so ive been running an old Baofeng UV-5R for about two years now since i got my tech license and honestly it's been fine for just getting started but i keep running into little issues with it, mostly the audio on receive is kind of muddy and i had one instance where i think the TX was drifting off frequency a bit which caused some confusion on the local repeater. nothing catastrophic but you know how it is.

anyway i started looking at actual name brand HTs and i keep going back and forth between the Yaesu FT-65 and maybe the Kenwood TH-D74 but that Kenwood is way overkill for what i actually do which is mostly just checking into the weekly net and some simplex when im out hiking. the FT-65 seems solid and people seem to like the audio quality which is my main gripe right now. does anyone actually own one of these and use it regularly? curious what the battery life is like in real world use not just what the spec sheet says

I've had the FT-65 for probably a year and a half now and honestly it's become my go-to grab-and-go radio. The audio really is noticeably better than the cheap imports, like you can actually hear people in a parking garage or whatever without cranking it up all the way. Battery life has been good for me — I do a full day at a hamfest and it's maybe half drained, but I'm not keying up constantly either.

One thing I'll mention is the menu system takes a little getting used to if you're coming from the Baofeng world. It's not bad, just different. I'd suggest downloading the manual as a PDF before you even plug it in, I spent like 45 minutes figuring out how to set the squelch the first time because i just assumed it worked the same way lol. But yeah for basic VHF/UHF repeater work and simplex hiking use it's really hard to argue with that radio at its price point.

i went through the same exact debate last year and ended up with the FT-65 too. no regrets. the belt clip that comes with it is kinda flimsy tho i replaced mine pretty quick