Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Update: Adding a star (from 3 to 4) after testing this unit with a SWR/Power meter. Low, Medium, High Power tested at (Watts) 0.8-1, 4-5, 6-7.4, respectively which is respectable for a radio of this size. Original Review: I'm new to ham radios- about a week in. And, if you're just starting out, then you're probably pretty confused like I am (and continue to be). But, here's what I've learnt so far: First off, if you're wondering what's up with all the different Baofeng UV-5* and UV-8* models, then here's what I've learnt: All lead back to the UV-5R and UV-82 base models. There have been enhancements and mods over the years. But it basically boils down to this: the recent models have been upgraded to transmit up to 8 watts. The older models were 5 watts or less. I'm sure there are other differences- this is the most significant. Different resellers will rebrand by adding various letters such as HP, X, XP, MP, etc, just to differentiate but under the hood, they're all essentially the same. Mirkit, for instance, added "MP" as in Max Power to their variant and Baofeng added "HP" for High Power to distinguish theirs. What does matter is the device firmware that the radio came with. This, btw, it is NOT user upgradeable/flash-able. What it comes with, is what you get. Period. So then, onto some of my observations and gripes. First rub.... What the seller is calling as a "bonus firmware" is essentially a list of commonly used channels for GMRS, FRS, MURS, Marine, etc. IMHO, is not a firmware at all and they should stop calling it as such. The "bonus firmware" are composed of mainly 2 things: 1. A CSV file with all of the commonly used frequencies such as FRS, GMRS, Marine, etc. With this list, you can manually program the radio. However, when you manually enter the frequencies, there is no way to add custom names such as "GMRS 1", etc. For this, you need to program via software and a cable. 2. An image profile containing the above channels which requires the Chirp programming software and a programming cable to be loaded onto the radio. Again, this "bonus firmware" has NOTHING to do with the device firmware which is not flashable/upgradeable. I found this part of the seller's product description to be misleading. 2nd rub.... A general rule is that the newer firmware can be assumed to be more stable, have more bug fixes, and offer additional features. In the Amazon product description, the seller stated "2019" which lead me to think that this was their latest model. As soon as I received the radio, I checked the firmware that came on my Mirkit UV-5R MK5. Mine came with: BFB298. To the best of my knowledge, this is not the latest firmware. I Googled it and found that there are newer versions such as BFB299 to BFB308, and beyond. This leaves me wondering why the seller stated "2019" in the product description. Or, is it possible that I received either old inventory or someone returned their old one back to Amazon that was resold to me. When I got the radio, I noticed that there were some channels already saved on it and would NOT allow me to save any new channel settings without either: 1) manually deleting the channel, one-by-one, 2) doing a master reset, or 3) use the FTDI programming cable via Chirp software to overwrite the settings. I read another reviewer had also complained about this and thought that it was a firmware bug. What I did found odd was that the battery came fully charged. Now, every electronic device I have ever purchased had never came fully charged (from iPhones, to BT speakers/headphones, etc). It's common knowledge that lithium ion batteries should never be stored long term while fully charged. So, it would support the theory that someone returned their old radio in exchange for a "2019" model with the newer firmware. I've posted an Amazon question to ask the seller and others what is the latest version on their MK5. Will update once I find out. Anyway, this is what I've learned so far on my journey and wanted to give back to the Amazon community as I have learned a lot from other's reviews. Would love to hear from the seller about my observations and I would be glad to update my review if I have misstated anything. If you found this review helpful, let me know by pressing the “Helpful” button below.