XHDATA E-100 Ham Radio Review

One of my favorite radio manufacturers just entered the amateur radio game.  Introducing the XHDATA E-100. ($24.98 with a 15% off promotion currently).  I was provided a pre-release radio about a month earlier to review and to provide feedback to XHDATA.

The official release date is 22 October 2024.

XHDATA has been making GREAT shortwave radios for ages and I think I own most of them.  I’ve never had an issue and I’ve even reviewed a couple of them here on my blog.

So, after testing the radio for a month, I will tell you what I think.

Research and Testing

One of the first things I always do during a review is to look up the FCC ID number.  That was problematic because my radio doesn’t have an FCC ID number located anywhere that I have found.  XHDATA informed me that the FCC ID is 2AJGM-NAK6. Currently there are no exhibits posted yet.

In their defense, remember that I said that I received this radio a full month before any kind of official release.  I’d be remiss in not pointing out that the E-100 looks just like the Baofeng K6 which was just recently released.  I even downloaded the CPS software for the Baofeng and it connected and programmed okay.  I fully expect that XHDATA will have CPS software upon the official release.

Also, the Baofeng folks uncovered a secret menu and I was able to access it on the E-100 by following the steps that were provided.

Again,  I have to state that I have a pre-release radio and whatever gets released could have entirely different firmware. I don’t know.

If you ask me though, I like secret menus.

XHDATA E-100 Power Tests (click pics to enlarge)

The E-100 is advertised as a 6 watt radio and sure enough I was getting about 5.9volts on 20 meters and 4.6 on 70 cm.  That is pretty comparable with other radios that I own.

Range Testing

I didn’t do anything real scientific but tested driving away from and towards a couple of local repeaters.  I also did this with a handful of other radios I own.  With the stock antenna I was getting comparable range with the E-100.  Roughly around 12-14 miles.  It should be noted that I live smack dab in the middle of the Croatan National Forest.  Trees everywhere.

Coverage

This is what it says on the sticker inside the radio:

136-174MHz

200-260MHz

400-520MHz

That will cover VHF, UHF, FM, Airband, 1.25M, 1M, and NOAA weather channels.

In my opinion, in a SHTF situation, having Airband and NOAA could be huge.  Heck, even for walking in the forest it is huge.

And again I’d be remiss in not pointing out that GMRS frequencies are also covered.  We all know we aren’t supposed to configure our radios to be both amateur and GMRS and MURS capable.   That being said, just about every radio being sold these days does just that.  If not right out of the box, then via a secret menu.

Features

Tons of typical amateur radio features including a flashlight and flashing light, dual channel support.  Also it has a 3000mA battery.  In my testing battery life was GREAT.  Also you can charge the radio via a USB C connector on the back.  Here’s a super quick video:

Final Thoughts

I didn’t want to go too far in depth here because my radio is a pre-release one for testing.   Me digging into firmware and menu items could be inaccurate once the official release radio hits the street.  Also, I don’t know the price yet.  And I haven’t seen the XHDATA CPS software either. So far, CHIRP has not added support yet for this radio.  I fully expect it to be included at some point in the near future.

As far as my thoughts……..Yes.  Get one.  It is comparable to anything else I own in the HT realm.

I’ll add to this once the radio hits the street.