This is one of the most coherent ham radio product comparisons I've watched on KZfaq in a long, long time. Nice job!

I got the Anytone878II-Plus, and I'm not disappointed, it's a great radio with a lot of options

Thanks, up to this video i was more into the GD88, but honestly, after looking your video i changed my mind to my as of today favorite 878... thanks a lot!

I own both and agree with your assessment. I will add that DMR programming is easier on the 878 since you can change talk groups on the fly without programming them as a channel. Makes DMR much easier to work with.

I was at a toss up with these two and your vid really helped! Thanks!

Absolutely fantastic review. Loads of questions answered.

enjoyed the comparison, glad I purchased the 878UVII-plus.

I found this assessment to be very helpful. Given the forthcoming Black Friday deal being offered by Bridgecom Systems, I am feeling rather predisposed to purchasing this radio. By the way, I have not used cross-band repeat since I had my Kenwood 721 dual band mobile radio after it first came out in 1989 (purchased from Press' salesman Chuck at Hamtronics in Trevose, PA). Oddly, I could not believe that these multi-decade old radios are selling for close to $250 these days on eBay!?! Gosh there are new Chinese mobile radios for half of that! My father once told me, after you buy something remember, "It's not you get what you pay for, but you didn't get what you didn't pay for!"

All around excellent presentation: audio video clarity and stability speech clarity. Coherent. Well paced. Only thing I would change: keep the products on their same side of the screen. 73.

Definitely two radios that needed to be compared to each other; nice objective and helpful presentation HoH.

Nice review and I'm glad to have watched it. Would be nice to know about the digital monitor feature (of the GD88). Usually you need to have the correct colour code and talkgroup to hear all the users, with the Anytone you don't need those, it shows all those parameters. Very handy when listening to commercial users. I have an Anytone 868.

Thank you helped me make my choice and explained a lot. Thank you

Thanks for the comparison. You likely have saved me a couple hundred dollars as I already own the anytone.

The GD88 kept piquing my interest, even though I own a GD77 (running OpenGD77) and an Anytone 878UV (not II, not Plus) with its dual receive, but this video was very enlightening and a reminder that performance goes well beyond specifications.

Although I anyway have more or less decided to go for the Anytone, this video is very useful and confirms that this device is the right choice for me as a newbie. Very useful, thanks. 🙂

Excellent comparison. Can’t disagree with any of it

Thank you Bob for your insight.

Great video. I love my D878s. It does everything that someone may want.

I have both radios and have to agree 💯. I had the 878 up and running in about ten minutes with my hotspot. The 88 took a couple days and had to ask a ton of questions to get close to the same point. I did manage to get the 88 CPS working on Win 11 via Parallels but took a ton of digging to get the proper driver. My 878 all functions work perfectly out of the box but for the 88 I have yet to get digital APRS working after a month of trial and error. To me the 878 is the winner no questions asked.

Very good review the main plus of the GD-88 is the dual analogue and digital receive the 878 is single receive .

Thank you for your video. Very helpful and also your pronunciation is very good for those who don't speak native english. Easy to understand!. I prefer the Anytone, but I must say that it irritates me the fact that it has a stupid SMA reverse connector, instead of the normal SMA we hams are used to. I have lots of antennas that will need an adaptor that, honestly, it's not easy to find in an elegant and robust form.

Thanks for your reviews on both. Very helpful to make a decision, 73s 2E0SGL

Great comparison...thanks

Très bon comparatif ! merci.

Good comparison. Thanks.

Although I suspect I'd like the 878 more, I chose the GD-88 based solely on price. And I'm not disappointed. It works great for me, despite its quirks (like the volume control lag).

Had both. Ran out of patience with the GD-88, sold it, and upgraded to the D878UVII Plus. I really tried to ride it out with the GD-88 but for over $200 I needed to have something far less "alpha" and a lot more "general release". It's a shame really. The GD-88 is a neat piece of hardware, but the software, firmware, and support just did not hold value at a radio that was over $200. Hopefully the the "GD-89" or whatever the next version is will get the software and firmware issues ironed out.

Agree comlpletly with you assessment. I just can't see not being able to turn off the second reciever is an advantage. I like the dual watch feature of the 878. However, it is redundent if you run promiscuous mode. I keep the reciever on only for a fast button push to a talkgroup that I might use (net on a different talkgroup). Yes, the CPS is a pain, I know that RT Systems has a CPS software package out (again Windows only). I think Radioddity is an ODM. They have the GD-10, which is UHF only version of the 878. BTech does the same with the 878/878UVII Plus with their DMR-6X2, and DMR-6x2 Pro. Big drawback not having a 1 Watt setting on the GD-88 for hotspot users. Nice to see a fair comparison!

Great no-nonsense to-the-point comparison! Thank you, great job, subscribed! - By the way, I'm a Mac user, too, and totally new to ham, licenced just recently. I'd be very interested to hear from a fellow Mac users how to navigate this surprisingly Windows-only world. Thank you very much. All the best from Finland! 👍😎

Very helpful! Thank You! :-D

I really wanted th4e GD-88. But, between your video and others I've watched, I ended up with the AnyTone AT-878UVII Plus. I haven't gotten a hotspot for it yet. But, I'm just trying to learn more about DMR and how it works. Thank you.

Great video

My experience with the AnyTone was not very positive. It is likely I just received a bad unit but at around the 2 year mark, my radio emitted a puff of smoke when I turned it on and it has been a brick ever since. Because it was 6 months out of warranty, Bridgecom could not do anything about it. So I’m out $320 and have to start over with a new radio. Thank you for this comparison, it highlights a potential alternative. I’m really hesitant to put the money out for an AnyTone after that.

