Retevis RB86 Mobile GMRS Review - Power Test & Overview Of Features And Everything Wrong With It

A brutally honest review of the Retevis RB86 20 watt mobile GMRS radio - I show you the features of this radio, I test the power-output and I show you everything that is wrong with this radio. You can get your very own RB-86 GMRS radio here: amzn.to/3bG37eY
But watch the entire video before you buy this radio!
► Like my shirt? Get yours here! --- a.co/9wwUzxA
►Want to help support my channel? ►►JOIN and become a member for as low as $1.99/mo (cancel any time) - Click here for more info: / @thenotarubicon
►► Or just click the $Thanks button at the bottom of the video
►► Did your comment get DELETED? Read this page to find out why: www.notarubico...
►►► Step-by-step guide to purchasing your GMRS license:
www.notarubico...
►►►►► My video & audio equipment list: a.co/6Tk9kOr
NOTICE - The above links (and most other links on my channel) are affiliate links - if you use one of my affiliate links to make a purchase I may receive credit/payment/money/something of value in return.
Music by Stern Beats - You can find him here:
/ @sternbeatsmusic
#retevis

[@wilbertonoriega7484]

The review for the radio don't by the clown it is not accurate

[@TheNotaRubicon]

Someone please translate this into something that normal people can understand.

[@panchopistola8298]

Nice Job bobo ….

[@panchopistola8298]

@@TheNotaRubicon Me thinks he doesn’t articulate well….

[@archiehenderson2744]

What? 😳

[@radian2323]

@@TheNotaRubicon I think he is trying to be a mad ham but unsure...

[@kprojects2940]

Lol I love the roasting for them not including the cable 100%

[@OverlandOne]

Nice Randy. As a Non-Ham licensed operator for more than 50 years (I use CB and now GMRS with my new license) I have to say I really appreciate your telling it like it is. I bought the 20 watt Radiodity GMRS mobile unit after watching your review and have been very happy with it. Thanks for all that you do Sir.

[@ItsEverythingElse]

You've been a licensed operator for over 50 years?

[@paul.9828]

@@ItsEverythingElse He has been a radio operator for over 50 years, but not ham licensed.

[@marcwashburn6134]

a CB operator for 50 years...you must have been in the movie 'Smokie and the Bandit' or on the TV show 'BJ & the Bear'

[@DRC5150]

I can remember when you had to have a license to use cb. My dad's old call sign khe9206

[@dmwil1]

@@DRC5150 My brother had a base station during the CB craze in the mid 70's. I remember we had a license, too. I fell like I can almost remember it, but not quite.

[@duff8402]

Golden review once again that only makes me wish you were a ham so I could get these types of HONEST reviews for a ham radio instead of a blanketed "i got this for free so I'm going to make it look like a gem" reviews that we get from every other channel on youtube.

[@craigdavidson5463]

Brutal and Honest..... Just the way I like it!

[@ravedog]

Finally a mic that has a FUN button… because radios need to be more FUN

[@DaveNay6739]

There are only two hard things in Computer Science: cache invalidation, naming things, and off by one errors.

[@oldguyexploits]

🤣😂

[@paul.9828]

+1

[@marcspaz]

OMG... I literally laughed out loud. The programming pain is real.

[@ai5gu]

😂🤣😂🤣

[@eTexNerd]

😂 Yeah, just those 2. ;)

[@Stan_Rich]

As always Randy, great review. Boy, this radio review has many of the first issue problems (& more it seems) as the HT BAOFENG UV-5X GMRS that you reviewed some time ago. BAOFENG resolved all the issues very fast and renamed/re-issued it as UV-5G. I purchased two of the UV-5G’s after your second review & you confirmed all issues were resolved and I’m very happy with these radios. Hopefully, they will correct the issues from your review and Re-issue this Retevis radio like Baofeng did. BTW, I also purchased the Radioddity DB25-G GMRS Base after your great review and I’m very happy with this radio too. BTW, the Radioddity DB25-G GMRS Base I purchased, is CHIRP Compatible now. Keep you great reviews coming!

[@HamRadioDX]

Great honest review. No GMRS here in Australia, but appreciate the review for ham purposes... looks like it's missing the critical bits I'd want.

