so i just passed my technician exam last week (finally) and now im trying to figure out what handheld to get. ive been reading threads and watching youtube for like 3 weeks and honestly it just made things more confusing. everyone seems to have a strong opinion and half the time they contradict each other.

the main thing i want to do is hit the local repeaters and maybe do some simplex with a buddy of mine who lives like 8 miles away. nothing crazy. my budget is somewhere around $50-150 depending on whether i can justify spending more to my wife lol.

ive seen a ton of people recommending the baofeng uv-5r just because its cheap but then other people act like youre committing a crime if you buy one. then theres the yaesu ft-65 which seems more respected but costs more. and i keep seeing the wouxun stuff mentioned but i dont really know anything about that brand. is there like a sensible middle ground here or am i overthinking this

congrats on passing the exam, welcome to the hobby. okay so the baofeng vs everything else debate is basically a rite of passage at this point. here's my honest take after having used a bunch of different HTs over the years — the uv-5r works fine for hitting repeaters, it really does, but the programming software is a bit janky and the receiver isnt great in areas with a lot of RF noise. if youre in a busy metro area you might get some desensitization issues. for $25 though its hard to argue with it as a starter radio just to learn the ropes.

that said, if you can stretch to the yaesu ft-65 range, or even look at the ft-4xr which tends to go on sale, you'll notice the build quality is just noticeably better and the receiver is cleaner. wouxun is also solid, i had a kg-uv8d for years and it held up great, good audio on both ends. for 8 miles simplex that's going to depend way more on terrain and antenna than which HT you pick honestly — rolling hills will kill you no matter what radio you have.

i was in the exact same spot about a year ago and ended up just grabbing the baofeng to start. no regrets for what it is but i did eventually get a yaesu ft-70dr because i wanted to get into fusion and i wish i had maybe started there instead of spending money twice. just something to think about if you might want digital modes down the road. the dual watch on the ft-70 is also really nice for monitoring a couple repeaters at once which i use all the time now.