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

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This is part one, I know I've got previous here, but there will be a Part II
Please note: My reviews are not called Robust Reviews for nothing; they're potentially liable to offend but I deal in the real world, not always the rarified atmosphere of safe content - please give these a wide-berth if strong language and adult themes might be something you'd rather not watch. I hope you do get a chuckle though.
Before somebody points it out, I use just about every pronunciation I can think of for Baofeng (I'm claiming Bwafung as mine) - it's deliberate.
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:54 Why you might want to buy a Baofeng UV-25
02:57 Might you might not want to buy a Baofeng UV-25
03:47 Unboxing
07:17 Up Close
08:00 A serious point
09:17 Short-range radio testing
11:15 Metrology
11:47 Power Testing
13:56 Battery (VERY IMPORTANT)
17:44 Harmonics
19:05 UV-25 Speaker volume test
20:00 Goodb
I've probably been a touch unkind to some of the aesthetic features of this radio (although, I think a bit justified) - the Curly thing, well if you weren't hanging around here in Britbong land circa 1993 that won't mean anything, I'll leave that to you to research.
The coins thing is a bit of a specific rant, but if you want to learn more about our odd pre-1971 currency (there were 20 Shillings in a pound by the way, 12 pence in shilling, so 240 Pence in a pound - yep... oh, there were Guineas too, we still use those for horse trading, that's a 252d unit) there's a sublime video here: • Predecimal Currency: T...
The music bed is an instrumental of the astonishingly brilliant and sadly a touch forgotten 1985 UK summer jam "Say I'm Your Number One" by Princess, sadly not heard enough these days - one of the least appreciated pop masterpieces of all time.
Part 2 will be released Sunday 16 June 2024, 2200 BST, that'll include long-range testing, some points I missed in the first one, a new segment called "Your Text Here" and I'll speak less about needing the toilet in that one, nor 'continuous discharges'.
Although I come across a cynical so-and-so it does mean a lot that you're watching, and truly, I'm honoured to have anybody watch my nonsense. It's all very tongue in cheek, and I really did need to pass urine by the last few segments - my eyeballs were floating hence I was a bit grumpy.
Oh there was a very nasty word written on that wall, I've done by best to obfuscate it (I didn't notice until the very last moment) - the world is full of absolute arseholes isn't it :( I'll know to not film there again!
Thanks again!
More soon,
Andy x
🎵 Music licensed from Lickd. The biggest mainstream and stock music platform for content creators
The Power (12“ Version) by Snäp, License ID: p1Y3pRLkNRV
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🎵 Music licensed from Lickd. The biggest mainstream and stock music platform for content creators
Say I'm Your Number One (Senza Voce) by Princess, License ID: j91VlRgY0JZ
Try Lickd FREE for 14 days for unlimited stock music and get 50% off your first mainstream track: app.lickd.co/r/3322f332950645...

[@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…

[@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.

[@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! :)

[@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.

[@thedayofevil]

To funny! Love it!

[@robustreviews]

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

[@theroguetomato5362]

Great video! Thanks.

[@robustreviews]

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

[@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 👍

[@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.

[@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 😂👍

[@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

[@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.

[@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.