[@wheel1775]

Out of curiosity, do you have an equivalent radio service in Australia? GMRS radios would still function in Australia, but I’m assuming they wouldn’t be legal to use. I’m genuinely curious. I’m definitely not being a troll.

[@DanVoels]

Literally spit coffee all over my laptop when you said confuckulation. 😂

[@DonzLockz]

I love Randy's No Bulls#!t policy on reviews.👍😄

[@michael.w.salter]

It's a nice $130 paperweight. I do however like the mic and mic connector. Thanks for the heads up on this new POS.

[@retevisQA]

Thanks a lot for reviewing the RB86 for Retevis. Regarding the problems you met, here is our explanation: 1. There is no programming cable in the package at present, but the subsequent products sent to the Amazon warehouse will come with cables. 2. The problem of wide and narrow band is currently being optimized, and the latest firmware will be displayed on Retevis official website. 3. The vehicle platform is prohibited from sending signals on the 8-14 channel, which can only be received; 23-30 channel are repeater channels.

[@bassmanjr100]

As a person that works for a company that develops standard programming on HMIs for their equipment these problems are understandable. I would question why a product manager and engineering manager didn't internally review for these things prior to sending it out for review. Would have saved the company a lot of needless embarrassment. Sounds like you need to hire some folks that actually use the equipment.

[@BobBruns]

It's radio releases like this that steer me away from your company and others... "Some" people do not have access to a PC/laptop/MAC to adjust all the problems with this radio. They want a radio that works out of the box and not have to correct "ALL" of the problems with this "radio" and with flashing a new firmware. Thank you for being honest Randy.

[@scruffynorseman]

still didnt address the channel numbers being off by one

[@rabbi6225]

What about those who have purchased them without a cable? Plus it should come in channel mode as a default and Function.

[@ke8mattj]

It would be extremely beneficial for your company to hire some better QC staff. The issues presented in this video tend to be common in cheap chinese radios. Granted: cheap chinese radios, but with the price, you'd expect more quality upon release then fixing easily caught errors after release with firmware updates. You might want to have reviewers like Randy test prototypes of radios so you can get feedback on what to correct prior to an official release.

[@DC-ok6bk]

Whew, glad you completed such an honest and valuable review. Too bad the manufacturer doesn’t get the right people to advise them on how to not frustrate their customers

[@davidbinkowski4825]

Its just one more example of how the devil is in the details, and if you give someone a radio that your engineers royally fooked over, like this one, you best give the person the means to un-fook it with the software. I'm almost certain, that with a few clicks in the software, many of those bad decisions of how to implement the channel names, the tones, and the narrow band default, could be fixed quickly... They shot themselves in the foot on this one by not sending the programming cable. In this world, details matter.

[@flocksbyknight]

Very thorough. A consulting fee should be awarded to you from this company. Along with a cable to upload the firmware fix they should be working on right now!

[@troy3456789]

Great video. I hope Retevis takes note and makes the necessary adjustments.

[@VanillaGorilla502]

Always a good day when I see your channel uploaded another video. 📻

[@Snookynibbles]

I don’t just watch this channel for superb GMRS rig reviews, but I watch it for instructions on how to dissemble & reassemble guns…talk about value-add!

[@1crazynordlander]

After owning a Retevis DMR radio, never again. Good review on this radio. You save us all from making costly mistakes.

[@troyhaas6129]

Randy I watch alot of the videos and I have learned alot . My jaw dropped when you did this video on the RB86, because my radio had just arrived. I did use a garmin GPS data cable to get into the software to change the settings from narrow to wide bandwidth but all that was there was mid,mid,narrow. Could you let me know if you have any luck with those issues you mentioned

[@sledgenft8856]

I appreciate you honesty about this radio almost bought for my son, your awesome viewer

[@donaldoc]

Thank You, Sensei, for the forewarned, heads up review, on this radio, so not to waste, 17min.17 sec. of my time that I would've never gotten back, watching this painfully honest review. I'm sorry you had to put yourself through the production and editing time, that even you won't get back either. Grateful for your time and efforts, helping us spend our budgets, wisely! 👌👏😉

[@rayjeep]

Thanks for keeping it honest, Randy. A few free radios are never worth the loss of trust from us, your favorite viewers. I got the similar looking AnyTone 778UV a couple of months ago and love it as my primary. 136-174 mhz and 400-480. Cross tone capable, 25 watts, chirp programmable, multiple repeater tone storage, $120. And most importantly, Roger beep.

