As a General class Ham and licensed GMRS radio operator, I had the choice to make when getting my first radio, I required GMRS repeater pair access so for budget concerns i chose the Baofeng UV5RE dual band so called "cheap Chinese radio" I have used this radio and a 2nd UV5RE with an elderly neighbor who has no phone and is in poor health. to maintain contact and offer assistance when needed. this person has fallen shearing the sma-f to BNC quick connector twice now, has slept on the radio and submerged it in water several times. and all around abused the radio beyond anything i could do to it in normal use. and I must say for less than $50 this instrument is built like a brick S#!t house. the soft rubber keys have faded on the 2nd unit. mine are still like new. I occasionally use a pair of needle nose pliers to tighten the antenna jack on both radios and I expect mine to last years, his not so much. but we will see.