Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes
Reviews Home

Reviews For: Baofeng/Pofung BF-F8HP

Category: Transceivers: VHF/UHF+ Amateur Hand-held

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Baofeng/Pofung BF-F8HP
Reviews: 24MSRP: 62.00
Description:
VHF/UHF Dual Band Handheld Radio
*Selectable 8-Watt Output
*Narrow and Wide Band Coverage
*VFO and Channel Modes
* CTCSS / DCS Tone Codes
* DTMF Encoder
* FM Radio and Built-in Flashlight
* ANI Code
* Emergency Tone Burst
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.baofengradio.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00244.3
WG5D Rating: 2022-07-14
Baofung BF-F8HP / UV-5R Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have several Baofeng radios, a couple of UV-5Rs, and a newer BF-F8HP. I am pleased with them, they are easy to program using the free Chirp software. I have the 3800 mAh batteries on them so they go forever on a charge. You can't beat the price, you can have a total package with the extended battery, remote hand mic, charging base, programming cable, etc. for less than the cost of a replacement battery for a Kenwood or Icom handheld (I own those as well). Some claim spurious radiation from these radios, but I tested them both against my Icom and Kenwood radios and saw very little difference on the spectrum analyzer. The bottom line is that you can't go wrong with these little beasts. 73
KN6KQR Rating: 2020-11-14
Great radio, avoid fakes Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have two of these and they are great radios. I paid about $70 each on Amazon from Baofeng directly. If you bought a radio and it was not from the Baofeng website or from Amazon via Baofeng you may not have an actual F8-HP. If you paid much less than the $62 they cost on the https://baofengtech.com/bf-f8hp website it is probably not an F8-HP. Baofeng makes many variations, if you did not order a F8-HP and the radio does not say F8-HP you are reviewing a different radio. The stock antenna works better than the Nagoya 771 or 701. Take a close look at the Miklor website, they have tested a bunch of handheld antennas. The stock V-85A or whatever it is called is a hair below one of the 771's they tested and above another two they tested and in my practice the stock antenna is the best vs Nagoya. These radios are tweaked by a subset of Baofeng called BTech. My understanding is they take a stock Baofeng and tweak it with their technology for the higher power output and a different antenna and bigger battery. I have hit repeaters 35 miles away. Out of the box can used for 2M/70cm/GMRS/FRS/MURS/Marine so a great all around radio for $65.
N2DAY Rating: 2019-12-05
Baofung BF-F8HP Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have a Pofung BF-F8Hp and it works fine ,but for some reason mine only puts out 6 watts max other than that its a good rig, maybe the watt meter I'm using isn't that accurate
REMOVED_WB3JJF Rating: 2019-12-03
Inexpensive Vhf/Uhf HT that Works Fine Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I am an advance class ham with 40+ years experience, and yes, I know "you get what you pay for". But these radios are amazing for the money. I recently got back onto the 2mtr/440 bands. I have a trusty Yaesu FT-7800 on my bench at home but I wanted a portable for use on my boat, etc. I decided to take a chance on a Chinese radio. Well, I wound up buying two along with several accessories. These inclded a couple of different antennas, a Commountain speaker mike, the larger battery, etc. Having always liked RT Systems programming software I spent as much on it along with their programming cable as the radio cost, but it works well. I had problems with the progrmming cable, but after some on line research, I trimmed (chamfered) the edges on the end that goes into the radio and it works fine.
The new versions of the BF-8FHP have a better instruction manual then previous models. These radios actually appear pretty solid and they work fine. For the money (you can find them on Amazon for 40-45 bucks) they are amazing. They are quite compact and put out a good signal for their size. Not 8 watts but more like 6.5 to 7. I can work repeaters 15 miles away from inside my home with the stock antenna.
This has been my experince the past month!
73's de K3GIL
ADAM2 Rating: 2018-11-18
Can't beat it for the price Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Some people can't afford $200 - $400 handhelds. This could be the difference between having a dual band radio and not.

The BF-F8HP is a powerful HT for the price. You can get one for about $35 on eBay or $65 from Amazon. Haven't had any problems so far. I think RT Systems BAO-F8 Software and USB-K4Y Cable are far superior to Chirp + the FDDI Baofeng cable, but about $29 more. Programming the HT through the menu is strange, but doable.

