CONCLUSION

All of the radios performed well on test and there’s not a dud among them. But they do have their different roles to play. Some are best suited for recreational use on small water craft where there isn’t the option of a fixed set, while others are great for dedicated use as the primary set on slightly larger boats or as a back-up to a fixed set.

We could argue that everyone should go for the top-spec model – who doesn’t want all of those seemingly essential functions? But often, all you really need is something simple, small and light with a long battery life. Consider which features are important to you and choose accordingly.

The Standard Horizon HX890 really impressed us with its ergonomic shape and excellent battery life, giving us more than 24 hours of standby time. We’d also be confident of using this as our primary set on a small yacht. The float function and strobe light is particularly bright so if you were to drop it over the side there’s a good chance of finding it easily.

The direct volume controls are also nice to have, rather than having to toggle between squelch and volume. The DSC distress alert button is well located for single-handed use too.

At the budget end of the spectrum we were impressed by the Icom M25 – not surprisingly, it’s one of the best-selling radios on the market at the moment. It packs a decent punch in terms of volume and clarity and is easily charged with its convenient USB cable.

But the outstanding performer in our test was the Icom M37E. It scored highly in our test criteria across the board, from ergonomics to ease of use and battery life. We ran this radio on standby monitoring a busy VTS channel for three days and still the battery kept on going.

It’s versatile and, while it doesn’t have DSC functionality, if you need a simple, reliable VHF for a wide array of boating activities this should keep on delivering for years to come.