So I just passed my Technician exam last week (finally) and im starting to look at handheld radios. I had no idea there were this many options. I've been reading threads here for like two hours and now im more confused than when i started honestly.

My main thing is I want something that can hit the local repeaters, maybe do some simplex if anyone nearby is on, and eventually I want to mess around with APRS once I figure out what that even is. Budget is somewhere around $80-150 but i could stretch a little if something is really worth it.

I keep seeing the Baofeng UV-5R stuff and it's so cheap I'm suspicious of it. Then theres the Yaesu FT-65 and the Kenwood TH-D74 but that last one is way out of my budget lol. Someone at the exam session mentioned the Wouxun KG-UV9D and i wrote it down but haven't looked into it yet.

Any thoughts from people who actually use these day to day? I dont want to buy something and immediately regret it.

Congrats on the ticket. Okay so the Baofeng suspicion is not entirely unfounded - the cheap ones do work but the transmit audio and receiver front end aren't great, you'll get intermod in busy RF environments and a few of them have been tested and shown to be a bit spurious on transmit. That said plenty of people start with them and they're fine for basic repeater use. If budget is your main concern a UV-5R will get you on the air.

That said if you can stretch to around the $100-120 range the Yaesu FT-65 or even the older FT-60 if you find one used are noticeably better radios. Receiver is cleaner, audio is louder, and they feel like they'll survive being dropped which matters when you're still figuring out how to clip everything to your belt. The FT-65 doesnt do APRS natively but at your budget nothing really will unless you pair it with a phone app and a cable.

For APRS down the road, honestly just get yourself going on voice first and worry about that later. One thing at a time or you'll burn out before you even make your first contact.

i was in the exact same spot about 8 months ago and ended up going with the Yaesu FT-65 and have zero regrets. hits all the local repeaters fine, battery lasts forever compared to what i expected, and programming it with CHIRP wasnt too bad once i watched a youtube video about it. the manual is pretty useless tbh so dont even bother with that part.

the Wouxun stuff is generally considered a step above Baofeng build quality wise from what ive read, never owned one myself though so cant say from personal experience.