This is not my EDC, because it may lack the ruggedness of the big three, but Baofeng has hit a home run with this unit (as long as it's $35 - $65). The company is building a good reputation in this area, so would not be surprised to start seeing them start competing on the high end as well.
WA2ZQX Rating: 2018-03-13
JUNK Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Died 10-days after I received it. Returned it to Amazon and got full refund. Instruction manual looked nice but wasn't concise...found better programming instructions online. Don't waste your time and money. I bought another Kenwood TH-K20A...for a few dollars more got a reliable and proven, well-made product.
KG5YEZ Rating: 2018-02-15
CLONE: HT-UV8R Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
My radio(s) are a re-brand marketed by HESENATE on amazon. The radios come in a nice box, the plastic pack. The power (center of bands) is 6.3 VHF and 5.2 UHF. Swapping the antenna for the NA-771 resulted in significant improvement in both transmit distance and receive sensitivity. I paid $35 for this radio on Amazon. as a note, the first radio charger died in minutes of use. I already ordered 2 more (after getting my license) however corresponding with HESENATE on amazon, they agreed to send a new charger. Am awaiting same.
K1RSU Rating: 2018-01-03
Great Radio Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Great sturdy rugged, good to hold.... works all the time, inexpensive... easy to program....need to come up the learning curve... me or my wife can set up a repeater contact is less tha 60 seconds....stop the belly aching..... also like all transmitters, use the lowest power setting that gets the job done... the best antennas are the ones that come with the unit, made by Baofeng....... do not transmit with out an antenna..... DUH!

as for rubber duck antenna..... none work better than those that come with the unit.....

shut the radio off when switching over to a magmount... duh!

I have not seen any place where 8 watts was needed.... we do everything with one watt sometimes 4 watts...

BaoFeng sell millions of these radios and various derivitives all over the world, they are not "cheap" they are inexpensive due to the economy of scale.. a basic capitalism principle..

bao sounds like bah, ba ba black sheep.. together ba owe

feng sounds like fung not fang

show some respect to the correct pronunciation.. less you sound like a bigotted zenophobic ugly American..

great reliable radio....... no problems.....

KJ4RFX Rating: 2017-12-28
VHF Xmit Died After 18 months Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I really like this radio and used it for many public service events that my club provides communications support for. Easy to program using CHIRP and no problem hitting repeaters in my area. Unfortunately, while operating one evening, the VHF transmit quit working. UHF was still fine, as was receiving on both VHF and UHF, but no VHF transmit. I tried to explore repair options but was told by Baofengtech (where I bought it) that repairs would probably exceed the cost of a new radio -- which was about $62. I replaced it with a GT-5TP, which has a two-year warranty. The Bf-8HP only has a one year warranty. If the radio was still fully working I would have likely given it a 4 or 5 rating.

----------------------
Earlier 3-star review posted by KJ4RFX on 2017-12-16

This was my first HT dual band radio and it was great while it lasted... which was about 18 months of light use. I was working a 2 meter repeater when suddenly the radio quit transmitting on VHF. I found it still received fine and worked on UHF in both transmit and receive... but nothing out on VHF. Prior to that, the unit worked well, with both good transmit and receive quality.

I contacted BaoFeng tech support -- and to their credit they got back to me very quickly on a Saturday evening. But because the warranty is only a year, I was unable to get an RMA for repair. I asked what the repair options were and was told the labor would likely be close to the cost of a new radio.

I realize it was only $62 new, but I was hoping to get more than 18 months out of it, especially since it's mostly used only for public service events that my radio club provides communications support for... three to four times a year. Otherwise I'm usually running my Yaesu mobile rig on VHF/UHF.

My only other complaint is programming it... which seems to be a common issue with other owners as well. I used CHIRP to get around the tedious programming that the keypad takes.
XE1ZLG Rating: 2017-11-15
Super great value radio Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Much better cross modulation resistance with its own antenna and T/R switch much faster than other UV5 based radios.. Good quality speaker sound ( better than Baofeng GT3 Wp )... FM TX modulation very good ( an old Ham buddy told me If I was using a Kenwood handheld ). WFM receiver works better than Baofeng GT3 WP.

Compact and sturdy.

Baofeng/Pofung is getting better and better.

Thanks Baofeng.

I own a Yaesu Ft 70Dr and a Kenwood Th-D74a..... and this is my every day radio. XE1ZLG