I picked up the 878 after only using baofengs for about 4-5 years. The learning curve is much steeper than baofengs but not impossible if you’ve already used programing software like chirp. My recommendation is download CPS (Anytones code plug software) and play around with it while you wait on your order. The class can be helpful if you’d rather just take the slow and easy option but be proficient by the end. It’s included regardless so it’s a good add-on. My main complaint is the analog reception, squelch is only able to be changed with a range of 0-9 zero being a full open and 1 being well, a bit more than you want. The issue I run into is the squelch will turn on and off somewhat randomly, not bad enough where you don’t hear anything but you will have to fill in some blanks if you’re not using a good repeater and antenna.You can and will pick up analog clearly but antenna choice is very important. A stock Baofeng UV5R will pick up whole transmissions at its stock 9/9 squelch will pickup more of an analog signal than the 878, but with that being said it is not the focus of the HT. Where it excels is battery life, audio clarity (receive and transmit) and customizability. A baofeng will allow you to put some text, the 878 does text or full color images. The 878 has 15 base button binds that can be changed in software or on the HT. APRS receive works but is significantly easier to setup on a pc. Reception for analog APRS seems to be more consistent than voice but transmission and a bit odd since it waits for dead air and if there’s someone talking when it would send it seems like it just waits again. So if you’re on a busy channel APRS may not transmit on the separate frequency, I do not have a second radio capable of verifying that it is the same for APRS on simplex voice frequencies but it seems to be better when APRS and voice are being used on the same frequency. The digital functions work as expected, I’ve made 100 mile line of sight contacts with my local repeater on trips on analog, so unless you are looking to spend about twice as much on a HT this is about as good as it gets. Any cheaper (besides the $250 blue button version) radio will feel a bit limited. Having the extra capacity to fit the whole DMR contact list is definitely worth the headache of making your own. The video attached is recorded 7 miles from a repeater in a parking garage with no direct line of sight and large concrete buildings between as well. Does not show the cutting in and out analog can do but that should show how picky I am about it. Build quality 9/10 analog reception 7/10 Audio quality/max volume 10/10 start up wait time for a DMR HT 9.5/10 Learning curve for new HAMs 6/10 (without using the included course) over all 8/10 for analog use 9/10 for DMR