radtelRT-900 8W Multi Band Ham Radio Handheld Walkie Talkie with Noise Reduction, 256 Channels VHF/UHF Two-Way Radio, NOAA, Frequency Tuning, Aviation Air Band, Bluetooth App

This is a great little radio for the price but with some limitations.- Large 512 memory channels with latest firmware instead of the advertised 256, Radtel has to update the manual.- Provides a bandscan function by long pressing the VFO/MR button.- A new sw 1.15P version allows to set AM/FM independently in any band or frequency. You can select AM for Civil and Military Aviation frequencies and FM for Ham and Public Service channels.- Extended U/V/V (triband) FM RX/TX, AM Aviation RX and FM Broadcast right off the bat with good overall reception in U/V/V FM and AM aviation, antenna is compact but limited to dual band U/V.- Reception sensitivity and audio is on pair with other direct conversion radios and the AM Aviation band is good but not exceptional, the audio is more to the treble due to the small speaker size but it's OK.- Solid build and compact size with beautiful design, keyboard with labels and easy nice looking reading display. I particularly like the display color scheme and lettering.- Tunning knob for both VFO and Memory mode frequencies plus scan direction, not these pathetic leds in other cheap radios.- CHIRP programming in developer mode using a script file, this gives access to all 512 channels.Some limitations:- Receiver is not a super heterodyne double conversion type but simpler direct conversion.- TX spectrum is filthy dirty outside the standard U/V/V bands and some reviewers have measured too much harmonics in the 2m, while 220 MHz and 440 MHz bands are clean. Radtel needs to release a fw to fix this.- HF band is limited down to 18MHz and no SSB, the TX is low power as on most other radios with extended RX. Frankly this 18-50 MHz band is a gimmick.- There are a few other bugs like repeater offset displays 0.0000 MHz (offset works normally).- No FM Broadcast (BC) memory channels, but you can do a quick FM BC scan using # key. It would be great if Radtel implements a memory channel area for FMS BC on next firmware release.- Lack of base charger which is sold separately but you get what you paid for. The price of this radio is a bargain.

The secondary menu for long press programming on this key pad is second to none, never been able to program in a repeater on a new radio this fast ever before 3-4 minutes tops I was talking after I took it out of the box. Excellent display well thought out, keypad is as large as you can practically make it on an HT this size. Now the cons...the radio could be a bit louder this is due to the speaker being underneath the keypad and ported through it, the quality of sound is excellent.The pop-up transmit window is kind of annoying at first but it does not affect the function of the radio in any way. FM broadcast receive definitely could be better. And the charging port on the bottom of the battery seems to be what a lot of these companies are doing please stop this... Put it on the back of the battery like on the HA1G. Best $25 radio you can buy,

Stay far away! I'm done with radtel after this abortion. Receive on VHF is totally deaf. Won't even pick up area NOAA on 162.4. Figured it was a bad radio and ordered a replacement, but no, same thing. This thing is junk. I really wanted to like it because the build quality is great-but the electronics need to go in the crusher at the factory.

The blue tooth is a nice feature for programming the radio. Easy to use app, once you figure out how to turn on the blue tooth on the radio. The manual is not that great. It's enough to get you through all the settings. The upper two buttons both left and right are dual purpose. It took me a long time to figure this out. To get into the menu, you have to press the bottom of the OK key and not the top. The top is for switching from frequency to channel mode (same button as the OK).Some things to consider. The volume knob is hard to move and right next to the center 16 channel switching knob. The backlit keys and screen only stay on for about 5 sec when transmitting or receiving. The belt clip attaches to the battery and not to the radio. Highest frequency is 519.9875. The one big thing I like is, the battery lasts for 48++ hours on stand by. It gets charged by a type C usb on the bottom of the battery. It uses a standard "Kenwood" plug for a remote mic and speaker. On par with a B@ofeng UV-5G PLUS or UV-5RM and also uses the same antenna.

I don't typically buy entry level radios. That said, there are times when I’d rather not trash a 300$ walkie-talkie either in the event of an oopsie. So I decided to take a try on the radtel. Mostly out of curiosity, as it has a combination of features that I can't find in any one handset and in my price range from Japan: usb-c charging, mobile app programming, on/off memory ch scanning from the keypad, and a KNOB for vfo/mr.Wow 😲 With that combination of features? It have to be an absolute dog for the tcvr to be unacceptable. It's not either of those things.I won't go into a lengthy dissertation of the strengths and weaknesses of its design. I understand its limitations and it's been selected to fill a role that it compliments adequately. I have little interest in whether the power output is 8 watts or not, as I'd not use a HT for anything but line of sight and light repeater voice calls. The programming for some reason was a tad tricky but overall the GUI is intuitive to use. I could have been having a "special" moment during the first attempt 😉IMHO, the RT-990 has many top tier features for it's reasonable price. That it's easy to use and permits quick setting changes is icing on a cake. I'm glad I discovered it and would likely buy another, if needed.If I had to pick a nit? The ht sound overall is a bit thin, even for this class of transceiver, and it's not adequate in volume to use in high noise environments.