Radioddity GA-5S High Power Two Way Radio UHF VHF Dual Band Ham Radio Walkie Talkie with Flashlight Squelch 1800mAh Battery + Earpiece + Programming Cable, 2 Pack

As far as I can tell this functions the same as the tri-power Baofeng radios but in a much nicer package. The battery locks in place nicely. Has large backlit keypad. Very nice stock antenna. LED torch includes a lens. Rubber side cover folds out of the way easily. Uses same programming cable as Baofeng HTs. Easily programmable with chirp. This radio has a much nicer feel than others I've used. The keypad seems a lot easier to use as well. Everything seems more compact. Even the chargers are smaller than most radios. It's like a more stylish streamlined version of my BF-F8HP. I own several Radioddity radios and they have the best customer service I've ever seen. It comes with all the standard stuff, including the earpiece and lanyard. 2 pack came with 1 programming cable and software CD.

Build quality 4 stars. I bought 4 of these and one had a hard time resealing the microphone rubber flap after programming.Programming was a bear. After many tries on Chirp I still didn't get the programed setting to store correctly on any of them (I was trying to get some channels on Low setting but they kept programming on Med).Biggest complaint is they are hard to charge without the base and the base is subpar quality. Wish it had a microusb charging port for charging in the car.$30 each, what can you really expect? 4 stars based on value.

That it has a flashlight 🔦 on it....It's great for hiking.

Muy buena señal

In the interest of full disclosure, I was given a set of these radios from Radioddity in return for reviewing them - I gave one of the radios to KI7UCR and he will provide a separate review of his experiences; I may never get another free radio from them…I have used the GA-5S for a couple of weeks and had a chance to use it in several different settings including simplex calls and repeater use… right up front, this is an impressive radio, the sound quality is excellent and the extra power really gives it some legs; but, is not without its shortcomings.So looking at the button and screen layout… it is obvious that the GA-5S is yet another iteration of the radio that will not die: The Baofeng UV-5R. My fist guess was that the GA-5S is a repackaged 8-watt model, so I opened it up to see what radio module lay inside, and I was pleasantly surprised to find the same main radio module as BTech uses in the BF-F8HP… the GA-5S also uses the ubiquitous HN5RV01 firmware.Oh, while I had the case open, I drilled out the microphone hole a little… as it comes, the GA-5S’ microphone port hole is very small, and experience with this same issue on other Gen 5R radios tells us that opening the hole just a little, can really help with clear and strong transmissions.Of course the GA-5S is completely CHIRPable, there is a listing in CHIRP for the GA-5S but I am sure that it is just an alias to the BF-F8HP… but what the heck, I picked Radioddity GA-5S and dumped some channels into the new radio - a few minutes later I was up and running. All testing was done with the stock GA-5S antenna.Performance was very good. Knowing that the radio is the same as the BF-F8HP, I had some high expectations… yet I was consistently surprised by the ability of this little radio. I could easily carry on conversations through the E.A.A.R.S (2 meter) repeater on Mt. Lemmon, which is about 20 miles from (and 7000 feet above) where I live.As for simplex calls… the GA-5S had no problem hitting other HTs at a few miles, and was even able to reach a friend’s base station that is about nine miles away, and across a lot of city congestion - there were a couple of times that the GA-5S was talking to radios that I could not hit with my DMR-6X2!I am not going to belabor talking about how well the GA-5S talks; it lives up to every expectation of the BF-F8HP hiding inside of it… audio quality is great on both RX and TX and everyone that I spoke with had nothing but positive comments about the call quality.But… the GA-5S is not without its dark side…I have two problems with the GA-5S, both of which have to do with the style and location of the side buttons. I have seen other people mention that the GA-5S’ side buttons are “cumbersome”, “difficult”, or “poorly thought out”. Maybe I am overly in tune with the ergonomics of hand held radios… but for me, the side buttons on the GA-5S are a deal breaker.Let’s start with the PTT/CALL button… yes, I listed those as one button… check out the picture below to appreciate that the CALL Button and the PTT Button are one in the same, configured on a rocker type switch that lets you easily press one, when trying to press the other - not so sure what the intent was here, these two buttons have no reason to be joined this close together, I imagine this is just form over function.But that’s not my real beef with the GA-5S… the thorn in my side-button is the MONItor button… Ugh, look at it… it is huge! And it is proud of the case at least an 1/8 of an inch; it is super easy to hit this button by accident, just carrying the radio around in a case or in your pocket will most likely cycle through every function of this button every 94 seconds. I don’t think there was a single time that I took the GA-5S out of a holder, pouch or pocket… and the flashlight was not on… battery be damned.But then I had an idea… the GA-5S is just another 5R radio and the Version 20 radio module will fit in the case of that new UV-5R EX radio that I just bought - a few minutes later, it was alive!I swapped the radio modules… or main board… or guts of the 5S with the EX and Wow! I like that little EX with that 8W module in it - this radio has entered very high in my list of favorites.Okay… so that’s where I am with the GA-5S, I guess maybe the “super bright” number pad backlight can be a little too bright… at least at o’dark-hundred going from total lights-out, to Vegas Strip keypad; but for the most part, the enhanced keypad is nice. The side buttons however, are the show-stopper for me.Bottom Line: The GA-5S is a great radio, you are getting a BF-F8HP for half the price, but you also will have to live with those pesky side buttons and incompatibility with UV-5R batteries (and of course, there is no extended battery for the GA-5S), but it is your call…I will add one final thought: Radioddity, if you are listening, please make me a radio using the EX case with blacked out buttons, the radio module from the GA-5S, and please develop a 3800mAh extended battery for it - I will gladly buy at least three or four of them.73, KI7VCC

