Wouxun KG-689 & KG-679 Plus VHF version with Scrambler covering 136-174Mhz FM + Broadcast FM.

First impressions of the radio was WOW, not bad for £45 (including earpiece) delivered from HK which only took 6 days to arrive, quicker than some eBayers I have dealt with in the UK.
In the box you get a drop-in charger with a proper UK plug, Li-ion battery (7.2v, 1400mah), antenna, wrist strap, belt clip, manual and the radio itself (of course).

The KG-679 is virtually the same radio feature wise, except it does not have dual VFO's with dual watch but is a simpler radio to operate.

Frequency: 136Mhz - 174Mhz TX/TX
Channels: 128
Modes: FM (Wide and Narrow) + WFM on FM Radio
Steps available: 5, 6.25, 10, 12.5, 25Khz

It's nothing like the Jingtong I bought a while back the build quality is much much better and is on par with Yaesu/Icom/Kenwood build but the Wouxun probably gets an extra point for a solid battery latch system which puts the other well known manufacturers to shame.

The radio is switched on using the volume control on the top of the radio, a feature I prefer than the press and hold power button you normally see these days.
No rotary tuning control on top of the radio which is not that much of a disaster as the up/down keys are very responsive.
The transmit audio is excellent, having used the Jingtong in the past for 2m I was afraid of muffled audio with this radio, but no, receiving the transmit audio on a radio in a different room it sounded like a £300 professional handheld. Received audio is also very good with a very punchy sounding audio from the speaker.
The desktop charger has LED's on the front to let you know when it is charging and when it has finished and normally takes around 3 - 4 hrs to get a full charge.

This radio is packed full of features you probably would not expect to find on a cheap handheld, for example, dual watch receive with 2 VFO's, 5W High/1W Low power, 50 CTCSS codes, 105 DCS codes, Scrambler, VOX, DTMF, Squelch Monitor button, Repeater shift, Repeater reverse (monitor input), Time out timer, Voice guide (Novelty), ANI ID, 128 memories, wide/narrow bandwidth select, 3 colour backlights, computer programmable, Scan mode, Transmit timeout, Busy Channel Lockout, Low battery voice prompt and indicator, 5Khz to 25Khz steps, keylock, FM Broadcast radio function. FM broadcast is not great, I found it pretty deaf, but who cares, it's a 'professional' handy not a domestic FM radio and I view this feature as an added bonus.

These radios can also use the SMA-F to BNC/SO-239/N-Type adapters for connecting to an external antenna.

The built in scrambler is an audio inversion type with 4 groups selectable which would probably be illegal to use on the ham bands due to licensing/BR68 restrictions i.e. encryption, not sure about other radio users.
Entering in a frequency is simple, just type in the full frequency without anything else e.g. 1 4 5 5 0 0 but entering in a frequency such as 145.3875Mhz you will have to enter 1 4 5 4 0 0 and use the up/down buttons to arrive at 145.3875Mhz otherwise you will end up at 145.387Mhz (it does not recognise the 0.5Khz at the end via direct frequency entry).
Some people may find programming the memories a little difficult as you have different types of working modes to deal with namely Frequency/Channel/Name modes although with any new radio you have to play quite a while to master this, but you tend to do it automatically after a few go's i.e. hold down MENU while turning on the radio.


Pros:

• Received audio is excellent and transmit audio is pretty good but could have done with a bit more punch and is nowhere near the muffled Jingtong radio where they forgot to put a hole to the microphone.
• The keypad is well illuminated and has a good feel when hitting the buttons.
• The User manual is better than some of the others I have used on imported radios with most of it being readable.
• Loads of features including DTMF which tends to be lacking on these imported radios.
• Very solid feel when holding the radio with good battery life.
• Stock antenna seems to pull in the signals very well.
• Frequency easily entered into the radio via the keypad.
• Drop in charger with a proper UK mains plug i.e. no shaver adapter required and has LED indicators.
• Light and compact.
• Batteries are cheap, about £8 delivered from HK.
  
• Can be programmed via computer (extra accessories required).
  
• In Car adapter accessory available for about a tenner (called battery eliminator), I have this and it works great.
• Very sensitive receiver.
• High/Low Power setting.
  

Cons:

• It does NOT have a 1750Hz Toneburst which to me is not a big deal as these are designed as commercial radios and not amateur radio kit and most repeaters use CTCSS these days anyway.
• CTCSS decode can sometimes take a few seconds to decode but hitting the monitor button will over-ride this.
• No rotary tuning control at all, only up down keys.
• Dual frequency (TDR) jumps back to VFOA (or B if setup in menus) if selected on VFOB after a few seconds  (this can be disabled though) which you have to watch in case you end up Transmitting on the wrong frequency, stick to VFOA at all times if Transmitting using TDR.
• The battery catches are a bit loose once the battery locks in place but this is not a big issue.
• The Dah Dah - Dah Dah tones that are heard when you turn on the radio may be annoying but nowhere near the Jingtongs ones and on the Wouxun you can keep the volume turned down when turning on so it's barely audible.
• The scanning is not the quickest (in fact it's really slow, I would say about 2 channels a second?), but I did not buy it for this purpose but to dump frequencies into some memories and access the local repeater and IRLP node.
• Some people may find programming the memories a bit tricky.
• No rotary squelch knob, it's a digital SQL setting in the menu but even my VX-2E has a digital Squelch so again this was not an issue for me.
• Not currently CE approved so don't be surprised if you get interference from the charger!
  

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have probably been a bit harsh with the downsides of this radio but these are niggles and not major issues in my eyes.

The nearest rivals I could see on eBay were the Weierwei VEV-3288S Puxing-777 Feidaxin FD-268a which all seem to have most of the features the Wouxun has, but I have not tested out any of these radios so I cannot comment on their performance or features. As far as I could make out the Wouxun was the only one at the time that had DTMF (essential for Internet linking).
Jingtong have released a new radio, the JT-800 which looks like it is a clone of the KG-689?, has a similar layout and features with extra menu buttons on the front panel.

Overall an excellent radio, I think you get a lot of radio for your money and the build quality is superb.
I bought the 689P/679P VHF versions of the Wouxun. Remember ) only paid £40 for this radio brand new with drop in charger, every time I look at the radio I think I got a bargain. I also bought a spare battery and car charger which have come in very handy.

UPDATE: Wouxun have released the KG-699E which is CE approved and carries 1750Hz toneburst (as well as a new body, and an extra control knob on the top of the unit, squelch or VFOB?), but the price has increased dramatically (pretty much double the price of the KG-689). Not such a great buy as once was, maybe the price will drop soon.

Official Wouxun website: http://www.wouxun.com