Before you read this review please understand that everything that is on this page is my own personal opinion. I will not do a product review in exchange for money. I will also not do a bias review in exchange of a product. Retevis sent me the RT87 to review under my own personal opinion. If you would like more information please contact me.
For starters I will be comparing this radio to the infamous Baofeng repeatedly. Why? Becuase it is a radio that almost everybody has touched at least once, and its cheap. The Retevis RT87 is what I would call a mid-range radio. It is not dirt cheap, however it is not a $400 handheld radio. The RT87 runs for about $70 although I have seen it as low as $60 on the Retevis website.
This article goes along with the video review I have done on the RT87. The video can be watched below:
Video not yet published.
Well well well... This radio most certainly does have a premium feel to it. I have to give this radio big props on the looks and feel. It has the design and feel of a higher end radio. It has a bigger and a better lit screen than many Baofengs as well as high end radios. This radio also holds a IP67 dust and waterproof rating. It is proteced from dirt getting inside, and it can be submerged under water (Protected from immersion in water with a depth of up to 1 meter (or 3.3 feet) for up to 30 mins).
I do not have any complaints about build quality or the design of this radio.
Yes the antenna on this radio is a rubber ducky. And it is not the most impressive if we take a look at the SWR measurments.
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VHF Measurments On the 2 meter band the stock antenna of the RT87 has a max SWR of 3.1 to 1. The SWR starts off okay at the low end of the band then stedily increases to the 3.1 to 1 SWR at the higher end of the band. I would have to say that this antenna is usable in the 144-146Mhz range, and gets dangerously usable in the 147-148MHz range. |
UHF Measurments The antenna looks much better the the 70cm band. With a max SWR of 1.9 to 1 I think that its just as good if not a bit better than the classic Baofend rubber duck. The SWR is much more stable in the UHF band with it being at 1.9 to 1 at the low end of the band and dropping to about 1.7 to 1 at the high end of the band. |
With the radio operating on its high setting (5 watts) the 3.1 to 1 SWR in the 2meter band is not big issue, however it would be nice to see a improvemnt in the stock antenna of the RT87. Personaly I belive that most handheld antennas are not always worth using. I would recomend replacing the stock with an antenna like the signal stick, and you won't have any issues with this radio.
I am actually a little shocked at how clean this radio is. I did not expect it to be as bad as a typical UV-5R, but using calirated equipment, I got some pretty good results during my Sprectrum Analysis.
The numbers on the Y axis you can ignore thoes are there in the software for use of an external attenuator. This test was done at a radio station in a room with pretty good sheilding done in the walls. When I did this same test with a Baofeng UV-5R, you could see the radio popping up on some frequencys out of band. In this case the RT87 is actually pretty clean!
Finnaly it is time for a desision on the Retevis RT87 Handheld VHF/UHF Radio.
My final thoughts on this radio are really good. I am really impressed with the radio, and it is now my daily carry. If you are looking at getting your first handheld radio, I would spend the extra $35 on this instead of a Baofeng. The bigger and better lit screen as well as the IP67 waterproof rating is an even better added bonus. The audio quality is superb with no speaker rattle and the microphone is not muffled at all. I would give this radio a 5 star rating however the antenna was a bit dissapointing so I am giving it a solid 4 star rating.
Final rating:
