Baofeng UV 25 Review | A Big Tactical Walkie Talkie That's Hiding A Secret! - Part I

[@tamistone2632]

Hilarious, witty and truthful commentary, love it. I bought one on a lark as I’m an old radio guy from the 70’s when radios were once big and meaty. Back then you could hold onto them and knew you had something solid in your hands. At the radio shop back then we used to have to tell the police not to use the radios as a sap or Billy club to enforce compliance. This radio reminds me of those old wild and crazy days when you really could hammer nails with them. In that regard this radio does not disappoint. I hated the look of what I thought was the cheap plastic silver-ish looking speaker grill frame. I disassembled the radio to remove it and paint it flat black, (looks much better now) imagine my surprise to find out the yes, while it does have fake screws on the front, it is actually a nice piece of solid cast metal secured from the backside with 4 real screws. Furthermore the internal metal radio frame is truly gasketed including the volume control knob, antenna SMA connector, and speaker/mic port. It is water resistant in my books, pity the battery has no gasket though. Nothing good to say about the antenna though. The gooseneck shields the radiating element with only about 4 inches of tip exposed in the top knob to perform the actual radiating. It matches quite well on my network vector analyzer at 147 and 410 Mhz but so does a 50 ohm resistor, who knows what the radiation pattern looks like. Toss the antenna and get a real one. I just bought some knockoff Nagoya 771 antennas and cut them down to match 146, 224 and 445 MHz each, I swap them as necessary and they work quite well. For $35 these are not a bad radio, receive sensitivity is good but front end filtering is well… Baofeng…

[@N2EWSRadio]

I got one to review for a laugh. It's like a Jitterbug for ham radio oldies like me.

[@robustreviews]

I’ll keep an eye out mate 👍

[@daytona1212]

The speaking sound is pretty okay. I stil sound good on high power when I drove a couple of kilometers away from home and recorded it with SDRConnect. It's bit heavy, and when you hang it on your belt, you can't sit down with it. 😂🤣😂 It does take a lot of time to charge it. For normal use I take one of the Quangsheng's with me.

[@robustreviews]

Thanks @daytona1212 - yeah, obviously it'll bother people or it won't (the recharge time) but you can see where they've kept the cost down with the battery pack. My last video on it will have some more serious range and actual 'use' testing - they're not bad handsets at all - they're just not as rugged as they look in my opinion. Thank you for the comment! :)

[@mitchhoney2862]

As someone new looking into these things I was put off by the Hornby lovers and the neck beards. Finally someone down to earth and genuinely entertaining to watch. Good review mate

[@robustreviews]

Cheers mate, I really do enjoy getting comments like this. It is meant to be a _hobby_ after all, not a lifestyle. Good luck with looking in to it, we’re not all so serious I promise. At the end of the day we’re just people talking on radios, that’s all it is, no reason to take that at all seriously! Thanks again mate!

[@rickjf376]

This is the best F**&%$g review I have ever seen in my life. Relevant numbers (the numbers) and no unnecessary time spent on "hooking sh*^ up". FANTASTIC at keeping my undivided attention. YOU SIR, are a genious!!

[@robustreviews]

Mate that’s why I do it, I got bored of dull reviews that just go absolutely nowhere and just read out the spec’ sheet, cool if that’s y’thing but I’m trying to do something a bit different. Last thing I want to do is make reviews for _everybody._ Thanks for the positive comments, after a shitty day it’s made me smile and make me wanna make more stuff. Thanks again 👍

[@S21JDR]

Man, I laughed my ass off, the alarm button intro got me tripped! 🤣

[@robustreviews]

They seriously cause my piss to boil those buttons! Glad you enjoyed it mate, that's why I make them, I do like getting comments like this! Thank you for the comment good sir!

[@thormusique]

OMG, I loved this! You have just become my favourite YT radio channel. I'm not sure you'll consider that a compliment, but you will want to know that during the field sequence laying down comms in the wilds of your back garden, there were women falling out of the trees behind you. So I think that confirms your claims about the boost in Sexiness Coefficient using this Brofangs model. Or maybe it's just because you have three of them? Cheers!

[@robustreviews]

Well that's a nice message to wake up to! Cheers mate, yes I am trying to do something "less dull" in this sphere as otherwise everybody makes the same video 50 times with the usual suspects on here. Thanks again :) Andy

[@stacksmasher]

Best radio review ever!

[@robustreviews]

Cheers mate 🙏

[@Manta2kGaming]

lol also use 55watt cable charger ,,, hope i see more radio reviews soon :)

[@robustreviews]

Thanks @Manta2kGaming for the comment 🙏 more soon, expect something in the new few days.

[@angieandretti]

9:07 A recent CHIRP update actually finally added "UV-25" to the list of available Baofeng radios, but I suspect they just copied the UV-17Pro profile because, at last test, they still don't have support for the "Medium" power level in the UV-25 profile. You just get High and Low choices - which is actually a bummer if you want to program Medium power for your 2M channels for compatibility with your TX amplifier. Baofeng's own crappy programming software supports mid power but it's a pain to actually use versus CHIRP.

[@RealRocdad]

As battery voltage drops, current rises... a shitty battery charges much faster than a good battery...

[@N2EWSRadio]

I'm uploading my review of the UV25 now. Have a look if you get a chance. I linked to your review and destruction testing in the description.

[@robustreviews]

I’m looking forward to watching that later once I get a chance! That’s very good of you chap, if we all share the props a bit we can all grow together! Thanks mate 🙏

[@KhalidTagoranao]

My UV25 how to take out the input password to use it..

[@robustreviews]

Where does it want you to enter this passcode? I’ll take a look at mine 👍

[@jacobsnowden8741]

Mine is factory locked. How do I jailbreak it?

[@robustreviews]

What do you mean? Is it locked to GMRS?

[@jacobsnowden8741]

Its locked and will not let me transmit on frequencies beyond 144-148 & 420-450 MHz

[@jacobsnowden8741]

It will let me however receive just about anything. I have a theory that depending on who you order from it may come locked or unlocked. I bought mine from the Baofeng store on Amazon and its not the first radio Ive bought from there that is locked.

[@keeperoftruth5951]

​@@jacobsnowden8741 chirp is the only way to get the the full range of 136-174 and 420-520

[@wildhunter1389]

do you have a perfect radio? show me the review?

[@robustreviews]

I don’t think such a thing exists (or could exist) but without wandering in to philosophy the thing that’s going up in a few days is much better in my opinion. Thanks for the comment 👍

[@tony7043]

You were clearly negative from the get go there are plenty of very good reviews out there I would suggest you look at them before you make a finial judgment on this product

[@robustreviews]

You probably won’t like part 2 then 😂. Thanks for the feedback!

[@tony7043]

@@robustreviews ditto

[@tamistone2632]

As an RF design engineer I can say he is spot on in his assessment. Anecdotal reviews from KZbin hobbyists carry no weight. What matters is actual real engineering numbers quoting receive sensitivity, receiver blocking, intermodulation distortion, selectively, etc. Unless the reviewer can talk in real world terms using decibels and microvolts, which is how radio performance is qualified, then anything but is just jibberjabber.

[@TheIan1980]

Top drawer review! Fucking Curly! A sub and a like no less!

[@robustreviews]

Haha uniquely British reference that one - cheers @TheIan1980 - thanks for the comment sir 👍

[@theroguetomato5362]

Great video! Thanks.

[@robustreviews]

That’s really kind of you to say @theroguetomato5362 - I hope you had a laugh. Thanks for the comment!

[@thedayofevil]

To funny! Love it!

[@robustreviews]

Cheers @thedayofevil - I’m looking forward to getting part 2 up soon 🤞

[@twatmunro]

Channel deserves more subscribers.

[@robustreviews]

Cheers dude. That’s very kind to say -new video tomorrow morning and this one is actually lit properly 😂👍

[@edgarcornette6387]

ohhh god ... your funny and informative .. damn just wish I could subscribe more then once .. lololo holy hell love ya

[@OldNavajoTricks]

Not that I have to explain myself but I'm watching backwards because Judas FUCKING Priessssstaaaah!!! Disturbingly I just keep hearing a disembodied voice telling me to get licenced haha! 😂🤘 Bf88 5RH listen only :-D

[@rossclynes773]

This video made me laugh 😂

[@AC-nt1ph]

Almost had my subscription ,until I heard the foul language, No need for that .

[@robustreviews]

😂 - you liked your own comment too?

[@tamistone2632]

The ‘foul’ language makes the points succinct. They are necessary because they cut to the chase. They leave no doubt as to his meaning and intent and allows him to move on to the next subject. Consider your virgin ears deflowered, now that the shock and trauma is over you can go back and focus on meat and potatoes of his reviews.

[@utmatt20]

TF you talking bout? TFing language had me rolling. Liked and subscribed.

[@robustreviews]

@@utmatt20 I thank you sir! Yep, it’s my style… sometimes you’ve just gotta get to the point rather than droning on to say the same thing that could be expressed in one simple word more than adequately!