BF-F8HP (8W), High Power + (3rd Gen)

Suer cool device for a great value. Has good range and many frequencies to use. Comes in clear and is easy to program if need be.

The BF‑F8HP is a noticeable step up from the standard UV‑5R. The extra power really does improve range and clarity, especially in open areas. The radio feels solid, the dual‑band functionality works flawlessly, and the menu system is straightforward once you get used to it. Battery life is impressive, and it holds a signal well even in challenging environments. For the price, it’s a fantastic handheld radio — reliable, strong, and versatile for both beginners and experienced users.

I thought for the low price it would be another piece of space junk. But what I found out it is a decent enough radio with a few hitches. First issue is the menu tree and how you have to program the radio. It is confusing to set, offsets, pl, and the repeater information. This was mitigated by purchasing the programming cable and using either their software program or the other program Chirp. The software makes it a snap to program. I was able to hit all my favorite repeaters and listen to the local FM radio station and police, fire, emts, marine, etc. The next hitch is that the squelch adjustment is through the menu tree, rather than a button push or a knob to turn. I find this a bit awkward having to adjust the squelch on each freq by going through min 3 steps to adjust. I had also purchased the dual-band antenna they recommended that worked quite nicely. The other hitch took awhile to find. It has high, medium and low settings that are supposed to equate to 1,4 and 8 watts. The issue here is the low setting produced 5.51w, med produced 5.6w and the high produced 3.76w. This was verified with both analog and digital meters. To be fair 5w is good enough, but 8 is better and the mix of levels and settings being off drove me to exchange the radio to see if the next one delivers the specifications as posted in the manual. I shipped the first one back and ordered a replacement. Still a great buy for the money. But I can't give it 5 stars because the production quality assurance seems to be an issue . Read the follow up below and extrapolate the information on other buyers The replacement unit s/n indicated it was manufactured 11.2k units later than the first one and worked much better in varying the power levels at near their target points. It also made the 8w level on 449mhz. Indicating the power amp isn't linear, and you have to have atleast 8.3v availablee from the battery. To wrap thus up great radio for the price and near perfect....just short of outstanding. But it could be at the time younget yours. 73

Being part of the HAM community is fun. It is a practical skill as well. These things will work when other forms of communication won't work. It is nice to have and the science behind it is very intriguing to me. I'm 26 and I just got my license last month. Had I known ham radios were so affordable I would have started much sooner. Had I known you can even become a licensed ham technician as a kid I would have done it years ago. I was often too intimidated to try, but it isn't too hard of a process if you do a little studying and have a little money. I bought this radio and I am amazed at the quality for the price. Crappy walkie talkies from Costco cost about the same, but with ham radios you can do so many things walkies can't. You can tune into thousands of frequencies. Receive local FM radio, and transmit much further than any walkie. Especially if you use a repeater. I want my family to all get licensed for HAM radio so that in case of an earthquake or other natural disaster we can check in with each other since phone lines and cell phones will likely be down. I was in the 2010 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Concepcion, Chile. Cell phones were down for a couple days, power was out even longer, and there was no running water for a couple weeks. Thankfully there is a big Coca Cola factory there you could buy soda most anywhere there, so we lived off of soda during that time. We just couldn't shower for a couple weeks :( Anyways back to the communication aspect of the earthquake. Right after the earthquake the first thing you think about is if everyone you know is okay. All my family was in the US at the time, so they obviously weren't affected, but I had many friends there and we had no way to find out if they were okay. The only way we could find out is by walking miles to where they lived. What could make things worse is if they are doing the same thing trying to find you and you can't find them. Not having communication after a disaster like that makes things very stressful. My family now lives within a 10 mile radius of each other, so under most conditions we are within range of each other via ham radio. If a disaster happens where I live I want to be able to check in with all my family to make sure they are all right. That way I can have peace of mind and don't have to walk or drive to them assuming roads are usable. After knowing my family is safe I will be able to help my neighbors if needed. This is just one idea of why you should have one of these. I could name many more from hiking to zombies, but you get the idea. I'm not sure if every state does this, but Utah has a designated repeater frequency to forward you directly to 911. So you can make 911 calls from wherever you are with a HAM if cellphone service is not available. At least that is what I read online. I haven't tested it so I don't know for sure, but you can't really do a test 911 call. :( The Utah frequency is 448.350 for the 911 forwarding repeater. I think it is linked to multiple receivers throughout the state as well, so you don't have to be in the Salt Lake City to do it. I recommend a couple accessories for this radio. Get the 15.6" whip antenna for $17. It will improve your receiving and transmitting ability. It fits this radio perfectly. Also get the BaoFeng USB adapter cable for $5. Then download the "CHIRP" software online for free. This allows you to use a computer to program all the channels and repeaters you want without doing the long manual process on the radio itself. It saves a lot of time, plus you can save all the settings you make onto a file, so if you break your radio you can restore the same settings onto a new one with one click. Or you can also clone settings from one radio to another. The one downside to this radio is that it isn't waterproof. You can't expect it to be for the price, but when I think of HAM radio I think of being in the backcountry where other forms of communication aren't available. This is good for practice and it is nice to have for emergencies. In fact at this price I am considering keeping a spare in both of my cars. If I were a hunter or frequent hiker or camper I would probably get the Yaesu Quad Band handheld radio since it is fully waterproof submersible and can communicate on many more frequencies that this one can't do. It's probably a lot more rugged too. Of course you would need a General License to legally utilize the other bands. That one goes for about $350 on Amazon, but i'll probably buy that one in the future as my all-purpose ham.

