Retevis H-777 UHF FM transceiver. - The disposable £5 Radio
Model: H-777
Also known as: Baofeng 888
Band: UHF FM
Frequency: 400mHz - 470mHz UHF FM
Power: <5W
Price: £5.50 including shipping!
Vendor: can't remember?
Shipped From: UK
First impressions
To be honest I wasn't really looking for a new radio but somehow this radio found me.
I think the price had something to do with that!
£5 for a brand new transceiver? I've seen all this before from dodgy eBay sellers who never deliver on the deal....Been there, done that so i was a little reluctant to pull the trigger this time.
I decided to take a chance and see if the radio would actually show up this time.
I almost fell off my chair when a courier knocked on the front door this afternoon carrying a small baofeng style box.
They actually sent it?! It wasn't a scam after all.
This was great news but it also raised a few questions at the same time.
How on earth can this eBay seller send me one of these for a fiver and NOT charge anything for shipping? In the UK i suspect the postage cost would be at least £3 so where the hell is this guy's profit margin?
And assuming the postage was at least £3, where the hell is he getting these from for such a small price? Stolen? Haha I hope not!
A big thank you to the seller for such an amazing deal......
The Retevis H-777 is by no means a new design, it's actually a Baofeng BF-888s for all pretence and purposes which has been knocking about for years. They normally sell for around £10 on eBay so getting one for a fiver seemed a bit of a triumph.
The Retevis H-777 arrived in a small compact cardboard box. Much smaller than i had envisaged. It seems that Baofeng (Retevis) are finding ways of saving packaging and possible postage costs which isn't a bad thing.
Inside its all fairly standard Baofeng guff.
The crappy ear piece, cheapo charger, pointless lanyard etc etc. Everything you need to get going (except a programming cable) but crapply made.
Cheap enough to chuck it away...
The Retevis H-777 has undoubtedly been the cheapest 'new' radio i have ever bought.
It's a sad fact that many electronic goods these days have become 'disposable'.
It started with inkjet printers some years back and has slowly spread to other products which have been mass produced in China.
Whilst this is great for the consumer in terms of a low price, it's not very good for the environment when all this stuff ends up prematurely in land fill.
So rather than maintaining the product and keep it serviceable for a few years it's a whole lot easier to chuck it out and start again.
When it comes to this Retevis radio. The first thing to go will be the battery. - and when this does eventually fail it's much cheaper to get another radio!
The Radio
Anyone familiar with the Boafeng 888 etc will recognise this radio immediately.
It's your standard 16 channel, single band (UHF) Chinese radio.
No bells, no whistles, just a simple 2W transceiver capable of out performing any of your store bought walkie talkies such as the Binatones or motorola twin packs with ease.
It may not have quite the same build quality of the little Cobra microtalks but it's much more powerful and more functional.
When you compare the price of a set of Motorola TLKR 5 to a couple of these then it's easy to see how good these are for value and performance.
On the top
As well as the antenna socket there is a rotary channel selector and on/off volume knobs. The flashlight and coloured TX/RX LEDs are also found here.
Right side
One large strip of rubber covers the ear piece/mic socket much like every other Motorola ripped off. This socket also doubles as the programming port for connecting to a PC. -standard stuff
Left side
Here we have the usual Chinese radio button layout.
PTT button, then two seperate function buttons in the immediate vicinity. Usually for opening the squelch, operating the flashlight or activating the scan feature etc.
All of these side button are well made and perform well.
Antenna
I guess the Antenna is the only real weakness of this rig. Quite simply it's a pile of crap.
Ok maybe that's a little unfair. Its alright if you are communicating with people quite nearby, like in the same building but for using over any kind of distance its pretty pathetic. Testing it side by side with a standard rubber duck really highlights its flaws. It hardly picks up anything.
The best solution however is to switch it with another antenna and chuck it in the bin.
Antenna: Not good...
Overall it's a fantastic package for a fiver.
Rating: ✅✅✅✅✅ 5 out of 5 "Bargain of the Year 2017"
How on earth is it possible to get a half decent radio for a fiver?
It's an amazing deal which beggars belief. I'm still in shock.
The Retevis H-777 rightfully gets the "bargain of the year" accolade.
It works too!
