so i just passed my technician exam last month and im trying to figure out which handheld to get as my first radio. i went down a rabbit hole on youtube and now im more confused than when i started. everyone seems to have strong opinions and half the videos are just guys pushing whatever they get paid to promote

i mostly want to hit the local repeaters and maybe use it for hiking since i do a lot of trails in the cascades. my budget is probably around 80-100 bucks but i could stretch to 150 if it actually makes a difference. ive seen a ton of people mention the baofeng uv-5r because its cheap but then just as many people saying dont bother and get something better from the start

is there a middle ground here or am i overthinking this. also does dual band actually matter that much for a new person just getting started on local repeaters

honestly the baofeng vs yaesu/kenwood/icom debate never really ends lol. i started with a uv-5r and it got me on the air which was the whole point, but the menu system is a nightmare and the receive audio is kinda mediocre. if you can stretch to like 100-130 range the yaesu ft-65r is a solid step up and way easier to program. dual band does matter more than you'd think once you start finding out that some repeaters in your area are on 220 or you want to monitor 70cm while transmitting on 2m

for hiking specifically id also look at what kind of battery life you'd actually get. the chirp software makes programming any of these easier once you figure it out, dont let that part scare you off

im in a similar boat went with the ft-65r about 6 weeks ago and its been pretty solid for hitting repeaters. build quality feels way better than the cheap stuff and the audio is loud enough that i can hear it clipped to my pack strap while walking. only thing i wish it had was a better stock antenna but thats easy to fix later