This review is based on other low-end Chinese hand-helds. I feel that this is the best for the money. Great radio to experiment with SDR. Easily modifiable firmware. Running Egzummer v 0.20.1 firmware. Original firmware seems identical to the Quansheng UV-K5. Works with Chirp and Quansheng software.

If you have and/or like the Quansheng UV-K5, you're likely to like this radio as well. It might be my imagination, but I think this radio is (slightly) smaller, it seems to fit in my hand slightly differently. The important thing for me (since I'm a blind ham) is that the menus talk, (well, most of them), but if it's truly compatible with a k5, then that means the softcon firmware will work on it to expand it's speech capabilities. I've not tried flashing the radio with that firmware just yet, but do plan to do so, just to get the maximum use out of the radio. I do like the radio though, just like the Quansheng UV-K5, since they're basically the same radio, and having both will allow me to validate testing between units. Very happy with this purchase.Would really like for the manufacturer to make more options speak, but that's not a show stopper.

I have an assortment of the cheaper under $50 radios and these are excellent 5W radio's. They are fine on their own but really shine after flashing the firmware. These are the same as Quansheng uv-k5 radio's but these come with a quality programming cable and warranty from a name brand.Lots of features in a radio at this price. Cheap enough to stash in extra vehicles or locker/desk at work, etc.

Great little radio for the money.

Great item received ion time

Came with program cable. Chirp likes it. Its does not have aprs or digital but it receives and transmits on uhf vhf as well as a $700 Kenwood to the naked ear. I did not check for "spurious emissions" on a scope but I was told full quieting into a repeater 40 miles away with the stock antenna. Time will tell if if it is as durable as a Y, K or I. For the money I say get one to have as a spare.

just like any other Quansheng clone. Good price.

a great cheap radio unlocked makes it even better

Transmits better than my bofang uv9g. Easy to use right out of the box. Thanks!

Great radio. Love the numerous bands. Seems to work well,

This radio sits in a sea of similar radios, but with not amazing quality. As I’ve experienced on another Retevis product; the screen isn’t even installed straight. Its power is fine, and it does allow you to tune to 50MHz. That’s all I’ve got. I have VERY similar radios from two other manufacturers, and this one adopted the counterintuitive “F” key for navigating settings. Meh.I’d return it, but it wasn’t expensive enough to bother.

Smaller than most, so compact. The receiver is sensitive enough to pull in NOAA weather 40 miles away. Received good audio reports on VHF. But got a surprise when I keyed in a 1.25 m frequency. The radio not only accepted the frequency but could copy local hams on 223.500. Next surprise was on 6 m. Again it accepted 53.525 and again received local hams. it will not transmit on either of these two frequencies but it is a bonus that it will receive. I didn’t find this mentioned in the ad or in any of the accompanying literature or manual.

No Weatherband

How they do this for under 20 bucks is beyond me. Then I changed the firmware at Egzumer. After I made it really complicated, I gave it to my girlfriend and didn't tell her what I paid! I'm sorry I didn't make this purchase and review before Valentine's Day.Seriously now, get to know the radio before making an upgrade. Upgrading with European firmware voids your warranty, and your Owner's Manual won't work. It does make the radio extra special ;-) ;-) .

Excellent value, firmware unlocked, lots of options for configuration.

Part of this 5-star rating is for exceptional customer service. Item received did not include the USB power adapter, just the charging base. Contacted the seller. Seller replied within an hour or two requesting additional information to ship a replacement. Replacement was shipped within two days from US warehouse, with follow-up emails with shipping and tracking information.As to the radio, I now own five of these, two as the Quansheng UV-K5 from another seller and three of the Retevis RA-79 from this seller. With the Egzumer firmware upgrade and CHIRP programmability they are an excellent radio for the price-with features not found on the Baofeng variants. Good starting radio for a new Ham. One of our clubs bought a dozen to give to new operators when they pass the Tech exam.A couple of notes:--the Retevis battery is listed as either 1400 or 1600 mAh. My tester shows them as 2500 mAH. You will get around 24 hours of RX tuned to NOAA weather radio. A full recharge from 0% to 100% is about 4 hours with the charging base. Plugging directly into the USB charging port on the radio is slower and variable.--the Retevis includes a Windows 11-compatible programming cable. Some of the Quansheng models do not. As noted above, it is compatible with CHIRP programming software (use the Quansheng)--without the Egzumer or similar firmware upgrade and factory programming software this is probably more of a 3-star radio for the price.