Thanks for this review. I was thinking of buying a gc88. I need a Bluetooth to pair with my motorcycle helmet.

The only advantage I could see of the GD-88 is Analog APRS. IF (and I do mean if) the Analog APRS ACTUALLY worked, having two receivers would be useful. Then you could set the second receiver to APRS functions, turn the audio down on it, and use the primary channel. This was how I was planning on using the 878, but it doesn’t sound like it’ll do it.

Well done.

I have 2 of each radio like them both!

Great Instructional, thoroughly explained Video 📹 💯 ...AT878uvii + is very worth it 👌 73!

gracias .. muy bien hk3cam

Love your channel! Looks like I got you in the log Park to Park a couple of weeks ago. I bought an Anytone a year ago and got frustrated quickly with DMR. I need to dust off my noggin and give it another whirl. I still have the radio. DMR is the only digital mode out here in the Columbia River Gorge. 73, KD7LX

I have the Anytone but like the GD88... once it's fixed but I dont really "need" another HT, just HF.

I have the Anytone but It does not scan CTCSS tones, the scan list has only 50 memories, and It scans veeeery slow. I enjoyed your video very much. 73!!!

I’m getting the GD-88 specifically because of the cross band repeat!

I own both and I prefer the AnyTone over my GD 88

Can you do a quick video on installing the virtual machine on my Mac so I can program?

Thanks for this video! I am just beginning my quest to get a license and am not sure which radio to buy. I know I don't want one of the sub-hundred dollar radios, but I don't know what would be suitable for a good first radio. Money is always a factor, of course, but I strongly believe in the buy once, cry once plan. I would rather buy something nicer than I need right away to avoid having it end up in a drawer somewhere because I needed something better. I found your video because I have been searching for videos on the AT-878UVii Plus. Is this overkill for a beginner? I am an engineer who works regularly in technical and computer fields, so I'm not intimidated by the programming. Thanks for any help anyone on here can offer!

I have gd77 and the lcd broken/ defected after around 2 years and i dont know where i can fixit

Anytone, no doubts.

Will this radio scan local transmissions in my area and find color code and talk groups automatically?

I have the GD-88. I'm not happy with everything, but you can put it in single mode so there aren't two receivers running. Maybe that's a change since you made this video.

I there a handheld the rx TX Airband, uhf, vhf? 118.00 to 124.00

Any updated firmware for the GD88?

What is analog APRS please explain. I have never heard of this only APRS that is a digital signal. These seem like nice radios but I will not buy any of them until understand what they are selling.

Yes you can shut off the 2nd band receiver keep investigating you will find the setting!

Hack to turn off the dual recieve on GD-88: set both VFOs to the single frequency you are interested in

I have Anyone 878UV plus 1st Gen. And to be honest it has it's own bugs and it is far easier to program with CPS.

Gud pm how can i buy?

Guess next year I'll get a GD88 to play with, after i pay off my 6x2Pro😊

Well my mind is made up ...thank you

Neither. Had 3 878's and analog sensitivity and squelch sensitivity sucked on all of them. My 29$ UV-5R blew away all 3. And yes, adjusted squelch parameters in test mode-no dice.

I had both. Sold them. Both not waterproof

Noce review, but you seemed from the word go to find all the plus points for the GD-88 as unnecessary or something you don't want - this trend followed through - everytime it did NOT do something, that was a plus point for the Anytone, when it did more than the Anytone, these features were pointless? Its fine not to like it, but a DMR that can receive and transmit at the same time? You don;t know how it works, so dissmis it as pointless? As it happens, it's a bit flawed as it goes in on slot 1 and out on slot 2, which means the other radios need to TX on one slot and receive on another, and few can actually do this. The twin receiver feature is really handy, yet because the Anytone can't do it - you dismiss the GD-88? It's a logical review, but crazily biased. I actually agree with you on many points, but tell people about the bugs so they can compare, not leave them in another video?

Completely wrong. The only real disadvantage is the lack of BT in the Radioddity. Otherwise, almost everything is better in the Radioddity. The second transceiver in the Radioddity can be used extremely well for satellite operation. By the way, APRS is quick and clean if set up correctly. And there is something else to mention. In some countries, the Anytone has been banned. Why is that? Because it just didn't meet the required harmonics of -60 dB. The Radioddity is much cleaner. In the USA, however, the Anytone is no problem for the authorities. The limits are much less strict than in some European countries. Otherwise, I like comparisons like this, keep it up.

One can tell you are biased starting from minute 4 ....but that's fine hihi

You forgot to mention that the Anytone is $100.00 more.

radio grande es batería grande mas duración.

This isn't so much as a comparison as a 'this is why the 878 is better' video.

What's so unfortunate about Windows? Can you find ANY Apple desktop for $150? Can you repair your own Mac machine? Add memory? Install a better graphics card?? But the deal breaker for me is the ripoff certified repair centers. Good luck getting anything Apple actually repaired. You'll be lucky if you don't have to pay full price for a replacement.

You really lost me at "this lockdown protect you from yourself"

DMR is TOO much of a hassle, too time consuming to waste time with. Apaling that hams will spend days of frustration creating ONE CODE PLUG but don't have the discipline to take 15 mins a day learning something useful like cw.

I don't have to watch the video. Buy Anytone from Connect Systems. Radioddity has Sh!ty customer service.

Thanks for this video. Just what I needed at this time! 73 de WA3RSL