Buy Baofeng 2013 Newest Dual Band VHF and UHF Walkie Talkie, 5-watt

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List Price: $59.99
Sale Price: $43.94
Today's Bonus: 27% Off

The UV-B5 not just another UV-5R variant housed in a different case. This radio is a completely new design focused on overcoming some of the many flaws inherent in the UV-5R. To begin with, the 'B5 feels more like a commercial radio and less like a toy. The front end on the UV-B5 is superior to the '5R. The squelch tail elimination feature for example is a great feature usually found only in more expensive commercial radios. The UV-B5 comes with a much better antenna than the one included with the '5R. Oh, and that silly LED flashlight option is gone replaced with a convenient knob to change channels.

I'm able to program the radio flawlessly with the latest version of CHIRP. The program still doesn't have an 'Advanced' settings tab but having the ability to program all the channels through software eliminates 99% of the work and allows me to easily share the .img file with others. CHIRP even includes some generic files that allow you to program your radio to be a Marine Band only HT or a FRS/GMRS only radio or a combination of both plus your own manually entered frequencies. For ease of interoperability, I programmed mine so that the first 22 channels are standard FRS/GMRS frequencies.

I recommend ordering the following accessories:

1. Programming cable

2. Spare battery (sadly, unlike the '5R, no 3800ma optional battery is available for this unit)

3. External speaker/mic

4. BNC adapter to use radio with a 1/4 ground plane mag mount antenna in the car

One final note: Don't expect this radio to have the same specs as a commercial HT or even a Japanese Ham-class dual bander. However, for what it is a sub $50, no-frills dual-bander, it's certainly a bargain.

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I've been an Amateur Radio Operator for many years, and have more radios than I'll ever need. But when I see these Baofeng radios for under $50, I can't help myself. I already own the popular Baofeng UV-5R, and the new UV-B5 is even better. The UV-B5 feels more like a quality radio than the UV-5R. Most of the features are similar. The UV-B5 has slightly less channels (99), but has a channel knob instead of the LED flashlight. Programming is a little easier, but like the UV-5R, you'll want to buy the optional programming cable. Using the software from Baofeng, you can also expand the UHF RX frequency range to 520MHZ. The latest daily builds of CHIRP also work, but not the advanced settings or programming above 470MHZ (as of June, 2013). The UV-B5's operating manual is light years better than the operating manual that comes with the UV-5R, and also has a much better antenna.

Performance wise, the UV-B5 is on par with my radios costing 3 times more. Transmit and receive are both excellent. Build quality is a step below the more expensive Japanese radios, and the scan speed is slower, but that should be expected from a dual-band radio costing under $50. Audio is excellent, and plenty loud from the small speaker. The 2000mAh battery lasts a long time. Unfortunately, the battery and charger are not compatible with the UV-5R. The programming cable is.

This is just a great, cheap, dual-band radio.

Pros:

Price!!

Very good audio on TX and RX.

Good battery life.

Good sensitivity and selectivity.

Great features.

Cons:

As of June 2013, radio is still only available from overseas dealers.

Programming cable not included.

Very quirky programming without the cable.

Channel skip is only available using the programming software.

SMA Female antenna instead of standard SMA Male antenna.

Very slow scan speed.

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I purchased this after owning a UV-5R for some time. I prefer the knob on top for changing channels as it is more like my professional Kenwoods I use daily at work. These radios are tiny in comparison size wise, but they pack a big punch for the size/price. I don't expect this radio to hold up to mil-spec standards, but for $45 you can't go wrong with the capabilities.

In comparison to the UV-5R, this model has very similar features. You gain a channel knob, but lose the flashlight. You gain ease of use (IMHO) in the menu settings, but lose a digit on the alphanumeric display for channel names. There are trade-offs like this throughout the radio. Build quality does not seem as good as with my UV-5R, but again, it has stronger looking components that look like they can take more abuse... trade-offs...

Additionally, CHIRP is now supporting this radio in their daily builds, and there is a Miklor page for it also.

Overall I would give the UV-B5 a 90/100 for what it is: a cheap well built radio. The UV-5R would get a 85/100 using the same scale.

Honest reviews on Baofeng 2013 Newest Dual Band VHF and UHF Walkie Talkie, 5-watt

Beware, there is nothing that I found so far that can program this radio through software and doing so manually is a severe pain in the butt. Doable, but take a weekend to do so :). The radio delivers. I made a test call on 146.52 and had a station come back ~10miles away full quieting.

The thing i like about this radio over the UV-5R is the second dial to control moving through freqs and channels. On the UV5R you have to use the up and down arrows on the keypad, this radio has a dial for it. Its something basic, but for $43 you really cant split hairs.

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Ive purchased 6 of these now from Outdoor Performance Gear and 3 of them have had some sort of major defect. Radio 1 could not hit certain repeaters for some reason. Radio 2 had a defective battery clip spring that prevented proper seating of the battery. Radio 3 is the worst, none of the buttons work at all!

Having said this, the three other radios that do work are awesome and better than the uv-5r. Better receiver, clearer audio, MUCH better ergonomic design, improved antenna, easier manual programming (you can actually save offsets and splits). You can also manually use alphanumeric characters to label channels.

Despite the awesomeness of this radio, i can not rate it higher due to the quality control issues. A 50% defect rate is not acceptable.