The other day a review for the AR-5RM cam up in my YouTube feed. At first it looked like an upgrade UV-5R (which it technically is) but it’s actually much more. So Baofeng came out with the UV-5G Plus GMRS Radio and the UV-5RM Plus Multi-Band Radio. These are the same radio with different power levels and frequencies locked. Then the AR-5RM came out which again is the same radio but has full output and is totally unlocked.
The AR-5RM transmits 136-174 / 220-260 / 400-480 MHz and receives 65-108 / 108-174 / 200-260 / 350-390 / 400-520 MHz. It transmits FM / NFM and receives AM / FM / NFM / WFM. It has 999 regular with alpha tags (12 characters) memory slots and NOAA weather channels.
That’s a pretty big upgrade from the old UV-5R. While I have a couple UV-5R versions that are tri-band (UV-5X3), none of them have AM aircraft receive. The AR-5RM battery also has a built in USB-C charging port on the back as well as the standard cradle. The new color screen is nice but the red color is hard to see in the sunlight. But the biggest difference is the size. From the pics I thought it was the same case but when I opened the box, boy was I surprised!
The neatest new feature of the radio is the copy frequency feature. Basically if you are near someone with a radio you long press the green button and when they transmit it will tune/display the frequency and any PL tone that may be in use. If they are using a repeater you will of course have to figure out the split. This is a pretty cool new feature. In addition the scanning features of the radio have been greatly improved over the UV-5R. There are some other features like a stopwatch timer that I’ll likely never use. In a quick side be side test I was receiving stations on the AR-5RM that the UV-5R could not hear. I think it’s a combination of a better receiver and antenna. I’ll be doing some more testing on this in the future.
The best part is these new radios are around the same price as the venerable UV-5R. I picked this one up on Amazon for $26.60!
So where does this radio fit in? I think for day to day and ARES use this will be the new go to. For go kits, bug out bags and glove box radios I’ll stick with the UV-5R. The original UV-5R’s slightly smaller form factor still makes it ideal for throwing in a backpack or glove box. In addition the availability of the extended battery packs is still a big plus. I’m sure they will eventually come out for the AR-5RM.