so i just passed my technician exam last week and im trying to figure out what handheld to get. everyone i talk to says something different. my elmer keeps telling me to just get a baofeng to start but ive been reading on here and some people really seem to hate those. then somebody at the club meeting said i should save up and get a yaesu or kenwood instead but those are like 3x the price and i dont even know if im gonna stick with this hobby yet

basically what im asking is, is the baofeng UV-5R actually as bad as people say or is it fine for just starting out, doing local repeaters and maybe some simplex with neighbors? i dont need anything fancy right now, just want to be able to key up and talk. would love to hear what you all think, especially if you remember what your first HT was like

honest answer? the baofeng is fine for getting started. people love to trash them but ive seen guys run them for years without issues. yeah the receive isnt great and it can be a little deaf compared to something like a VX-6R, but for hitting a local repeater from decent range it'll do the job. the chirp software makes programming it not terrible once you get the hang of it.

that said if you can stretch to a yaesu FT-65 or something in that range, maybe $80-100, you do get noticeably better build quality and the receiver is just cleaner. but dont let anyone tell you the baofeng will hold you back at this stage, thats just gear snobbery honestly. start cheap, see if you like it, upgrade later if you want. thats what most of us did even if we dont admit it now

i was in the exact same spot like 8 months ago lol. got the UV-5R because it was $25 and i wasnt sure id stick with it. honestly glad i did because i ended up loving the hobby and now i have three radios so. anyway the baofeng worked fine for me for the first few months, just takes a while to figure out the menu system which is kinda annoying. one thing though, make sure you get a decent antenna for it, the stock rubber duck is pretty mediocre and a cheap nagoya replacement makes a real difference for maybe $10 more