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

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.

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 use this as one of my daily drivers on the ham bands almost every day. It is sturdy, has good output, about 4 watts on some channels, and speaker is better than some, hefty radio. It pairs well with 320A antenna to hit all the local repeaters. 440/220 good, 146 throws some spurs and so I keep it on low power for simplex only. This is kind of typical with Tri-banders but still should be filtered a little better. Battery life is very good and charges easily with USBC. Air band monitor is “decent” but not super duper because it’s fake AM. Dual receive is very useful and it can be turned off if undesired. OK FOUR STARS for the spurs on 2m other than that it’s a good solid set will take a few bumps and keep running.

Saw this on sale on AMAZON. Ordered two, one for me and one for a friend. We are still leaning the various abilities of this amazing radio. I did not have a radio that could get on 220. Now I have one. The radio comes with the usual Baofeng accessories, drop in charger, etc. This radio can also be charged with a USB C cable plugged directly into the battery. The kit comes with two antennas, one dual band VHF/UHF, one 220. I ordered a NAGOYA tri-band antenna for it so I could use 220 without changing antennas. The stock VHF/UHF antenna seemed to work fine. The only downer is the red lettering on black background for the menu. Also, you need to quickly change the on timer for the display, 5 seconds is too short. The radio has enough power to hit most of the in-town repeaters. We were able to work 220 simplex out to about a mile in a crowded commercial area, with one being in a car and the other inside a restaurant. Not bad. The radio seems better built than my older UV5R. The FM radio and flashlight are still there. Not a bad radio for the price. Couldn't find spare batteries listed, yet. I notice the UV5R accessories, speaker mike, antenna connections, etc., work on both rigs. The battery is bigger on the K5PLUS and the charger is different.