Our Testing Process
Over three weekends in May, we put 12 VHF radios through their paces across a variety of conditions on Lake Ontario β from calm morning water to 15-knot chop.
We tested for:
Best Overall: Icom IC-M510 Fixed Mount
Price: ~$729 CAD
The IC-M510 remains the benchmark. Class D DSC, AIS receiver display, NMEA 2000 integration, and the clearest audio in our test. If you run a serious cruising or offshore vessel and have a chartplotter to connect it to, this is the answer.
Best Handheld: Standard Horizon HX890
Price: ~$299 CAD
Floats face-up, has GPS for DSC, and the battery lasted 18 hours in our test. The audio was the loudest and clearest of any handheld. A no-brainer for tender, kayak, or backup radio duty.
Best Budget: Uniden MHS75
Price: ~$89 CAD
For a daysailer or power cruiser who just needs a backup, the MHS75 covers the basics at a fraction of the cost. Range was good to 4.5nm in our tests. Not for offshore.
*Coming next month: our AIS transponder review roundup.*