Standard Horizon HX890 Black Handheld VHF - Floating 6 Watt Class H DSC Two Way Radio

4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars | 374 ratings

Price: 186.5

Last update: 09-08-2024


About this item


Brand STANDARD HORIZON
Color White
Number of Channels 66
Special Feature Waterproof
Talking Range Maximum 5 Mile
Tuner Technology VHF
Voltage 12 Volts (DC)
Water Resistance Level Waterproof
Product Dimensions 1.5"D x 2.6"W x 5.43"H
Number of Batteries 1 Product Specific batteries required.

Product information

Technical Details


Top reviews from the United States

KW
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely superb radio! Don't hesitate just get it!
Reviewed in the United States on October 1, 2023
Quite possibly the best handheld VHF on the market. So many features it's hard to comment on them all. The GPS functionality is excellent and very accurate. I love that I displays it front-and-centre so you can refer to it quickly in an emergency. The dual-watch and FM functions are wonderful as well.

A few small suggestions I think would improve the function a bit more. This is an international model, but the Weather channels are fixed. Would really make sense to allow us to set custom weather channels instead of having to take up regular channels programming them in there. The torch function would be great to have a button so you can quickly activate it instead of scrolling through the tabs.

Other than that, this is hands-down the best designed radio on the market. I've been playing the FM radio around 12-14 hours at 3 notches of volume and only just dropped down one bar of battery. The standby time while monitoring your regular VHF channels should be significantly better than this based on that.

I'm very happy with the purchase overall!
dan f
5.0 out of 5 stars seems good quality. nice, backlit screen. totally floats with lithium battery pack
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2020
I just got my HX890 and set up mmsi . Couldn't get a GPS signal before doing this, but I was also inside so might have been my fault. Once MMSI was entered GPS info came right up.

I couldn't find anywhere that said, the screen was backlit. I eventually decided not to worry about it - "Surely Standard Horizon wouldn't sell a radio without a backlight" I said to myself. This time, I was right - easy to see in the dark.

The FM Radio goes all the way down to 65 mhz and up to 108. So there's some extra bandwidth there (here in the US I think we only use about 80 mhz and above?) . But it works fine.

I'll offer one criticism: the menus are not great. Are thy ever, on a handheld device like this? MMSI was particularly confusing - pressed "Back" about 4 times and exited the screen instead of delete. But
they do the job.

I'm going to disagree with some prior reviews in a few points :

* I did not find the device to feel cheap, manufacturing seemed pretty high quality. all the parts seemed nice, good buttons.

* it absolutely does float. I tested it in my kitchen sink with the built-in battery pack and lanyard and clip, and it floated just fine. Strobe light turned on too! It's quite bright. You'll find your radio if you drop it in the water at night! I've read some folks say theirs did not float, but mine certainly did. Maybe a battery question, as I know lithium batteries are lighter than most alternatives.

overall, I'd say its an expensive radio, but for DSC and GPS, I think it's worth it and I'm happy with what I got.
gregory a haub
5.0 out of 5 stars Works great and pretty simple
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2023
I got this radio because my boat is getting older, 2015 but low hours. I use my boat mostly in salt water and many times out of cell phone range.
Side story, third or fourth day with this radio I got to use it when some folks fishing capsized their 24ft boat. The radio got the coast guard out but the old fashioned life jackets were the real hero’s. The boat went over so fast they had no time to get jackets on.
T. McCormick
5.0 out of 5 stars Feature Packed at a Good Price - Much to Learn
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2022
I'm really impressed with all the features on this unit. All I really wanted was a reasonably priced marine VHF that I could put a microphone on, so that I wasn't constantly having to fish it out of my pocket to listen or talk. What I got was a super feature packed GPS/AIS/DSC machine with lots of customization available. It's so feature packed that there is a TON to learn in order to be able to make full use of it. Related to that is my only negative comment, which is that the menu system is not particularly user friendly. Beyond the most basic features, you need your nose in the manual for quite a while to figure things out, and even longer to take advantage of all the customizations.
Shannon McBride
4.0 out of 5 stars Solid value, but know about DSC before you buy
Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2024
Early in the season, so I haven't had a chance to really use it yet. But it's a very well built device by a trusted manufacturer (built by Yaesu). Price was reasonable as it included all of the features I wanted and then some. The built in speaker is reasonably loud and very clear and the unit feels good in the hand.

However, be advised that there's some red tape you're going to have to deal with if you want to use the DSC / distress functions. You're going to need to register an MMSI number for that to work. You can get one through Boat US if you don't plan on leaving US waters, but if you want an international one, you're going to have to pay roughly $200 and deal with the FCC's terrible website. This is common to all DSC radios, so it's not a ding on this model.

Bottom line, it's a good value for a DSC handheld. But if you don't need that function, there are cheaper Standard Horizon models that would be a better choice.
Steve
5.0 out of 5 stars Featrure rich...and it floats!
Reviewed in the United States on June 27, 2023
The basic features are easily accesible and the radio performs well. The extended features will require reading the 100+ page well written manual. I can attest the radio floats, and that it works well after a dip: I dropped it in a salt water canal, went back to get it, found it 20 minutes later, rinsed it, dried it, and is working perfect.
electraglide
5.0 out of 5 stars Lot's of functionality but you have to use softkeys for some and know when to press and hold.
Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2023
An ideal product would be intuitively obvious to use. This device, once understood is pretty easy but not absolutely intuitive. Otherwise, it's a great radio.
FozCat
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Marine Radio
Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2023
Purchased for use with sailboat tender. Quality construction, easy to charge, good range. Like the MMSI and ability to use DSC to make direct calls to and from the boats. Have not tested the waterproof, hope not to! Would buy again

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