UV-K5 Dual Band Radio 5 Watt Output Portable Two-Way Radio with NOAA Weather Alert

This is one hell of a radio for the price. Audio is decent, battery life is really good, and the antenna is way better than expected. If I had to list some faults; 1) the scan list feature doesn't allow you to scan through both list one and two at the same time, you have to choose one or the other. 2) It isn't clear how the DTMF features should be used, but that could just be because I'm not familiar with it.

This is a fantastic little HT to use as a back up to your Kenwood, Yesu, or ICOM HT, or even to use as your “daily driver”. It’s not as intuitive, and I would’ve liked, and you really have to read the manual (RT FM), but once you get the hang of it, it’s a great radio, and mine is never let me down. The image I included I took myself in my product photography Light Box, With the original packaging.

Programming is extremely difficult to get right without using a programming cable and the software (not supplied with the radio, you have to hunt for it and download). I did find after my initial program of the radio that the free "Chirp" program now has an experimental driver that WILL at least read the radio. (Haven't tried using it to program yet though It should work.) So far it appears to be worth the money - nothing spectacular but I do like the display and the availability of USB type C charging - they say emergency charging only - for times when the main charger isn't available but a computer with USB ports & a type "C" cable is. See the manual for details and read carefully. I'll update this later after I become more familiar with the radio & more of it's features as I just got it and am still in the learning process.

Radio works, but the AM aircraft audio is at best horrible. I bought it to have aircraft in a cheap dual band HT, but this doesn't cut it. Since it can be charged with usb-c I'll leave it in my glove box as an emergency back up.

I have a $600 scanner connected to an outside antenna, 35' in the air. This little HT, will receive the local, (20 miles away), sheriff and fire frequencies with a full quite siginal. (Ham operators know that term). I bought this radio because there are mods you can do to the firmware that opens this thing up to a whole new world, and a video game on the display!

The UV-K5 Dual Band Radio is an outstanding portable two-way radio that combines powerful 5-watt output with essential features like NOAA weather alerts and FM radio. Its compact design makes it easy to carry, and the dual-band functionality ensures reliable communication. Whether for outdoor adventures or emergency situations, the UV-K5 proves to be a dependable companion with its impressive performance and versatile features.

Sorry, I had 2 of these that failed on it's input side where you cannot program it from a PC. The "experts" on the Facebook pages claimed it was the programming cable, it was not. A total of 5 hours wasted on experimenting with rolled back drivers and new programming cables did nothing. Nice display though. Buy a known brand of radio that requires a simple programming cable/USB interface instead of this trash.

I purchased the K5 HT to get the replacement firmware from Github for the radio. Works great and now it recieves air band. I am near a busy airport and air band receive is nice to have.