I purchased this radio, and then purchased another almost two month's later. I have found it to be a good, reliable radio transceiver with pretty good function sets, as well as excellent frequency ranges for the various U S radio services bands. It has capability to receive all the Personal Radio Service (PRS) bands (GMRS, FRS, MURS and some Ham frequencies), and transmission is excellent too for a handheld. Radio programming is fairly easy using CHIRP program (easily found on the web), but you WILL need the USB Programming Cable for Two-way Radio to connect to your computer (available here for $11 or so) for programming. You don't need name brand, as connection is a standard one: two-pin to USB. I also bought and use extension microphone/speaker, which I recommend too (Baofeng BF-S112 for $6.00); although again no brand name is necessary as it will accept standard two-pin connection. Extension mike is both speaker and mike, so it can be clipped to shoulder level, requiring much less volume to hear (many cops are so outfitted), while radio is clipped to belt or waste band. You will need a license from FCC to use GMRS at full power, and you MUST adjust settings to low power to lawfully use unlicensed FRS and MURS bands. There are big fines and penalties for not following regulations, so you need to pay attention to that!! License is easy to apply for at FCC webpage. Radio holds 127 memory locations for user-defined frequency, power, friendly name and other settings, and licensed GMRS users can take advantage of the many repeaters available, which can theoretically give 50-mile range in ideal settings, while radio alone can transmit from 5-20 miles, depending on conditions and terrain. I installed a 6 foot antenna on top of my roof for use at home, and it adds a remarkable amount of additional transmit and reception capability. People buying this sort of radio will do well to understand it IS a powerful radio with a vary wide range of frequency capabilities, and some are highly restricted; meaning you can get into a world of trouble for transmitting on them, even by mistake!!! The FCC isn't too understanding nor indulgent for users offering "I didn't know!" They can give you little memory aids to help you, by means of fines up to $75,000 and a year in jail...So DO NOT screw around! But those things show you what this is: A radio that means business! You can listen to any channel without any license, but don't exceed power allowed for FRS and MURS and get a license for full-power (this radio's full power) GMRS usage! FCC Part 95 regulations are available on their website (FCC.gov), which will explain all of your abilities and responsibilities for GMRS, FRS, MURS and other designated PRS frequencies. I would recommend thinking about a longer portable antenna for carrying this around to enhance user capabilities, but the stock antenna is still a good one, so you don't have to. Battery holds a good charge so far and gives a long cycle of use, and radio comes to clip to secure it to your belt, coat, purse, whatever. All in, I am very happy with this radio (rather both of them!), and I recommend it without reservation; BUT buyers have to use it lawfully and with license for anything beyond FRS or MURS; using low power settings for those unlicensed bands!

