or muffled and kind of hard to understand (but that distortion is not present on received signals). The mic/earphone port cover opens down not to the side so it will stick out a little when there is a cable attached.The FM radio does work. The scan button works as seek in FM broadcast mode. And the Air Band is scannable. Back in 2-way radio mode, the Reverse button toggles between 3 modes, normal, R=reverse (listen on normal TX and transmit on norma RX), and T=talkaround (TX and RX on normal RX freq.). Programming manually is easy if you're used to the other Baofengs. (Have not tried programming with software yet.)It did come with 2 antennas even though that's not mentioned in the product's whats-in-the-box description. One for 2m/70cm and one for 220MHz. The antenna for 2m/70cm, a short whip style, looks like a cheap knock off; the 220 one, more like a rubber duck style, looks better made. I don't normally use any of the short antennas as I don't expect good performance from them, but I will use the 220 one for now as I don't have any others for that.RX freq. in MHz: FM (broadcast) 87.5-108, AM (air band) 108-136, VHF 136-174, 220-260, UHF 350-390 (unknown use), 400-520.TX freq. in MHz: 144-148, 420-450 (America ver.) [no mention of 220]The display is good for the large numbers/letters (frequency or name) in white. The channel numbers on the right are a bit small and I need glasses for those. The writing in red, for example menu settings, is harder to read due to low contrast with the blue background. The red stuff is mostly invisible outside on a sunny day. The channel frequency/name can still be seen as long as the sun isn't directly on it. When the backlight goes off the display screen is completely dark as if the the radio isn't turned on. One good point is there is a menu setting that controls how long the backlight stays on (I set mine for 20 sec.).Transmit and receive capability will take some time to judge but I expect it to at least be comparable to a UV-5R. It did receive a distant repeater on a mountain using a good external antenna about as well as I'm used to.Overall, no glaring defects found; so far I'm pleased and would buy again. And I hope there will be some extra batteries available.

I have a Baofeng UV-5R and a UV-21R. The UV-5R was my first radio and it works. Nothing fancy, it works for $20. I got the UV-21R so I could charge the battery via usb c. Again, it works but kind of clunky to program manually. I got a TIDRadio BL1 Bluetooth programmer and those programming issues are alleviated. The screens on both those radio are terrible in daylight of any sort. Just plain hard to see.I saw this and figured for $25, what could possibly go wrong other than my wife realizing I bought yet another radio. HUGE improvement in the screen and features. I was able to program local frequencies and the reception appears to be better with the stock antenna. It’s triband so I can pick up aircraft channels at local airports, local fire and ems frequencies, local repeaters, etc. With the stock antenna and a clear view of the sky, I was recently able to pick up my local repeater on a peak from 25 miles away from home with a stock antenna. I was able to also pick up a repeater from a distant mountain peak about 35 miles away as the crow flies. Even using a tidradio TD805s antenna I was able to pick up a repeater 60 miles away with minor static when I was on a peak. A slim jim antenna will change things drastically, a Nagoya 771 will improve reception compared to the stock antenna. I can receive all gmrs frequencies without issue. Super impressed for under $30. Screen is a huge improvement and it can be charged via usb c on the go. Absolutely worth having and at that price, nearly disposable and far more useful than the blister pack gmrs radios sold at box stores for double this price.

I really like the Baofeng K5 plus. The out put power on 2Meter is almost ten watts, is over 5 watts on 70 CM and just about 5 watts on 1.25 meter band and the screen looks great. However the 2m/70CM antenna are put is so bad as opposed to 1.25 meter antenna which is very well tuned with 1.3 SWR. I use this radio on the 1.25 m band more than anything so I’m very pleased with that. This has been a really nice and useful Baofeng as opposed to other models.

Great radio, fantastic price!

I want my fellow amateur radio people to rejoice in all the competition we have in the radio world. Thirty years ago a tri-band radio of any sort would set you back $400. You had three choices pretty much, ICOM, Kenwood or Yaesu. Then came companies like Alinco. All had price points that were a impediment to entry into the world of amateur radio. In a world where things have doubled in price the last five years, it's great that radios keep getting more affordable.When Baofeng first came out, their radios were so inexpensive the instantly had a credibility problem. Then people realized there was a new price point for handheld radios. No, this new model five plus is not the best ever radio. But for the price of a mediocre bottle of wine you can send and receive on three bands, listen to the Air Band, listen to FM and have all the weather channels. You also get a separate antenna for 220, a separate VOX activated mic, a belt clip, strap and Lithium battery pack. You get a pretty good walkie talkie to boot. Did I mention the flashlight? I'm surprised it doesn't have an army knife coming out of the side.What do I think about the radio? It's just fine. Very sensitive on all bands. The meter on this thing pegs the needle for every transmission. Old timers would call it "hot" in terms of sensitivity.Color screen, lit up keyboard, you gotta be kidding. All these features for less than $30.For a HAM that's been away for about then years, all these new options are really fun. SDRs, FT8, GMRS, and an amazing amount of new ways to explore radio, so many things to stay entertained.One sad note, I wanted one of the earlier radios that had the "EIXT" button spelled wrong. Unfortunately, they fixed the error.No, the radio is not rated at any military spec, nor can you throw it into the pool. And you can download using CHIRP and a cable.