Retevis RT-85 HT. Budget Priced, Outdoor Friendly
Opening
One of the recent trends in budget class Ham HTs has been the use of large colorful LED screens. Inside or in the shade, these are very nice devices. The downside is they are often quite hard to read in bright sunlight. The RT-85 doesn’t suffer from that problem.
For folks who use their radios outside a lot, this can be a big deal. It’s not unusual to get a comment or two about readability in bright sunlight.
The solution to this issue is stepping back a bit to some slightly older radio designs that make use of LCD screens instead. While the screens are a bit smaller, they still display all the relevant data to include simultaneous A and B band display when you select the radio’s dual watch or receive mode.
RT-85’s Bargain Price
The Retevis RT 85 HT is a couple of years old but, as we’ll see in this review, it’s still a great choice for outdoor use and with current sale prices, it’s a real bargain, to boot.
Since we’re talking about price, you can get a two pack of these little guys for under $20 dollars with the current Amazon coupon. I’ll have a link in the description below.
Despite the fact that so many things in today’s economy have increased in price, that doesn’t seem to be the case for budget category HT’s.
I found an RT 85 two pack on Amazon during the Fall Prime day event recently and even after the event, Retevis has had a $10 dollar off coupon which brings the price of these radios down to under $10 dollars each.
That makes these radios perfect for a go bag, to keep in the car, or if you’re part of a radio club, giving them away to new members who recently passed their Technician Class exam. Obviously, they’re also good for new hams on a budget.
Now, in case you’re wondering, I purchased these radios for this review.
As with a number of Chinese-made radios, there are a couple of versions of this radio with different model numbers or brand names. For instance, with the exception of perhaps some minor firmware differences, the TYT TH-UV888 and the Gigaparts Explorer QRZ-1 are essentially this same radio, albeit quite a bit more expensive.
Since the RT-85 has been out for a while, I was glad to see it listed with the Chirp compatible radios.
Closing
In my opinion, at this price point the RT-85 is a real bargain. It will allow you to do all the basic ham HT tasks while being inexpensive enough to not worry about taking it along on hikes or camping trips. While it is not waterproof, it does seem quite rugged and you won’t be deeply disappointed if you break or lose it.
The RT-85 is very similar to the RA-89. That radio has a higher advertised power output, an IP 68 intrusion protection score and a USB-C rechargeable battery. I have a review of that radio on the channel and I’ll link to it on the end card.
Unfortunately, while still reasonably priced, at about $55 dollars, The RA 89 is still about 5 times more expensive than the RT-85.
Well, there you have it.
If you’re looking for a solid, budget class ham HT that’s good in bright sunlight, The RT-85 should be one of the radios you’re considering.
At this price point, it’s probably worth getting even if you don’t think you need one. Can anyone say spare?
