I really do not have the experience at this point to speak to the comparative quality of this equipment. I can only give you my general sense of the overall design and build quality.On that note I can say that this radio is well beyond what I expected especially at this price point. The quality is clearly there although I also realize there are far more expensive radios that are of much great durability and designed to withstand far more abuse. But the radios I'm referring to from my work (700/800 MHZ PS Motorola Solutions APX1000 and APX7000 series are literally thousands of dollars more. For the cost of these - impressive!As for the performance - I don't even have my license yet but these radios because of their relatively low cost and ease of use have provided me the opportunity to and motivation to start learning, earn my license and enjoy this hobby.My four star ratings are reflective of what would be expected at this price point. I think this is a fair rating and reflects the above average quality. I dropped the sound to a three. The speaker quality is somewhere between acceptable and tolerable. I don't consider myself disappointed in regards to this but I do know that radios can have better sound quality than this. Again - at the price point - no real complaints I just wanted to point that out for those it matters to.So, really great product and looking forward to figuring out how all this works!