Baofeng UV-5R BL-5 Replacement Battery 7.4V 1200mAh

Baofeng UV-5R Series — 7.4V Li-ion Replacement Battery (BL-5)

This 7.4V 1200mAh Li-ion pack replaces the BL-5 and BL-5L batteries used in the Baofeng UV-5R, UV-5RHP, UV-5RA, UV-5RE, and fifteen additional UV-5R variant handhelds. It slots into the same rear bay and connects via the same gold contact strip as the original. The BMS is matched to the 7.4V platform these radios expect.

• UV-5R series compatibility: Every model in the UV-5R line shares the same battery bay dimensions, 7.4V voltage rail, and BL-5 contact layout. That common architecture means one pack covers the full variant lineup without adapter or modification.
• Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this pack through transmit and receive loads on a UV-5R. The BMS held the rail steady across PTT presses and absorbed the current spike at transmit without triggering overcurrent cutoff.
• First insertion on the UV-5R charger dock: If the charger LED blinks fault on first insertion, remove the pack, wipe the gold contact strip with a dry cloth, and reseat firmly. The UV-5R dock requires a clean contact cycle to complete the BMS handshake before charging begins.

Why the UV-5R cuts out mid-transmission on a new BL-5 pack

A new cell ships at storage voltage — typically around 3.7V per cell, giving roughly 7.4V total. That's within the radio's operating window, but the BMS applies tighter output limits until the pack has been through a full charge cycle. On the UV-5R, transmit draws a sharp current spike that can hit the BMS's overcurrent threshold if the pack hasn't been fully charged first. Charge the pack to 8.4V before first use and the cutoff threshold shifts back to normal operating range.

Bar indicator shows one fewer bar than expected after swapping to a new pack

The UV-5R uses a voltage-threshold bar indicator — it reads the pack's resting voltage and maps it to a bar count. A new cell at storage voltage reads lower than a freshly charged pack, so the indicator often shows one bar short immediately after swapping. This is not a capacity fault. Charge the pack fully to 8.4V, then power the radio on — the bar count will update to reflect the charged resting voltage.