The Radioddity GA-5S looks like a nice little dual-band radio. It really feels great in my hand. With the built-in grips on the side of the radio you feel like you have a firm hold. It is small enough to fit into your shirt or jacket pocket. It also fits well into the dashboard cell phone holder in my suv. The belt clip supplied has a nice spring and feels solid. It also comes with a substantial lanyard if you want to use that. The GA-5S is a solid feeling HT that has a large speaker in it with good quality sound. It has 128 memory channels and a VFO mode, the output power can be set in three stages. The GA-5S has a SMA female connector on it.The HT comes with a programing cable (The standard kind that uses the uses a Prolific type chip). I have a 12 in 1 (12 different types of programing plugs for different radios) generic programing cable that also uses a Prolific type chip that will work but I have a 9 in 1 CP2102 is a USB to TTL UART chip that I prefer to use. I also have a FTDI programing cable that works on a number of different radios including the GA-5S. This actually is said to be a better performing cable because of Windows capability (enough about cables).The GA-5S comes with an easy to read operating manual. The dual watch function and scan functions are easy to operate and very useful. You can scroll thought the memories or you can ‘direct dial’ a memory location from the key pad. You can also scroll through the programing functions or use the key pad to jump to the function you want. The key pad is large, easy to use and back lighted.The GA-5S has its own programing software (and can be programed for most functions from the keyboard) but CHRIP works with it also.Has a few bells and whistles that are fun and useful. The alert function can be set to send out over the air to another radio or can be set to sent a tone to the HT local speaker. This can be useful as a safety alert or as locator by sounding an audible alert on the HT speaker. There is also a flashlight that is bright on the HT that can be set as a strobe, which can also be useful as a safety or locator resource. The GA-5S has a FM broadcast receiver built in, so with a single button press you can be listing to your favorite FM station. This is nice to have included and can be a safety feature as well to get news or weather. You can scan the FM band if you want.I checked the frequency output of the GA-5S on both a good frequency counter and on a calibrated SDR receiver. The output was right on frequency and spurs looked to be minimal. It has good sounding Tx audio. You can select WFM or NFM.This is a nice, flexible, easy to use analog FM HT. It covers VHF 136-174 MHz, UHF: 400-520 MHz along with FM broadcast (receiver only. It has both CTCSS/DCS capability. It is lightweight, with just the right size and the functions I want.

Design is sleek and price is cheap.