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  1. Which Baofeng website(s) in the USA is (are) official (that is, selling genuine Baofeng radios, programming cables, and accessories)?
  2. Which "Baofeng" websites are NOT, allegedly selling counterfeit radios and programming cables?

A Google search for baofeng usa returns several websites, all of which claim to be "official". It could be that Baofeng USA has several genuine/official/bona fide domain names. But as this question and the answers therein points out, there are apparently:

  • counterfeit Baofeng radios
  • counterfeit programming cables, and
  • counterfeit Baofeng websites.
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  • $\begingroup$ I thought it would be simple enough to pull up an owners manual and see what it says... But depending on the site, the manual gives a different answer. $\endgroup$
    – Chris K8NVH
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 2:32
  • $\begingroup$ @ChrisK8NVH I bet the manuals all have contact information for whoever ordered that batch of radios from whichever factory made them. $\endgroup$
    – mrog
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 3:27
  • $\begingroup$ There's an interesting story about the Baofeng name at baofengtech.com/blog/Fr/Post/5/…. It's entirely possible that multiple companies think they're using the name legitimately. If that's the case, there may not be an answer to which one is the official one. $\endgroup$
    – mrog
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 3:31
  • $\begingroup$ I bought a radio from baofengtech.com. It looks legit and works well. I also bought a Nagoya antenna from them and I believe it's legit, too (based on the packaging and the fact that it works so much better than the fake Nagoya antenna I bought from a different seller). So, I'm inclined to think that this is one of the better sellers (or maybe even the official site). $\endgroup$
    – mrog
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 3:34
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    $\begingroup$ @MikeWaters I have a programming cable I got on Amazon that works well. It uses the default driver provided by Windows 10. I found the order details and it was sold by BaoFeng Tech, which is the Amazon seller name used by baofengtech.com. $\endgroup$
    – mrog
    Commented Mar 25, 2019 at 15:55

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I believe the answer by Marcus Müller correctly associates the name "Po Fung" with Baofeng radios.

I found that baofengtech.com and baofengradio.com both have news from 2014 about their brand changing from Baofeng to Pofung. In both cases, the change was short lived. It sounds to me like they're two different importers using the same supplier. You can find the posts here and here.

The post from baofengradio.com lists some business partners: www.baofengtech.com, www.radioddity.com, www.baofengradio.us, and www.sainsonic.com. If you buy from any of these sites, and if you're buying a model these sites have in common, it's likely that you're getting radios from the same manufacturer. (At least until things change.)

If any of these sites have links to online marketplaces such as Amazon, those links should lead to the right products, but you still need to verify the seller name! There's a chance the marketplace site will show you an identical looking product from a different seller if the product is out of stock or if the link you clicked is expired or otherwise defective.

Any Baofeng radios from other sources should be considered suspect unless you can verify their origin. It's possible that they came from different manufacturers. It's also possible that they're factory rejects (maybe sold without authorization) or they were made under a different contract with different specs. There are a lot of possibilities and we can only guess about them.

It's interesting to note that baofengradio.com has an updated version of the name change article referenced above that doesn't name any business partners. Their site also has a page about the Baofeng trademark that makes it clear that some companies are using the name with authorization, and others are violating the trademark. It mentions the existence of authorized distributors, but doesn't name them. The fact that these pages don't name any other companies suggests that it may be very difficult to obtain a more current list of authorized distributors.

Now, I'm going to point out another interesting find. Baofengtech.com uses two different brands on its radios: BaoFeng and BTECH. Given the site's domain name, you might think the two brands are related. But, they're not. You'll notice that the BTECH radios aren't listed at baofengradio.com.

I asked John Miklor (of miklor.com) and he gave me some further information about BTECH:

Several years ago, BaofengTech (BTech) started as an authorized distributor of Baofeng products. Since then they have grown to become an ODM. They work with companies taking existing designs and having custom features added to meet their specifications.

Some of the companies they work with are Baofeng, Vero, Nagoya, Anytone, etc. directly. (No clones, fakes or copies). They still retain the original website identity as BaofengTech, as BTech is used by another company.

Long story short, they are a US distributor (not manufacturer) selling analog and DMR products mostly built to their specs.

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    $\begingroup$ I send a message to baofengradio.com asking for a list of authorized distributors in the United States. I'll update my answer if they respond. $\endgroup$
    – mrog
    Commented Mar 26, 2019 at 17:07
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What's "official" anyway? The address of the company producing the device? That company seems to be "PO FUNG ELECTRONIC(HK) INTERNATIONAL GROUP COMPANY"; the company importing to the US? That'd be "SAIN3 LLC, Berkeley", I think. Is Baofeng a company or just a brand (hint: Nike produces zero shoes. They license logos. They are a brand company.)?

Anyway, the officialst you'll get is probably whatever is known to the official positions – in this case, what is known to the FCC. A quick search on fccid.io for UV-5R yielded this document:

https://fccid.io/2AJGM-UV5R/Letter/C2PC-letter-4057982

Signature of company officer

which answers the question of who's responsible from the point of view of the FCC: a Mr. Wang with a baofengradio.com address.

Whether that is the US website – I don't know. Why should a Chinese manufacturer even have a specific US website? They produce goods for export. They have have an English website – that's probably it.

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  • $\begingroup$ Yes, I'm pretty certain that it's a brand of Pofung. Can I assume that you are saying that baofengradio.com is probably a good place to buy genuine Pofung products from? If so, how can we be certain? $\endgroup$
    – Mike Waters
    Commented Mar 23, 2019 at 22:44
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    $\begingroup$ That website has depth; community service, history, tremendous amounts of related information. It certainly looks genuine. But it made me laugh; I clicked a link to a new radio product ("buy this on amazon"; who is the official amazon seller?) and was greeted by "page no longer exists". $\endgroup$
    – Chris K8NVH
    Commented Mar 24, 2019 at 1:49
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    $\begingroup$ I found that baofengtech.com and baofengradio.com both have news from 2014 about their brand changing from Baofeng to Pofung. In both cases, the change was short lived. It sounds to me like they're two different importers using the same supplier. web.archive.org/web/20140731003542/http://www.baofengradio.com/… baofengtech.com/blog/Fr/Post/5/… The post from baofengradio.com lists some business partners: www.baofengtech.com.www.radioddity.com.www.baofengradio.us and www.sainsonic.com. $\endgroup$
    – mrog
    Commented Mar 25, 2019 at 16:35
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    $\begingroup$ @mrog Thanks! You should post that comment as an answer. $\endgroup$
    – Mike Waters
    Commented Mar 25, 2019 at 18:25

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