VHF/UHF handheld performance comparison

This table shows test result data for VHF/UHF handheld transceivers, comparing performance in sensitivity, dynamic range and adjacent channel rejection. Feel free to search, filter or sort as you wish.

Default sorting is by 3rd order Dynamic Range (wide spaced). Scroll to the bottom for notes.

Make	Model	2m sensitivity (uV)	3rd DR wide 2m (dB)	3rd DR narrow 2m (dB)	Adjacent Rejection 2m (dB)	70cm sensitivity (uV)	3rd DR wide 70cm (dB)	3rd DR narrow 70cm (dB)	Adjacent Rejection 70cm (dB)
Icom	IC-V8	0.13	93	64	64
Icom	IC-V80	0.16	89	65	74
Icom	IC-V82	0.11	88	69	69
Icom	IC-T70A	0.1	86	70	70	0.12	78	69	69
Wouxun	KG-UV2D	0.11	86	69	67	0.12	82	60	60
Wouxun	KG-UVD1P	0.11	86	69	69	0.12	82	60	60
Yaesu	FT-60R	0.13	85	67	67	0.16	83	58	58
Kenwood	TH-79A	0.14	85	62	56	0.16		67	53
Yaesu	VX-120	0.16	84	68	68
Yaesu	VX-170	0.16	84	68	68
Kenwood	TH-22AT	0.14	83	76	59
Alinco	DJ-175T	0.18	83	70	70
Kenwood	TH-G71A	0.16	83	62	61	0.16	72	58	58
Alinco	DJ-V57T	0.19	82	60	64	0.17	80	70	62
Alinco	DJ-195T	0.17	82	58	58
Kenwood	TH-D72A	0.14	81	74	77	0.16	70	69	69
AnyTone	AT-D868UV	0.2	81	63	76	0.18	71	68	69
Icom	IC-V85	0.2	81	58	65
Alinco	DJ-V5TH	0.14	81	52	55	0.16	69	51	53
Kenwood	TH-K20A	0.13	80	74	91
Yaesu	VX-6R	0.13	80	63	63	0.16	62	59	59
Kenwood	TH-235A	0.14	80	63	61
Icom	IC-T22A	0.14	80	61	60
Icom	IC-T8A	0.16	80	53	60	0.15	66	52	59
Kenwood	TH-D74A	0.19	79	67	67	0.18	69	62	62
Yaesu	FT-51R	0.15	79	62	66	0.16		61	58
Radioshack	HTX-245	0.14	79	61	61	0.22	71	55	55
Yaesu	VX-8GR	0.16	79	58	65	0.14	64	58	58
Yaesu	FT-10R	0.14	78	75	67
Wouxun	KG-UV8D	0.11	78	69	79	0.13	81	74	74
Kenwood	TH-K2AT	0.17	78	67	71
Alinco	DJ-G5TH	0.15	78	67	63	0.15	90	65	55
Icom	IC-Z1A	0.15	78	60	63	0.16		60	61
Kenwood	TH-D7A	0.16	78	59	59	0.14	72	58	58
Yaesu	FT-25R	0.15	77	63	74
Yaesu	VX-150	0.16	76	65	65
Yaesu	VX-7R	0.16	76	63	65	0.15	65	58	61
Kenwood	TH-D7AG	0.17	76	57	57	0.14	78	54	54
Alinco	DJ-596T	0.17	76	42	38	0.18	68	43	40
Icom	ID-51A	0.13	75	65	65	0.12	78	66	66
Yaesu	FT-2DR	0.16	75	61	62	0.14	57	57	58
Icom	IC-92AD	0.13	75	61	61	0.14	60	65	65
Yaesu	FT-50R	0.14	75	55	51	0.15	90	54	51
Yaesu	FT-11R	0.15	74	63	69
Alinco	DJ-V17T	0.19	74	54	54
Kenwood	TH-F6A	0.16	73	60	60	0.17	72	57	57
Yaesu	FT1DR	0.18	73	58	67	0.18	61	63	55
Icom	IC-T2A	0.15	73	53	51
Radioshack	HTX-420	0.14	73	50	58	0.14	65	56	59
TYT	TH-UVF1	0.15	72	65	65	0.14	72	67	67
Alinco	DJ-582T	0.14	72	63	62	0.16		61	58
Yaesu	VX-1R	0.18	72	62	62	0.18	68	49	47
Alinco	DJ-C1T	0.16	72	50	49
Yaesu	FT-70DR	0.13	71	63	65	0.14	84	59	65
Icom	IC-T7A	0.14	71	61	65	0.15	105	58	62
Radioshack	HTX-200	0.22	71	57	58
Icom	IC-W32A	0.13	70	57	64	0.15	91	58	62
Yaesu	VX-8R	0.19	69	60	60	0.22	60	61	57
