# Baofeng handheld radio

10 Hacker News commenters recommended Baofeng handheld radio and 5 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Cheap handheld radio that people recommend as an emergency backup and for light UHF/VHF use, even reaching satellites with a Yagi antenna. Critics say it breaks noise and emission rules in many places.

## Why people recommend it

- Cheap backup for emergencies (3 comments): "Would not be the worst idea to get a cheap Baofeng radio for emergencies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47400756)) "It's good to have a box of these to hand out in emergency situations!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47963052)) "they are great as cheap backups" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47963375))
- Cheap, useful range for light use (2 comments): "it's a good choice for light use in UHF/VHF scenarios even communicating to satellites if you have a Yagi antenna." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48216934)) "A cheap Quangsheng/Baofeng for 20 euros can reach a few kilometers in urban area" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46644420))

## What people warn about

- Breaks noise and emission limits (2 comments): "Baofengs are notorious for going over the allowed noise limits" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48189961)) "spurious emissions (thus banned in quite a few countries)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47963213))
- Illegal and unsafe to use (2 comments): "Those cheap baofeng's are illegal to use where I live on most of the spectrum they can operate on." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48189921)) "dangerous both to them and to others" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47964378))
- Not reliable in emergencies (2 comments): "In reality... they're useless in most cases." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47893820)) "they're still not emergency radios" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47964421))
- Hard to operate, presets useless (2 comments): "The preprogrammed channels are useless" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47970743)) "they are not exactly easy to operate" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50126578))

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Baofeng+UV-5R+handheld+radio&tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Official site](https://baofengtech.com/)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Baofeng handheld radio", https://hackerapproved.com/p/baofeng-handheld-radio/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).