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

Wow 25 watt standred and 24 watts on a repeater channel not bad at all for a 20 watt Radio 10:30 dang pre set Ctcss and Dcs Tones and No program cable wow Wonder if a standred Older cell phone USB A to USB Mini Cable would work Randy 🤔 @NotaRubicon Productions

[@RisingTidesAC]

It is good to know that you use the Farsometer 2000 which is built and sold in the USA! You are a true patriot my friend!

[@OkieProductions]

I have the ham radio version and it works great. I even programed all the gmrs channels in it so the wife and I can break the ham radio rules when using a ham radio to broadcast gmrs. Lol. Had it in my polaris ranger and it survived the pressure washer many times.

[@thebear6751]

What model for the ham version

[@scottscheppelmann1295]

Randy love your channel! Please do a review of the New version of the RA86. The direct competitor of the mxt275. When I bought mine directly from Retivis during Xmas, it was under $100 and they sent a Xmas card with the radio! Please review the new RA86 so everyone can throw out that midland junk. Ps. I think the mic is weighted.

[@budgetbasscovers]

I gave the Retevis RA25 a chance last month, and yeah, you need to program it with the cable and software to really make it shine. The separately available cable, I might add. But now I am very happy with it. I bet this one will improve once the cable makes its debut.

[@reg428]

Another great honest review. Thanks again, from your favorite viewer

[@KE8QBI]

One would think that after the RB 27 review and the narrow band confuckulation, that someone would of thought "Gee whiz Beev maybe we shouldn't do that." One would think that some one in the hierarchy of Retevis would bring up at staff meetings to have the bugs worked out before they send out a radio to Randy. Wouldn't want to be in the office when this video was played on a 100 inch TV with all the executives present. There was some quiet drinking that night at the bar.

[@BobJoe64862]

The RB86 truly is riddled with glitches. I found I can work some...but not all...of them out through programming it with TYT TH-8600 software. You can program these radios through a "back door" but are still limited to 30 channels. Download the TYT TH-8600 software. I think this is the parent radio. Download the programming of your RB86 to that. Make any changes you want. Save the file. Open up that file in the Retevis RB86 software and upload it to the radio. Done. I just did this to make a RB86 that has MURS/GMRS/RUGGED/NOAA channels. I only did this for someone who had already purchased it. I agree this radio is jacked up and if you like this form factor and the IP rating, go buy the TYT TH-8600.

[@markcall9695]

DAMN! This 'WOULD' be perfect for our UTV group if not for the narrow band glitch and program confuckery! I hope because of YOU that they update this soon and allow better programming. Thanks for saving us the frustration and I am sure Retevis will keep YOU... our favorite KZbinr Hobo updated on changes! (I hope)

[@TractorsNStuff]

You know it's a POS when the tab breaks off the screen cover within seconds. Thank you Randy for an honest review!

[@pattymiller2160]

That was funny

[@Factory400]

Wouxun seems to own this market. I own a few of them and they work very well without any serious operational frustrations. I really hate fiddly electronics so I tend to prioritize the brands that are the least fiddly - even if I need to pay more. For what its worth, the Super Het front ends on the Wouxun offers a real and practical improvement over the System on a Chip designs when you are on the fringes of the signal range (At max FARS).

[@lesgobrandon]

That freakin Farsometer cracked me up.

[@seandrake7534]

Was i the only one hoping when randy asked should you buy this radio he would just toss it in the trash can 😂

[@stevep6108]

what do you think about the Retevis RA86 ? any feedback or opinions on it ?

[@davidbachman2105]

Retevis Solutions is where I got my programming cable because like a dumbass I couldn't wait for your review and I bought this radio and there is no wide band they have a mid band which is considered their wideband. So I've tested it here at home with some locals around my area and it works okay they didn't have a problem hearing me.

[@BobJoe64862]

If you want full wideband I found a work around. Download TYT TH-8600 software. Download your RB86's programming into that. Edit as needed. Save the file. Open that file in the RB86 software. The RB86 software may still show your wideband files as "mid band". Do no edit this, only use the RB86 software to upload to the radio. Once uploaded it will show on the radio as wideband.

[@wbrown310]

You channel is showing up on my Google home page. You must be doing sometime right to make that happen. Big fan-

[@wheel1775]

The one thing I’ve learned from this channel is…..buy a Wouxun….😂😂😂. Since I’ve bought way to many GMRS Radios this month, I think I’m qualified to agree with that assessment.

[@whollymindless]

Wouxun has it's quirks, but never have I seen them set cts/dss from the factory.

[@yqtszhj]

Man, I can relate to buying too many Gmrs radios.

[@foreclosureofadreamurbex5420]

I will take my old Kenwoods and Motorolas over the ocean crap

[@wheel1775]

@@foreclosureofadreamurbex5420 Well I’m sure I would also. If you can direct me to a GMRS radio made by them that has the same functionality I’ll be glad to buy it. I try to avoid Chinese products whenever possible, but in the GMRS world every one is made in China.

[@wheel1775]

@@whollymindless True. I did buy a few Baofengs and it’s night and day from Baofeng to Wouxun. I wish I could find an American company that made GMRS radios somewhere other than China.

[@KF0KDE]

Thanks Randy, I have one of these on my Amazon shopping list. I might go a different direction now. Probably Radiodity.

[@RSole9999]

How is it waterproof with that fan in the back? If immersed in water, does the fan pump cooling water over all the components? Also, I do not expect long life from any electronic item that gets very hot. Capacitors and other components do not like heat. I expect that this radio may last slightly longer than the warranty period, and maybe not even that long. They designed it to be compact and powerful but with inadequate cooling.

[@BobJoe64862]

The fan blows a small amount of air over the back of the radio. There does not appear to be any holes for the air to enter the radio itself.

[@mnb5404]

is this the same radio as the Rugged GM25?

[@JoshSmiththeoneandonly]

Can I use any USB cable I have laying around or is there something special about the programming cable?

[@arsbadmojo]

Thanks for the honest review! Bit of a facepalm, but hey - maybe v2 will be better for them.

[@chrislj2890]

I was wondering if Retevis got back about all of these issues, but apparently not. I saw a video by Farpoint Farms on this radio and his had the cable and a CD included, but he just did a perfunctory review.

[@lbjailer]

So I guess they will be sending you a programming cable and adjust the factory settings in the future?

[@OnRappel]

Would like to see a review of a comparable radio, the BTECH Mobile GMRS-20V2.

[@prillewitz]

And that is why I changed the channel programming with channel 1 instead of channel 0 on my Retevis RT95! Also because my other devices start with channel one! So unformity in channels. There seems to be an update for this firmware on Ailunce which seem to solve these problems. 😂

[@michaelbrown4420]

Wonder if an off the shelf micro-usb cable would work for programming?

[@tommyj1811]

“Hey Sam! Did you test the radio and it’s programming before we ship it out?” “Ummm should I?”

[@rustyhaddock7954]

The code compiled so... SHIP IT!

[@joestosez]

Nice looking radio wish it was user friendly. Hopefully Retevis sees this and fixes the issues .

[@licustoms]

The port you showed where the programming cable goes is a USB Type-B connector. Would a standard USB Type-A Male (normal USB plug that goes into computers) to USB Type-B Male (to go into the port on the unit) work? Or does the programming cable need to have some kind of chips/microcontroller in between the ends to work correctly like what's seen on the Baofeng UV-5R radios? (I'm completely new to all of this and just wondering.) Just found your channel recently and trying to learn as much as I can. I appreciate your humor I've seen in some of the UV-5R videos! : )

[@TheNotaRubicon]

The cable requires a serial-interface chip.

[@ke8mattj]

I wonder how many problems would be solved if they hired some proper QC staff and got some input outside of their echo chamber prior to releasing these to the public. They'd probably end up generating more profit to not only cover the costs of the QC staff, but make even more due better first impressions. I find the issues presented in this video is common with a lot of radios produced by sweat shops filled with slave laborers who have low social credit ratings for disagreeing with Emperor Jinping.

