BAOFENG BF-F8HP PRO (UV-5R 7th Gen) 8W Tri Band Two-Way Radio - VHF/1.25M/UHF, IP54, 1000 Channels, GPS, Aviation Band Scanner, NOAA Weather Mode, USB-C Rechargeable Battery

100% I bought this radio as soon as I saw it on youtube (NotaRubicon). Watch the video for a great explanation and review.* Extra information, skip the * if you just want review.*Currently using this radio to monitor radio chatter in San Diego concerning the current Wild Fires using scanning mode and there is a lot of chatter!*Baofeng does manufacturer the Betech brand radios, but I believe the Betech branded radios are of higher quality, and they provide better customer service. Some even label this radio as a UV-5R 7th gen. There are similarities and some significant hardware differences. The UV-5R extended battery DOES NOT FIT the BF-F8HP Pro. For an extended battery you should look for BL-5L or BL-5RH. Antenna and audio accessories all compatible so far with most Kenwood connection accessories.Quality - Its an attractive radio for sure. And it has some heft to it compared to other handhelds. It absolutely looks and feel like its rugged and high quality. If it ever takes a terrible spill I will try to update. USB-C port to charge!!! Battery lasts a very long time in monitor mode, but I still sought out the extended battery. I would always rather have it and not need it when it comes to radios. Especially if the radio claims 8W tx power.Menu-Navigating the menu and settings is a little different than previous radios like the UV-5R, but after a few minutes I figured out the navigation and selection process. After that I felt comfortable building pre-set channels and using frequency mode.I still need to learn and mess with GPS settings and how I want to use that.Programming - The radio is compatible with Chirp; I use a Mirkit FTDI USB and had no issues (download radio config first edit and push back to radio). There is a specific Betech programming software that you can use with the radio. It has some advanced functions that cannot be done in Chirp. However I did not find a repository of frequency sets like you have in Chirp software and community. Also, I could not directly port over older configs from Chirp to the Betech software. So you typically would need to manually input or cut and paste cell by cell.Someone posted a work around somewhere in some forum.Use Chirp, download radio. Cut and paste and edit however you desire. (Remember the Radio is Tri-Band, so you can monitor a very wide range of frequencies to include FRS, GMRS, NOAA, AIR*, SEA...) Then upload to radio, verify radio is programmed. Next, close Chirpnand open Betech Software and download radio... Boom its all there. No you can go in and make more detailed changes however you like and then save that config as a Betech comfig to clone other radios later.Power- 8 Watts advertised; which double what the UV5R and almost as much as some military handheld radios. I have not done any super long test, but it did work from my home to about 4 miles away. The was a 500ft elevation from my location to my home with decent line of site. The other handheld was a different brand 10W radio. Beyond the 4 miles were large structures that blocked any further testing.Other- Silly thing, but I added a custom image to the start-up(need to use Betech programmer). Instead of the brand name / logo its a low resimage of my truck, which honestly is a nice touch.I do wish the Radio was AM capable. Maybe in a firmware change in the future?

The BF-F8HP PRO has excellent transmit audio along with plenty of clean, crisp receive audio. There are 10 memory groups (zones) of 100 channels each that you can name as you wish. The memory groups move this radio into a special category as it allows you great scanning flexibility for different services and different locations. This is a very flexible and well-thought out radio that actually delivers the rated power output in the specs: Measured max power on VHF = 10.87W and on UHF = 8.02W. Medium power on VHF = 4.09W and on UHF = 4.17W. Low power on VHF = 1.63W and on UHF = 2.42W. Note that on 220 MHz all three power settings produce 5W regardless of the L/M/H setting. Note that it is easy to change TX power levels on-the-fly by long pressing the "3" key. You can also assign TX Power to the short press of either the SK1 or SK2 side keys within the radio's menu. Note that the assignment of the SK1 and SK2 keys is not yet fully implemented in the current official CPS.The documentation for this radio is way better than expected. The owners manual that comes in the box is very well done and the much deeper user manual in PDF format that can be found on the BTech web site is outstanding. The manual in the box will get you up and running but the downloadable PDF gets into the finer details of setting up your radio. I am a big fan of CHIRP and this radio is supported by it but the official BTech CPS is really outstanding and supports enhancements not available in CHIRP, such as creation of custom voice packs and custom startup screens along with an integrated firmware update utility accessed within the official CPS. The integrated TX/RX offset calculator is very useful for setting up repeaters.My radio came with the latest v0.33 firmware already installed and the newly added ability to program the short press of the side SK switches is much appreciated. Note that my 2 year-old (ABREE) Baofeng USB-Serial CH340 programming cable works perfectly with the BF-F8HP Pro on my Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers. Several early reviewers reported that the battery pack was not securely held by their radio. BTech must have listened and taken care of that as when I installed my battery the radio fasteners clicked loudly when the battery was very securely installed. No issues at all with it not staying in place. The internal GPS very accurately reports my longitude, latitude, and elevation which would certainly be useful if you needed to report your exact location to anyone searching for you out in the wilderness. The stopwatch function is easy to use, one short press of the return button initiates it and the home key starts and stops it. The display is very easy on the eyes and there are options for how things are displayed. You can select Dual Watch ON/OFF and if you select off you can then switch to Single Watch. When scanning in Single Watch you can choose to display the frequency or channel number in the large display font, however, the channel name is only displayed in a smaller font if you choose to display that while scanning. I would much prefer having the channel name in the large font but perhaps that can be added in a firmware update! Note that the radio does offer airband scanning and it does work, however, it does not appear to have any AGC as strong signals definitely distort badly. The broadcast FM band sounds exceptional for a communications radio.This radio has a nice rugged commercial feel to it when you carry it. This is definitely my current favorite handheld to pack for its flexible implementation of the memory group scanning as well as the available power output and easy to use menu system. I would highly recommend the FP-F8HP PRO for anyone who wants a radio that you can set up to do exactly what you want. It will be fun to see what the BTech firmware and CPS developer (Terri K.) comes up with down the road!