so i just passed my technician exam last week and im starting to look at handheld radios and honestly i had no idea there were this many choices. ive been reading reviews for like three days and i feel like i know less now than when i started lol

basically i want something for local repeaters and maybe APRS down the road, nothing crazy. my budget is probably around $50-80 but i could go a bit higher if it really makes a difference. i keep seeing the Baofeng UV-5R come up everywhere but then people say the audio is bad or the transmit is off frequency or whatever, and then other people say its totally fine. and then theres the Yaesu FT-65 which seems more solid but costs more. and someone at the club mentioned the Wouxun but i cant even find consistent info on how to pronounce that

i just want something that works reliably on the local 2m and 70cm repeaters without me having to fight with it constantly. am i overthinking this or does it actually matter a lot which one i pick at this price point

you're not overthinking it but also dont stress too much — honestly any of those will get you on a repeater and let you start having QSOs. the Baofeng criticism is real but its also kind of overblown for basic local use. the transmit frequency issue people complain about is usually like a few hundred hz off which repeaters dont care about. where the cheap ones bite you is receive sensitivity sometimes, and the audio does get a little crunchy on some of them.

that said if you can stretch to the Yaesu FT-65 or even the FT-4XR i'd probably do it. the build quality feels noticeably better in hand and the menu system is way less confusing than programming a Baofeng blind. i gave a UV-5R to my nephew when he got his ticket and he spent like two weeks just trying to get a repeater tone set right. the Yaesus just make more sense out of the box. CHIRP works with all of them for programming so that part isnt a big deal either way

Wouxun is pronounced something like WO-shun by the way, at least thats how most people say it at hamfests around here

i was in the exact same spot about eight months ago and ended up with the Baofeng UV-5R just because it was $25 and i wasnt sure if i'd even stick with the hobby. it worked fine for getting started, heard everything on the repeater, people could hear me ok. but i did eventually swap to a Yaesu FT-70DR and its just... nicer? the dual watch actually works the way you'd expect, the battery lasts way longer, and it does C4FM digital which some repeaters around here are moving to

so i guess my take is if you're pretty sure you're gonna stay active maybe just go for something mid-range now instead of buying twice like i did