Alinco	DJ-G7T	0.17	69	57	57	0.17	73	53	51
Yaesu	FT-252R	0.18	68	60	66	0.20	70	61	61
Alinco	DJ-190T	0.15	68	58	59
Icom	IC-T81A	0.14	68	54	54	0.14	66	61	61
Yaesu	FT-65R	0.14	67	63	63	0.14	69	67	67
Alinco	DJ-500T	0.15	67	61	72	0.14	71	69	69
Yaesu	VX-2R	0.16	67	46	46	0.14	57	46	46
Yaesu	VX-5R	0.15	66	61	65	0.17	65	58	58
Icom	IC-T90A	0.15	65	58	66	0.16	60	57	58
Alinco	DJ-191	0.16	65	58	57
Icom	IC-91A	0.14	65	56	59	0.12	73	55	59
Alinco	DJ-C5T	0.16	65	46	46	0.19	70	48	48
Alinco	DJ-C7T	0.2	64	52	51	0.23	69	53	53
Yaesu	FT-4XR	0.2	63	61	72	0.18	65	68	65
Yaesu	VX-3R	0.16	62	39	39	0.14	75	39	39
Icom	IC-P7A	0.15	59	56	56	0.13	64	57	62
Icom	IC-Q7A	0.16	59	43	51	0.19	65	57	62
Alinco	DJ-S11T	0.19	55	56	59
Alinco	DJ-162TD	0.18		73	52
Realistic	HTX-202	0.17		70	72
Kenwood	TH-225A	0.12		67	60
Icom	IC-P2AT	0.14		65	70
Icom	IC-2SRA	0.14		65	67
Alinco	DJ-580T	0.16		65	60	0.14		67	58
Yaesu	FT-415	0.15		64	68
Kenwood	TH-28A	0.13		64	63	0.25
Alinco	DJ-F1T	0.18		62	58
Kenwood	TH-77A	0.16		60	67	0.2		65	56
Yaesu	FT-530	0.16		58	64	0.16		60	64
Icom	IC-32AT	0.16		58	62	0.22		59	61
Kenwood	TH-78A	0.16		58	61	0.16		69	58
Icom	IC-W21AT	0.16		56	65	0.14		61	60
Alinco	DJ-G29T	0.17		54	54	0.14		56	56
Yaesu	FT-470	0.14		53	65	0.14		58	62
Alinco	DJ-560T	0.18		53	57	0.28		72	55
Yaesu	FT-411E	0.18		43	63

Notes:

Sensitivity – for 12dB SINAD. The lower this value is, the better the radio can receive a weak signal. Most modern radios achieve very similar figures (0.1 – 0.2 uV).
3rd DR wide – two-tone, 3rd order dynamic range, 10MHz spacing. This metric indicates how well the receiver can handle strong signals outside the amateur bands (higher is better). This is the most important indicator for performance in urban areas or wherever strong RF interference is present (FM broadcast sites, mountain tops, proximity to pager transmitters etc). Unfortunately, older radios haven’t been tested for wide-spaced dynamic range.
3rd DR narrow – two-tone, 3rd order dynamic range, 20kHz spacing. This is a good indicator of how well the receiver can handle interference from other transmissions in the same band. A higher number means the receiver is more suited for areas with high amateur activity – hamfests, APRS transmitters nearby, etc.
Adjacent rejection – adjacent channel rejection. This metric shows how good the receiver is at rejecting interference from a nearby channel.
Unfortunately there is no test data for Baofeng radios as of yet. However, the Yaesu FT-4X uses the same receiver-on-a-chip so performance should be very similar.

The measurements are sourced from the QST lab tests over a period of almost 40 years. If you enjoy this list, consider subscribing to QST to show your support.