[@KU9L]

Did they ever fix the "Sad Ham" features that lacked a programming cable and so on?

[@garycook5125]

Manual indicates that Bandwidth is "WIDE" by default (wrong).

[@motor2of7]

That looks like a mini DIN connector. Any chance a standard cable will work?

[@mcgrath16511]

But it’s so pretty! And it’s waterproof, and it puts out more power than it’s says it does, which we all know is very, very important!.. would make a nice nightlight..

[@jamescopeland5358]

Good honest review

[@busdaddy1547]

Any update on this? Have they addressed the issues?

[@KenRod1969]

Lots of confuckulation here. LOL! Thank you for the review.

[@royrobinson4636]

I regularly attend this GMRS Class-101, while visually indulging myself with new products, and (brutally) honest reviews. I have also read the reasonable rebuttal from *Retevis, "pinned" to the top. Were they surprised at the level of your honesty? It's been enlightening, fun, and a very successful day! Thank you, Sir!

[@mysteryham4065]

“Confu@kulation. My new word. Long time fan over here. Get that technician!

[@craigdavidson2977]

All that 'technician' means is less people you are legally allowed to talk to. Hams are only allowed to talk to other hams. GMRS users can talk to anyone, no license required with FRS.

[@bloodbushcraft2467]

I'm trying to decide between the Retevis RA 86 OR the Midland mtx 275 anyone wanna help? There's about a 50 dollar difference

[@michaelbrown4420]

I'm in the same boat. If the RA 86 puts out power like the RB, I'm definitely going that route. The mic controls also look better than the midland.

[@joestreiff9401]

I note that via sdr#, they seem to use narrow band around me (texas)

[@theroguetomato5362]

I'm not some kind of an idiot. I'm a very specific kind of an idiot.

[@greyhound6375]

Physically looks exactly like a TYT TH-8600 VHF/UHF, which I love due to all the positive mentioned here minus the software negatives... but I actually do have the f@#king cable, thus it was easy to program. My 8 year old daughter uses it every Wednesday to talk on our local ham net.

[@BobJoe64862]

I programmed a TH-8600 a few weeks ago for a friend. He got an RB86 for a second radio. I tried to make it match but Retevis has the firmware all jacked up. I tried to push the TH-8600 firmware to the RB86 but it did not take. In the end I found I could write a programming file in the TH-8600 software and use the RB86 software to upload it. Was still locked down to 30 channels.

[@zmarssojourner7435]

Thanks Mike for the video.

[@WhatsUpWithSix]

Thanks!

[@TheNotaRubicon]

Thank you! Glad I could help.

[@AntonioClaudioMichael]

Wow the Buttons dont work in channel mode that sucks they only work in VFO mode that is nuts Randy and the channel labels are wrong Yikes 13:00 @NotaRubicon Productions

[@stevesjurset4880]

Well....that was fun. Thanks.

[@marcspaz]

So much fail in such as small package. I hope they get that stuff squared up soon. Water proof and more power than advertised is nice, though.

[@trifishtri]

But does it have a roger beep?

[@nickkatchmar5408]

Is this radio waterproof? Do you need a HAM Licence Randy to operate this radio? Does it come with a programming cable? Why is it so small? Is the fan waterproof? Can you go scuba diving with the radio? Maybe in the Bathtub? Randy…. You are my favorite KZbinr. Lol.

[@whollymindless]

... does it have codes set? Don't bother sending it.

[@eTexNerd]

Add a few more fuses, it'll be fine.

[@cam_o_style91]

Tell it like it is randy 👍

[@Sonicgott]

You roasted them like a Thanksgiving turkey.

[@RadioJunkie]

My favorite part about this video is that Retevis keeps sending you radios so you can let everyone know how much they suck, despite the fact that it wouldn't be that hard for them to UN-suck them.

[@richardmillican7733]

What's with all the fuses? You only need one!

[@XenLin]

Ok... but skipping lack of that d**n missing cable... How it performs in terms of range and audio quality? I have that feeling that instead of showing full radio performance we have a bit too much complaining about that d**n missing cable and that might actually create bad opinion about it without showing how it actually works. Waiting for next video :P

[@timsmith9169]

There is sound now .👍 No sad ham here

[@atomicsmith]

You’re too many fars away.

