I have a uv-5ra and wanted to try the tri band. I love how easy it scans. I did purchase a tri band antenna but for fun I'll try the two separate antennas plus all the ones I make. The battery life/usage is as good as the uv-5ra and I interchange the batteries (I have just one spare to share with both radios). I have hit repeaters as far away as 60 miles on my tri band antenna and my ground plane antennas.

220 band worked as well as the two original. Great one radio covers it all unit.

I like the Baofeng products, including this radio. Alas, the new UV-5X3 went dark after a week. Customer support at BTECH immediately issued an RMA to return, which I used to mail the dead 5X3 last Tuesday. On Saturday, a new replacement 5X3 arrived - quick replacement. Problems do occur, then the customer's remedy is the seller's support group, which at BTECH performed perfectly to correct this issue. Thanks! Incidentally, I love the 5X3 including scanning within programmed limits. -And the Nagoya TriBand rubber ducky makes a great addition for jumping band-to-band. Thanks, guys!

Almost as good as my VX-6 Yaesu radio for a fraction of the price. Ordered three more and already MARS/CAP ready

I love this little radio. It works great on all 3 advertised bands. I am able to work all repeaters in town on all 3 bands (144/220/440)

If Baofeng only would make their radios user friendly... Other than that works as expected on all 3 bands. No other complaints.

Works great. I don't have my HAM radio license yet, but I thought this would be a great beginner radio and something I could use to learn. I suggest using CHIRP with this radio. CHIRP was easy to use and seemed to be easier than manual programming. It is definitely usable as an analog scanner. Admittedly, not the best for scanning, but it will work. I think it all depends on your level of desire, expertise and need. Great for entry level. Would recommend this product.

This was my first Chinese HT. I have owned several from the big three over the past 30 years. I opted for the UV-5x3 due to the mostly positive reviews of the UV-5R and addition of 220. The UV-5R is actually discontinued so the ones you see being sold on Amazon are either old stock or of questionable authenticity. This can be verified by visiting BTech's storefront, you won't find a single UV-5R. At this price point the UV-5x3 is an excellent value and almost a steal. They've eliminated all the previous bugs of the UV-5R and gave us the much underutilized 220mhz band as added candy. It performs well on all bands and about what you'd expect for a 4W HT. The supplied flexible antennas are a compromise but work well for shorter distances. I wished they provided a single tri-band antenna rather than one for 220 and one for 144/440 but there are so many affordable after-market antennas on Amazon this becomes a non-issue. Construction is very good but not equal to some Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu handhelds. Still, it's a very durable $60 radio and not $300+. As others have mentioned with the UV-5R, the UV-5x3 can be tedious to program via the keypad, it's essentially the same interface. Programming with a computer and CHIRP will make your life MUCH easier and highly recommended. Do yourself a favor and purchase the PC03 FTDI cable, it's not worth being a cheap ham and risk getting a bogus Prolific programming cable to save $8-10. My only wish for the UV-5x3 would be 200 memory channels rather then 127. Otherwise I don't know of any other radio on the market that gives you this much for so little.Now for my soapbox commentary: These cheap Chinese HT's are great for a new ham on a tight budget. I can't imagine how many of these have brought newcomers into the hobby of amateur radio, this is a good thing. On the flip side, I'm sure since these are so affordable and transmit on such a wide frequency range there's an equal amount polluting the airwaves illegally on GMRS, FRS, business band, and yes, the amateur bands. I have recently heard transmissions of what normally would be found on the CB band emanating from a wide coverage 2 meter statewide system. This will not get you any brownie points in the amateur community. Please folks, make a little effort to know what's legal or not. Getting your ham Tech license is a trivial process compared to what it used to be.

Great inexpensive triband. Bought on a recommendation and pleased with it. Just recommend getting a triband antenna. Keeps from having to change antennas every time you want to go to the 1.25m band. The charger did go out within a couple of days but was able to get a replacement quickly. Happy with the customer service.

got a daily deal on it, seems like a decent radio for the price