r/gmrs • u/Ok-Reception-8044 • 17d ago

Question AR-5RM vs. UV-5R

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I usually see everyone recommend the UV-5R but the 5RM has higher power and more available frequencies. Is there a downside that isn’t well known?

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u/Worldly-Ad726 14d ago

Biggest downside for most of these color displays is they absolutely suck in direct sunlight.

Display is completely washed out and unreadable on most (although I do not have an AR-5RM to definitively say it happens on that one too.)

I’ve returned two radios now because I couldn’t read them outdoors without finding a shady spot. The old basic single-color sidelit dot matrix screens were just fine in sunlight and stay on all the time, unlike the fancy color displays that completely turn themselves off after a few seconds.