[@JimVajda82]

9.7 watts on channel 7 is above the FCC limit. Isn’t 5 watts the max for GMRS on 1-7?

[@TheNotaRubicon]

Yes, but nobody cares.

[@JimVajda82]

@@TheNotaRubicon I care and I’ve been a ham radio operator for… 😂. Just surprised to see it come out of the box like that.

[@thebear6751]

Wish it had wide band vhf/uhf recieve

[@TheRealRenn]

I come here to be educated....but mostly to read the pinned comments from the chicom troll farmers .....and to mention, if you live rural, Retevis will ALWAYS come back to you after placing an order and try to charge you MORE for their 'free shipping'

[@ScottHames]

You would think by now these radio companies would realize there should be a standard preset to ship these with. Default wide band, No codes preset on any other channels, etc. Correct channel names would help too. Maybe you just need to send all these companies a one pager saying when you ship please include the following lol

[@eTexNerd]

Yeah or at least if they preset CTCSS tones or narrow band , they ship with programming cable... Goes for Midland too

[@alphalunamare]

4:49 ish ...is that fan really IP67 rated? :-)

[@StephenFinkNRP]

Why do I feel like Retevis isn't paying attention? :/

[@turtlealberigi]

I was hoping that a standard USB cable would work but I saw in the comments that it didn't. How did these radios get FCC approval if they transmits at 9 W on the low power channels?

[@TheH454]

They don't. It skips them. Covered at 7:40 in video.

[@rustyhaddock7954]

@@TheH454 I think Turtle' was referring to Channels 1-7, not 8-14.

[@donaldcameron5853]

Is it possible that a standard mini usb cable could be used for programing?

[@TheNotaRubicon]

No. It requires a cable with a serial interface chip in it.

[@carsonneuse7980]

Does anyone else start his videos and go straight to the comments section for the pinned comment?

[@bassmanjr100]

Maybe next time they could send the radio to me for review first. I would still give them all of this bad news but at least they wouldn't get their ass kicked in front of their potential customers. 🤣

[@applejacks971]

I'm convinced the people who design, engineer, and build these radio's have never actually used one, nor do they have an actual understanding of real world radio operation. No radio user would purposely make a radio with built-in attributes and issues that literally no one wants and are known issues among operators.

[@johnegan4826]

have a ra86 radio out of box rec but cant hit the repeter feq that u is ub the radio😢

[@cevansinz]

How… in the world do you make something submersible (up to 1m) with a fan hole?

[@mohawkdriver4155]

I have subscribed to you whether you like it or not!

[@greggitchell]

OK so I maybe stupid and new to radio but I don't understand the wattage of the radios and fars. Or the importance of the watts of a radio

[@craigdavidson2977]

Having things blocking the path between you and the other radio is by far the biggest limiting factor - Things such as Trees, hills, buildings, houses full of fat people, and the curvature of the earth. If you have a clear line of sight your radio will talk very many fars with very little power. However most of us normal people are not blessed by Xenu with a house up on a 500 foot hill like Randy so cranking up the power output will help a little bit pushing your signal through all those blockages in your radio path.

[@greggitchell]

Thank you I'm so green to radio I never understood why they sell radio by watts so the higher wattage the better correct?

[@ItsEverythingElse]

No way you would recommend it but you provide a link to buy it, lol.

[@VictorPaulDiaz]

69 comments and not a pinned post yet...wtf!

[@whollymindless]

Time to up the screen protection game, Revetis.

[@whollymindless]

And all the other issues. WTF is medium band? I have never seen that before. Another Retevis "Innovation"? (They'll get it all fixed up, but people are gonna need cables)

[@jimfleck9875]

0:20 can I use software to program my ctcss code that is not included in factory (50) codes?

[@TheNotaRubicon]

No.

[@jimfleck9875]

@TheNotaRubicon Thank you for the fast response!

[@jimfleck9875]

The strange thing is they included a cord with USB on one end and 1/8 audio plug on the other ( looks like a programing cord)?

[@joeblow8593]

Perhaps they should change their name to Reckless