BAOFENG UV-5G PRO GMRS Handheld Radio, 5W NOAA/UHF/VHF/Airband Scanner & Receiver, GMRS Repeater Capable, Long Range Rechargeable Two Way Radio, for Adults, Support Chirp Programming

In our area we can have devastating wildfires and the first thing to go is communication. Without any ability to track a fires progress it becomes impossible to know when and if to evacuate. This is very important when family and livestock are in danger. This small handheld radio allows us and our neighbors to communicate with each other and with local emergency agencies for up to date information. It works great, is simple to operate, has a long battery life and is a nice compact size. We recently ran a neighborhood check and the clarity was first rate. This is a great little radio at an amazingly affordable price.

I'm a fan of the bigger more modern radios with color screens and 1000 channels etc. I've probably got 30 different models now. I figured I'd get one of the OG uv5r variants to see what all the fuss is about. Hard to believe how tiny they are. This model in particular has great band width options, which is why I chose it over a few of the others. I use it mostly for gmrs, but it can also listen to airband and has weather. Limited on menus, channels and screen features, but it's so tiny and light weight it's definitely earned a spot in my roster. There are a lot of various models based on this platform, I also got the 5r8w and it's slightly stronger, but doesn't have the bands this one does. Slap a 5/8 slim duck from Smiley on one of these and you have a great back pocket do most things radio. I'm impressed.

Bug out radios for the family. Work as advertised, but remember, these are line of site. If you can program repeaters in them then range is extended.

Everything worksNow I have to learn how to use it

I use this for railspotting and it worked great for being able to scan multiple frequencies that the trains might be transmitting on. I'm not a huge fan of how large the transmit button is and its pretty easy to bump into it but other than that not really any complaints. Slap a high-gain antenna on it and you will have a good experience railfanning like I did

Nothing fancy here, but if you’re just looking for simple GMRS access, this will fit the bill.It’s compact, but nice sized with an extended battery. The antenna is mid, as most factory antennas are. Nothing to write home about.The wattage seems pretty spot on for the whole run of channels. The sound quality is okay and the reception is middle of the road - even with the squelch off, things can still cut in and out (when other radios I have don’t).My biggest gripe is the Roger beep. If you have the volume low, the Roger beep sounds like an electronic belch. If you increase the volume, it eventually sounds like a beep. Just the user end, not the transmission.There are a lot of solid options with more features if you really want a budget radio. Even from Baofeng.

I have an old UV-5RA that I originally bought to use as a scanner (hint: don't bother). I never completely figured out how to work it and found that most of what I wanted to listen to was trunked anyway, but I liked the size, design, and features of the UV-5RA. So when it came time to buy GMRS radios this one caught my eye and I grabbed two. I haven't fully tested it handheld to handheld but I did hit a repeater ~40 miles away with a mag mount antenna on my truck (not included).So far I'm mostly happy with it (more details below), but time will tell. I've had pretty good luck at receiving with the standard antenna and halfway decent luck with the stubby version from Baofeng (not included). I have modified the programming with CHIRP to change the default squelch levels, remove any repeater channels that don't exist locally, add back in the ones I might want to use, and listen in on MURS frequencies. Also ordered some battery packs that can charge in the cradle or with USB-C, seems like a useful addition.One thing I noticed that I'm not a big fan of is that you can't change any settings on saved channels without using the programming cable. This seems kind of silly but some reading indicates this may be an FCC rule. However all the regular FRS spec walkie talkies I've ever seen can at least change CTCSS codes on the fly, and with this I can punch in whatever valid channel config I want in frequency mode then save it as a new channel, so I'm confused. The UV-5RA is the same way so maybe it's just a weird quirk with the firmware. I don't see it being a big problem but swapping codes without programming a new channel or hooking it to a computer would be a nice feature. I have my lower display set to show frequency instead of channel name to make this process a bit easier, should the need arise.Also when scanning for CTCSS / DCS codes this one will time out after several seconds of no activity and exit the menu unless I keep punching the scan button; my UV-5RA will continue to scan until it finds the tone or I tell it to stop. Cannot find any setting to change this, but it's not a deal breaker. For the price I guess I can't complain about any of these things too much.

Guys, these thing are incredible! They have a far better range than what they claim! I live where there are plenty of mountains around too. I use the extended antenna that comes with it. Really easy to program and use! Simplex is fairly accurate on range.