Battery life comparison: Yaesu FT1XDR, FT2D, FT3D, FT5D plus FT70D
With its older digital tech, the Yaesu FT1XDR has the poorest, while the FT3D is the thriftiest in battery consumption.
I am reposting this from a Facebook post I made in September this year.
Here are some technical discussions/supplements for determining battery life and consumption. These are for the Yaesu FT1XDR, FT-2D, FT-3D, and FT-5D, with the addition of the FT-70D (which uses a different battery model altogether).
Current consumption specs are on the user manuals, but I found a real-world review by K9EQ for the FT1XDR and FT2 (along with other analog models).
FT1XDR, FT2D, FT60: http://www.hamoperator.com/Fusion/FusionFiles/K9EQ-Fusion-PDF-0002.0.0_FT1DR_Power_and%20Battery_Performance.pdf (PDF)
There is also a comparison between Yaesu batteries and the third-party 3,800 mAH BatteriesAmerica third-party option on the same websige.
Some screenshots of rated consumption from the manuals of the FT1XDR, FT2D, FT3D, FT5D below.
Here is a summary.
Thus, with a use case of having AMS/digital on, dual receiver (standby with power saving on), and GPS on, consumption would be:
- FT1XDR 149 mA
- FT2D 90 mA
- FT3D 91 mA
- FT5D 92mA
- FT70 (single rxvr, no GPS) 70mA
From my personal experience, the FT1XDR has the poorest battery life, particularly when using C4FM and AMS (battery significantly improves when in FM-only standby, even dual-receiver).
As mentioned by K9EQ’s review, the DSP seems to be always-on with the FT1 and even the FT2 when in DN or DN/FM AMS, which ensures the radio does not miss the first parts of the transmission when listening to digital. Perhaps on the FT3 and FT5, Yaesu was able to improve the algorithm to save on power consumption when standing by for digital traffic or when using AMS.
FT2D has better battery life than FT1XDR. However, I have observed FT3D to have better battery management/life than FT2 and of course the FT1.
These are also corroborated by the current consumption figures cited in the review I linked to above, as well as the radios’ own user manuals.
Note that the FT1XDR, FT2D, FT3D, and FT5D radios have the same battery platform, and I have done mostly un-scientific (e.g., real world) observations of my personal radios over the time I have owned them using the same SBR-14Li batteries.
Note: the original FT1D release had thinner lower-capacity batteries, but mine is the FT1XDR, which comes with the same SBR-14Li as the newer radios.
Comparing the specs of these radios, it seems the FT3 has overall lower current consumption compared to all the other fusion models. FT5 seems to be the thriftiest when digital is turned on, but only marginally so compared to the FT3.
FT1XDR has a significant increase in current draw when monitoring digital, which perhaps explains why it becomes very warm even on standby when digital and/or AMS are turned on.
Frankly, when the FT1XDR was my primary radio, I found myself having to swap out batteries twice in a 24-hour period with normal use, which means 3 fresh batteries in a day (radio always on, with around 15–20 minutes QSO per day).
With the FT3, I only swap out once, meaning two batteries, and even then it lasts longer, so I would say 1.5 full charge cycles in a given 24 hour period (yes, I sleep with the radio turned on and sitting on the bedside bookshelf).
I hope this info is helpful.
If you liked this article, do check out my latest comparison across these radios:
https://n2rac.com/yaesu-ft70d-ft1d-ft1xd-ft2d-ft3d-ft5d-comparison-53487c8a7c2e
