Just the other day, a commenter on an article of mine pointed out that there were different types of UV-5R radios.

While I knew that there were different battery pack versions, colors, etc., out there, I had no clue that there were UV-5Rs with different spectrum abilities. (Lesson learned: read the comments section more often.)

What are some of the different types of Baofeng UV-5R radios out there? Let's take a quick look…

A quick caveat

For starters, there are a number of different Baofeng units that are available out there. Not everything that you'll see on this list is technically considered a UV-5R, but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, we're calling it a duck here. Also…

Watch out for the fakes.

There are a number of knockoff versions of UV-5R radios out there that you are going to want to avoid. Baofeng is the brand that you are looking for, though, to my understanding, B-TECH is the real deal brand-wise as well. Anything else you find online, just stay away from it.

UV-5R 8W High Power

This is an 8W version that has a big ol' battery pack that will give you plenty of juice for when you're out and about. If you only want to use this radio for licensed ham radio contacts, you're in luck, as this version only is capable of transmitting and receiving on 144-148MHz/420-520MHz.

It's kind of a bummer of radio, in my opinion, as this means you aren't going to be able to pick up any of the analog (old school) public service radio transmissions in your region, nor will you be able to pick up a host of other interesting frequencies that older UV-5Rs were capable of picking up.