I have UV-18 Pro Max GPS I am convinced it is genuine, color screen, large numbers, deep voice in the menu with the ability to create zones in memory is the correct radio. But I am disappointed because the AM (Wide) Air Band mode sounds Horrible, hoarse, saturated, strong signals are heard saturated, almost nothing is understood. I really like the style of this radio. I have the UV-17 Pro GPS, reception is completely understandable, crystal sound is received very nice in AM mode. I imagined that having so much similarity in terms of firmware (when both radios are turned on, the screen looks like two drops of water) that it would have the same reception but that is not the case. Any comments are welcome.
I think we need to hear it to tell if it’s normal. AM on loads of radios is pretty poorly done and quality rarely good. If you could record a little clip of say, business or ham radio or marine on FM and then a bit of AM, we could tell you perhaps what is happening. You’d need to host it somewhere - soundcloud or similar though.
This is an inexpensive amateur radio, marketed directly from China and not sold by any professional radio dealers in North America. You get what you pay for. The fact that it even does AM airband is just marketing to increase sales. It is not intended in any way to replace a good scanner.
The frequencies it advertises are not even legal to use in the U.S. if this is where you are located. Just to illustrate how misleading the advertising is, they also market it as a “police radio” and state it will receive on “police bands” in the 350 to 390 MHz range. This is completely false, as no police radios use those bands. There are also very very few police agencies who can be monitored using analog radios, as almost all of them in North America have moved or will be moving to digital and encrypted radios.
Amateur radios are designed to transmit on ham bands, and any other bands such as AM airband are incidental. Even highly regarded amateur radios such as the Wouxun KG-UV9 series amateur radios don’t receive airband anywhere near as well as a good scanner. Even if Baofeng eventually updates the firmware to improve airband reception, you are far better off with a dedicated scanner for airband and reserve these inexpensive disposable radios for ham bands.
If you really want good AM airband reception, look for the Icom IC-R6 or Uniden BC125AT scanners. If you really need airband and ham bands in the same radio, look for the Wouxun KG-UV9.
Also remember that VHF is line-of-sight only, and airband radios are designed to talk to aircraft in flight or within sight of the transmission tower. Transmission towers are not necessarily located in or near control towers or area control centers, and even a few hundred meters from an airport can make it difficult to monitor ground transmissions.
It’s also less money than a microphone for a bigger brand radio. Be honest - how can you not be disappointed with a radio that costs less than the main course in a restaurant! You’re expecting rather a lot.