Baofeng UV-25 Tri Band Handheld Radio Review - In Depth

It's another big review! Feel free to skip straight to the chapters/parts that interest you the most!
The Baofeng UV-25 is a very large form factory "military styled" tri-band two way radio. For those of you who like huge radios this could be very interesting! It's a heavy weight at around 660g (1.45 lbs) so this one has a rugged feel to the casing. Whilst it's not real military spec it looks the part and many operators will appreciate the large direct frequency keypad. This radio can also put out up to 11 watts of RF so quite a lot of power for a handheld.

It can transmit on 136-174 MHz, 220-260MHz and 400-480 MHz with additional RX coverage including the AM Airband, FM Broadcast Band and a little extra receive between 350-390 MHz.

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0:00 Introduction
1:18 SIze Comparison
3:38 Specifications
5:50 First Impressions
7:10 Keypad & Buttons
10:20 Ports and Charging
12:40 What's in the Box
17:20 Screen Layout
19:40 Frequency Copy
21:21 Power Test
26:00 On Air Test
33:50 PC Programming / CPS
42:55 SDR Audio Test
43:51 AM Airband
44:19 Conclusion

[GG-imcb]

For anyone who has one of these the metal belt clip for Kenwood TK-208 TK-308 TH-22AT TH-42AT fits perfectly and they are only a couple of pounds from eBay or Ali express👍🏻

[telkirton]

On order thanks, great review on this UV-25. :)

[jamesyoung]

Very nice review of the radio. Seems like it has great audio.

[BrayJaythend]

Nice radio and excellent review. Looks like you could use it to clobber a burglar if you had to -- what a beast. You were wondering about 350mhz; a lot of Chinese radios can enable transmit for 350. India's version of FRS/PMR uses 350mhz. 👍

[daytona]

Inside the antenna there a very thin flexible other antenna like the ABBREE AR-771. I watched a video from a guy that took it apart.

[prestonhagman]

If you use the Baofeng software it allows you to access the banks or zones. This makes it very useful. It then copy’s to chirp using the read from radio so you can transfer the code plug easily.

[alexzeus]

Hello can you tell me where to find the manual in French for this BAOFENG UV-25 TRI BAND amateur radio please? Kind regards, Alexandre

[Scotchy-koti]

Hello, I can't transmit on the PMR 446 channels on the Baofeng U25. Do you have a solution? Thank you.

[karengill]

Nice review Simon, got mine last week fairly pleased with the radio my initial observation are it’s heavy to hold while using however using a Bluetooth mic has sorted that out. So wish the PTT was a little more weighted as when picking up the set if turned on it triggers the transmit if caught accidentally. I agree the belt clip is one big let down and potentially if using you could end up dropping the radio. My thoughts are that I might purchase the same belt clip used on my RFinder B1+ as with a slight mod would fit and is a lot stronger. It so reminds me of the Motorola radio I carried around for 12 years when working for WYPF. Best 73s. Kaz. G4OWW. …..

[Petertronic]

They really need to sort out AM reception, it can't be that hard. I'm not buying Baofengs again until they can do this.

[LithonTheBlack]

You can repair that cable and make it more stable by using 'sugru'. It's like a moldable rubber that goes fairly hard but remains flexible when it has set. It's great for armouring weak cable connectors. ;) Cheers.

[zach]

I only have it for SHTF big battery reasons.

[sevance]

I wouldn't discount the strength of that belt clip until you test it. Since that radio was given to you for testing, why not do it! Mount that clip, then strap that radio on your belt, and then yank the crap out of it until it breaks. You might be surprised! If it's truly mil-spec, that clip SHOULD have been ruggedized as well. Most of the time, those plastic belt clips are crazy strong; I've had decades of experience with them on Motorola radios and seldom had a failure.

[cetocoquinto]

Had a baofeng 888s since the battery is kind of gay i manage to epoxy resin a power bank at the back 😂 i now charge it maybe 2 times a month..but pretty useful for the price.

[jacquesmertens]

Lots of spurs on the harmonics. Should be illegal.

[omarviktoriyamosquera]

It does nothing that an ar5rm doesn't do😊

[Sipods]

Great review! Thanks. I've just bought two. They must be in high demand because on Temu and Coupang where I bought them, purchase is limited to one unit hence why I bought from different sources. On Temu I paid 46, 000 KRW = £25 and Coupang 58, 000 KRW = £32 so £57 for two radios which is excellent value. Thanks for the review. HL5ZEE / NP2PU.