BTECH UV-50X2 (Second Gen.) Mobile 50 Watt Dual Band Base, Mobile Radio: VHF, UHF Amateur (Ham)

I purchased one of these back in February of 2025 with intention of putting it in my car, but it got diverted to Base Station duty with an Opek 300 base antenna. Long story short, in spite of many suggestions for other brands, I like this radio so much I ordered a second one and the first one will continue to be my base station. They are easy to program and have more features than I currently use or plan to use in the foreseeable future other than dual purpose as a repeater, but that feature is only available in much more expensive models.

This is a very good radio, coming from only using handheld radio’s to this was a game changer. There was a big difference in microphone sound clarity compared to the basic uv5r handheld. So your voice comes out very clear over the radio. The other thing I appreciated with this radio was the power output, I have very good range with this system it’s kinda like If you can see it, you can talk to it. The speaker built into the radio can be turned up pretty loud, but it may not be quite enough for some off-road uses. The only real thing I worry about with this radio is the microphone connector, it’s a little In the way of the volume knob and I can see it getting damaged if the cord gets pulled on. But it Hasn’t happened yet. Anyhow, I’d definitely recommend this unit for anyone who wants a decent mobile unit for there cars, trucks and off roaders. Just be careful with water/ moisture as I don’t think it’s waterproof.

I’ve owned 2 of these radios. These are great radios for just a little while. Hooked it up to a power meter and was actually putting out 60W. I really think the reason these radios blow out and smoke is because the parts used internally are cheap or the internal design is just crap. I think if I used either of my 2 previous radios indoor ONLY and not subject them to outdoor temperatures, they would still be working. I live in the Midwest where the mornings can be chilly, these radios were installed in my Jeep. In both instances where the radios smoked, I got into the Jeep in the very early morning. The overnight temps were about 29 degrees. The internal temp of the car was below freezing when driving to work. Each time, while driving to work, I tried to key up on my local repeater. I think the final amplifier heated up so quickly, it burned out the radio. The first time my radio burned out, it burned out my final UHF amplifier, leaving me with only the pre-amp working. I went from pushing 60W to putting out only 5 watts. My receiver worked ok. The second radio I had, it was the same conditions, and this time the whole radio smoked and filled my jeep with smoke. I guess, if you took your radio in the house with you every night and kept it temp controlled, it would work. My vswr was also very good. I was getting 1.2:1 which is outstanding. The radios checked I got, people said I was 5:9.

For amateur radio operators, with good eyes, this is a very good value. Strengths: Sound quality is good on reception and I've gotten "loud and clear" reports on transmissions on both power settings, easily reaching repeaters more than 40 miles from me. High and low power settings are easily changed on front panel and microphone button. Unit is built solid, all buttons work well, and feel like they'll hold up over time. Case has deep fins in back for heat sinking, but there's also a small fan at the back. I haven't heard it at all yet, but it's working. SO-239 connector on back is slightly protected by those fins, but it's still easy to connect antenna cable to the socket and tighten. Speaker out socket is also on back of unit. Programming cable socket (3.5mm TRRS plug) is on front panel. Everything is well spaced EXCEPT for the push on/off volume control above the microphone input socket. Strain relief sleeve on the included mic's cable needs to be pulled back or rotated from its installed position to prevent interfering with turning the volume control knob. Power cables are overall less than 2 meters long, have individual fuses, and comes with tinned cut ends. I haven't tried to install this in my car yet, so I don't know if that length is okay or not. After cutting away the tinned part, I easily installed instead Anderson PowerPole connectors on the ends to give me more flexibility with power connections when used as portable and base station. So far, they've worked well with both a battery box and a desktop power supply. (The powerpoles allow me to easily connect banana plugs for use with my cheap power supply.) You can monitor four different frequencies at once, and even set your transmission frequency to always one or any of the four that is active. The most useful for me is the ability to pair up two of the lines on the screen to the same memory location, with one line showing the frequency, and the other showing the stored name (which can show up to 8 characters, in upper and lower case - yay!) The microphone has easy to use, responsive buttons that are lit, and accessing the menu items is easy. Changing menu items is straightforward, once you learn the way it's done. It's of a good size, not heavy, with a firm spring on the PTT. It feels like it will hold up to normal (ab)use. [I'll add to this later if iI find out t doesn't like the heat in my car] The microphone does not have its own internal speaker. Sound from the top mounted speaker in the unit itself is nice and loud, and clear. I imagine certain mounting methods may muffle the speaker if that speaker is not given a lot of air. A label on the top of the unit warns that the top surface gets hot, too, so that's another reason to let the top of the unit be mounted toward the open air. Challenges: The mounting holes don't align perfectly with the included mounting bracket. Three worked fine, but trying to install the last screw in any configuration is not possible without re-drilling the rack. Using other unconnected mountts instead of the included mounting bracket is probably going to be the easiest work around, though. The worst "feature": The screen is TINY, not much bigger than on some HTs, and it displays four lines all the time. If there is a way to display fewer, I haven't found it yet. You can adjust the color combinations to your liking among 7 colors plus black and white, but the print size looks tiny on the tiny screen. I have not permanently mounted this in my car yet, and as I'm getting used to it over these past few weeks, I'm really tending to think I never will. Not mounting it means I can pick it up and look at it closely to see the names or frequencies more easily. There is NO voice assist on this unit, so if you need visual aids, this may not be the unit for you. For one thing, I don't think it will be safe to have to bend down or over to read the screen while driving. Admittedly, my eyes are old and very near-sighted. If yours aren't, you may not have an issue with this unit. As for me, because of the size of the screen, this is going to be used either in a go-box, or exclusively as a base station. And for those purposes, I think it will end up being a very good value. On the other hand, if you have sharp eyes that can read serial numbers on a dollar bill at arm's length (that's kinda what it feels like), you may not have the same concerns in your car that I do.

