BTECH, BaoFeng BL-5 Battery Eliminator for for BF-F8HP, UV-5X3, and UV-5R Radios

It’s a cool product for the compatible radios but one drop from waist height and the thing will break on you. I would definitely use this battery as a back to the original, not the other way around.

Works well, you need to pre-bend the contacts down slightly to keep from crushing them when inserting the batteries. Otherwise it works well.

Ham radio operators are always looking for top notched equipment and the BaoFeng is at the top of the list. Great hand held for beginners in getting their feet wet in the wonderful world of amateur radio.

I am impressed! This is a quality piece of work. The plastic is high grade and thick enough to be plenty durable. It has a very solid feel, and is a perfect fit to my radio. With the batteries installed, you cant tell it form the 3800MAH battery. Battery performance will vary depending on the batteries you use, but with 3800 MAH NiMH batteries, It lasted far longer than the 3800MAH LiON battery I bought with the radio ever did. BTW, that is why I bought this battery box. The Baofeng 3800 MAH LiON battery I bought was thoroughly depleted after just 6 months of use. I figured I could do better with NiMH batteries. I highly recommend getting this instead of the standard 3800 MAH battery. ATTENTION: Reviewer, For Realz pointed out a design flaw in this battery box that could cause injury. There is good chance the battery pack can short out if the middle battery contact comes in contact with the radio contact. There is only a small air gap between them. I used a piece of credit card plastic to insulate them, It wedged in tight enough it wont come out, but to be sure, you can SuperGlue it in place. This will solve this hazardous problem. This does not change my rating, but this *is* something you need to know.

Exactly what it says; takes the place of the battery, and lets you plug into the 12v outlet. Great for in-car radio use, especially paired with a hand mic and external antenna. Lets me run APRS through my uv5r (with an external device) all I want on the move without worrying about the battery running out.

I will install on Baofeng Radios on 3 day adventures. These batteries extend the battery life to about 30-35 ish hours.

First thing I did when I got this radio was run it down halfway through the battery, and then I fully charged it. It made it just around the 62 hour mark on standby without ever being turned off, with about 2 hours of solid listening from nearby repeaters and maybe 30-40 minutes listening to FM during the middle of those conversations. The math adds up about perfectly (I guessed around 60-65 hours of life based off 65mah/hour spec on standby), dont have to open it up to be sure youre being scammed. It is a genuine and genuinely good battery. Will be buying a second one soon as both backup and for my second radio if needed.

I purchased three of the BL-5L batteries for my UV-5R8W and stock UV-5R. All three I have stopped using within two months: - Battery #1. Failed to charge on the CH-5 stock charger. Returned and exchanged for a new one. That one stopped charging after two months entirely and I stopped using it when smelling smoke when the battery was in the charging cradle. - Battery #2. Stopped charging to full capacity and the charge cradle stuck on red/green alternating LED. Immediately stopped using it when smelling a burn odor from the battery and feeling heat from the enclosure. - Battery #3. Stopped charging to full capacity also, radio reads 2 of 3 bars charge max, and below the 7.4V nominal printed on the battery. If youre looking for a battery and kit for amateur radio, spend the extra to get a higher quality radio from any number of other manufacturers. All-in, the cost of replacing faulty Baofeng parts and ongoing maintenance to keep your UV-5R in working order is higher than getting a better quality radio with a safe battery.

Got this unit plus a couple of extra batteries and a better antenna for my initial foray into the world of amateur radio. Setup was easy using CHIRP software - got 127 channels programmed right outta the gate. Am still learning and discovering all the features of this radio as I study for my HAM license, but initial impression is positive. Follow up email from the folks at BaoFeng is reassuring. Buy with confidence.

Cant complain about the price, i will see how it works, i will say its a bad fit in the required charger, the battery is about 1/4 inch too thin to make good contact with the charger terminals, i had to fold up cardboard and put in front of the battery to make contact with the charging terminals. It would be a good idea to make the battery thicker so it can be charged in the required charger or provide a shim to place in the charger to make positive contact with charging terminals.