As a new ham radio operator, I bought this BAOFENG BF-F8HP 8-Watt Dual Band VHF/UHF handheld radio at the suggestion of my son! He had done some research and thought it was a good choice. I think so, too! It is an exceptional radio for the price you pay for it! (I also bought a Baofeng UV-82 as a backup radio). I have the rubber-duck antenna that came with it, and I can sit under my tin roofed house and reach the repeater on medium power! I use it in my car with a tiny, magnetic roof-mounted antenna, and have no trouble hitting repeaters as far as 25 miles away. I also bought the extra microphone with the kenwood plug and built-in speaker, which makes it a joy to use in the car when travelling. I also bought a couple of extra antennas to replace the rubberduck antenna with, but have found that they're not really necessary. This little BF-F8 will reach out and touch someone. Don't worry about any reviews that you might've read about it being difficult to program, or that it's quirky to learn how to use the little radio's functions. I bought a USB programming cable with a kenwood plug, and use it to program all my handheld Baofeng radios with Chirp, which is a free download. And if there are any little quirks about the features, it didn't take me long to get used to using it, and now it's a breeze! If you need a little dual-band handheld transceiver, or even several of them for your family to communicate with when a few miles apart, this Baofeng BF-F8 is a great little HT, and I highly recommend it.

Definitely worth the money!

Wow! The difference between the BF-F8hp and the UV-5R are incredible! Faster scan, way less interference, and double the power of its predecessor. The case is more rugged. The manual is incredibly detailed and makes programming easy, but still a bit cumbersome. The manual even describes how to input duplex frequencies to behave as a repeater, and enter repeater input and output frequencies. I was considering purchasing a very expensive handheld transceiver. This little Baofeng makes it pointless to do so. Range I did a simplex range test on 146.52 Megacycles and went 14.5 kilometers (9 miles) away. I was able to communicate with a mobile station that had a quarter wave antenna on the bonnet. Amazingly, the communication was very clear. At 16 kilometers (10 miles, the communication was raspy, but still understandable. Everything is really easy to program, except you have to remember to enter the repeater input frequency, even after you enter the offset positive or negative and program the offset in the menu. It is just a little quark that makes the transceiver even more lovable. Durability: The little radio has proven to be quite rugged. In a wet environment, it holds up quite well. I left the window of my lory open and it rained that night. The next day I saw the radio wet. I dried the outside and expected the worse. I turned it on and it worked flawlessly. It is not advertised as water resistant, but it sure held up well to a steady light rain for about four hours. The antenna takes a hit quite often and it flexes right back. The SMA base does not even notice the hits to the antenna. I have often thought that the radio has broken after a good hit, but no. If it does break, save the remains for parts and buy another. It is not a £300 pound Kenwood. Buy two anyway. Conclusion Do not think about getting this transceiver, just get it. You will not regret it. It is far worth the slightly higher price of the base Baofeng UV-5R. Then again, you could be purchasing a £300 Kenwood transceiver and it will do the same thing the BF-F8HP does. Update: I purchased this transceiver 16 August 2015. It has been dropped multiple times, been wet in an open Jeep many times, and it has been chewed by dogs. It is still operating like new, though it looks a bit worn. It is an incredible value and performer. Forget the overpriced walkies, get this one instead. 2019 - The little transceiver has taken a beating. It has been went through storms, off road trips, dust, heat, snow, cold, shock, being bit by wolves and buried by the wolves, and though a bit rough, it still works great! It is an incredible buy for the very economical price.