This will make a good radio for the side-by-sides that I am going to put them in. They cover all the frequencies I want to use. And having a full 50 watt radio in my side by side will be very nice. With the programming cable, it is very easy to program up the channels you want. And there are a ton of options, so read the manual to get it set up exactly like you want it. I do wish there was a way to turn the screen down to only a single channel at a time. Or, I wish it was easier to monitor all the channels that are displayed. The screen clarity is great, and you can change the colors to make it visible in whatever light conditions you are working in. Over all, I am very happy with this radio and we will see if they will last long term in a side by side. The price of the radio is such that if they do not hold up and am not out a lot of money.

I purchased this radio for use as a base station. I received the radio in a timely manner, packaged well. Other than the 'learning curve' (took a couple of tries) to program manually, it set up 25 or so channels fairly quickly. Not sure about CHIRP, but I have a buddy that said he'd try to program via computer in the near future. My local radio group has a weekly check-in and TX was 'loud & clear'. I am studying for my Tech license, which is the reason I purchased this radio in the first place. RX of ham was good, can't wait to check those stations. Actually had a couple of them ask for the make & model so they could research on their own. Pros:/Cons: I really like the option to customize the screen colors, love the look & compact size, and other than that, the mic/controller seems a little 'flimsy'. Only time will tell. Will update when I get my HAM license or a problem arises.

First one had issues. Got a fast replacement. Works great now.

First impression: Fits the BTech radio mold - first class rig! Many color options for display are nice and can customize for your eyes. I like the dark screen with lighter text. Just easier to see. Just got it programmed with CHIRP and discovered a few things you will need to know. First, the power supply connection is not labeled. The red wire goes to the positive terminal while the black wire goes to the ground terminal. Next no where in manual does it indicate when or how to utilize the PC-04 programming cable. I have several BTech UV-82HP HTs. On these you turn radio off, connect via program cable, then turn radio on. I contacted BTech and they advise can plug in program cable to UV-50X2 at any time, radio on or off. I tried and works. In CHIRP on 'Settings Tab' there are many options. It took me quite a while to figure out which options correspond to the menu items on the radio. But once found and options selected, radio is programmed and works great. Menu system very similar to that of UV-82HP so if familiar with most Baofeng HTs will have no problem with this Baofeng mobile. Internal speaker sounds nice and Tx/Rx reports indicate full quieting. I will update this review after a few weeks use. Update 24 April: Still impressed with this rig. Read reviews on BTech UV-25X2 for some tips on CHIRP and Menu programming that work on the UV-50X2 as well. I continue to tweak settings like squelch to fit my taste. No problems found with radio. Fan kicks in when long Tx but reasonable decibel level and goes off quick. If you are in Channel mode and wish to change to a different channel you can of course turn the lower left dial. However, a much quicker way if you know the channel number is to enter the number on the mic keypad. The rig will move to that channel. Remember all channels are two digits so channel 6 would be keyed in as '06.' I keep a list of programmed channels near my rig so finding the channel number is easy.