Xiegu G90 HF Radio Transceiver 20W SSB/CW/AM/FM SDR Structure with Built-in Auto Antenna Tuner

I hear a lot of people debating whether or not this would be a good first HF radio. There are too many variables to give a straight yes or no but here's my take.Pro: It has a ton of high-end features for a radio in this price range.Con: Those features come with a learning curve. Since this is an SDR radio, many of the settings are through multi-function buttons. It can take some getting used to. For my most common use buttons, I printed out some labels with my label maker and stuck them to the top for when I want to bounce between phone and digital.Pro: Small and lightweight. Great for backpacking, POTA, etc.Con: A radio this size can only fit so many watts. This is a 20 watt radio. A beginner might get frustrated not being able to make contacts without a decent antenna in the air. I have a tri-band inverted V dipole at 25' and I worked Indonesia this morning on 40m. That's over 9000 miles away.If you're willing to tackle the learning curve and do some homework so you understand the purpose of the various functions, (AGC, Attenuator, Preamp, various operating modes, etc), and you're willing to put up a decent antenna at a decent height, you can't go wrong.The tuner in this radio is amazing. It can tune anything you can attach it to, however, don't let that be an excuse to not have a quality, resonant antenna. On 10, 15, 20 and 40m, I keep the tuner disabled because a 40m over a 20m fan dipole is resonant on quite a few bands with SWR as low as 1.1 and only 1.6-1.7 on the high end. When possible, resonant is ALWAYS better.Lastly, a full 100W radio with all of these functions would cost you a minimum of $1000 for a decent used radio.I'm giving it 5 stars because I can't find any faults. The features work, and there are many of them at this price point. The waterfall is indispensable for finding signals. My IC-718 doesn't have a waterfall and I have to manually tune up and down the band to find activity. I don't think I'd ever be without a waterfall again.

The Xiegu g90 boasts a rather retro-modern, barebones appeal with a few very notable functions. The g90 has a small screen; puts out 20w full power; is highly menu-driven; and has been shown to have some manufacturing inconsistencies. Despite these 'shortcomings', the Xiegu g90 shines as the perfect POTA and beach rig. Typically speaking, my traveling set up was cumbersome and included a manual antenna tuner. Now, with the g90, it's the radio, small LifePo 12v 8a battery (size of a box or crayons); and an antenna (or 2). The antenna tuner has been said to have the ability to tune: a wet noodle, a folding chair, a screen door, the gutters on your house, (etc.. this list isn't exhaustive!). Very funny, but I can attest to the truth in the jokes. The g90 seems to tune just about any wire I throw at it. It likes a BalUn/UnUn but doesn't need it in most cases- without one the tune is about 3-5 seconds longer. Pretty amazing. Along with the tuner there is an onboard antenna analyzer. This combination is what gives this hf rig far more value than other rigs on the market. Highly responsive/selective VFO, easy data connectivity on both tablet and laptop, incredibly clear and loud sound, filters are awesome and firmware keeps getting better. With 20w, you can make it around the world. With the solar cycle peak, 10m is global all day and soon to be all night. SSB can be tough in some cases, especially if you are attempting to break a pileup. CW, FT8, RTTY, and just about any digital mode you can throw at it work amazingly. The option to upgrade to a 100w amplifier is an option, albeit a rather expensive one (a bit more than the cost of the radio itself).The number one question about this radio is, "Should this be my first HF rig?". My answer is mostly 'no'. If this were my first rig I would have likely gotten frustrated. When the ink was still drying on my General ticket, I was not equipped for anything other than SSB. CW, FT8, and other modes were just terms in my exam prep book. 20w is plenty in the CORRECT circumstances but not in most. If you are coming into the HF game with some fluency in digital modes/CW then this might be the perfect rig. Otherwise, grab an IC-7300 and really learn everything inside of the range of 1-100w. Once you master the 7300, the g90 will make far more sense and its purpose a bit more clear. Turning your 7300 down to 20w will also give you a pretty good idea of what the g90 can do at full power.Now onto a rather important detail that I eluded to earlier on- the manufacturing inconsistencies. It isn't my assumption or based on reading Reddit rumors- the first radio that I was sent had a few glaring issues. First thing I noticed was the antenna tuner sounded 'clunky' and it was taking much longer than what I had been watching in review videos. In this case I wasn't tuning a 'wet noodle' but a near fully band-resonant antenna. The tuner was also sending out an ~8w carrier signal when the spec sheet from Radioddity says ~2-4w. The second issue was that there was a loud popping noise at every turn of a dial. We all know what it sounds like when a rig changes bands or goes in and out of Tx frequencies. These are relay clicks and normal sounds. What I was getting was an audible speaker pop- VFO, volume knob, filter buttons- all caused a pop. Thirdly, the radio had severe swings in Tx power and after many attempts to adjust mic gain, output power, data lines, I decided it was time to go back as I was closely approaching Amazon's 30 days at 28days in. The fourth and final issue I didn't even realize was an issue until I got my replacement unit- the handheld microphone didn't light up green; the new one does as soon as the rig powers on.A word to the wise: Amazon's new return policy on expensive items can be a big deterrent- this may be my last $200+ purchase on Amazon. After packaging and returning my original (defective) unit and bringing it to UPS, I began to track my return. I reached out to customer support for an ETA on the refund so that I could repurchase the item. I was told that I would have to wait 30 days for my refund. I hand't heard of this but upon further research, it checks out. In the past I can personally attest to this not being the case, so I am not entirely sure of what happened between my last big purchase and now, but something has. My refund luckily did arrive before the full 30 days. However, if you are looking to drop off your new defective "whatever" at UPS and go home to reorder a new one, you might be rather disappointed in the lack of instant gratification. In my case, Radioddity was running a 10% off sale and I was nervous I would have to eat the extra $45.00 on round 2. Luckily, I was able to make it in before the sale ended. If perhaps you are looking at a new TV, for example, it may be wise to use Walmart or another big box retailer. In those cases, if there is an issue, you have the physical returns counter (even for online purchases) with an instant refund.Despite my defective unit. Despite some of the obvious shortcomings of a 20w rig. Despite Amazon holding cash hostage for a month. I fully endorse this radio as an addition to your shack. Grab an apache case from Harbor Freight, a small LifePo battery and a speaker wire dipole and you are on the air just about anywhere.

G90 failed after about 30 hours of operation. Good news is that Radioddity support is fantastic. You have to deal with them by email and it takes a day between each interaction. However, after 10 days I had a new replacement radio.

I have just begun using it but so far it lives up to the advertisement. I am especially grateful that the instructions are well written.

I had an item I ordered stop functioning well into the warranty period and these guys responded immediately with the process and ultimately a replacement.