Handheld VHF Radios Compared: Icom, Standard Horizon and GME

This is an independent, objective comparison — we have no partner in this category. Figures below are the manufacturers' published specifications, not our own bench measurements.

A handheld VHF on a Melges 40 is not a smaller version of the panel set — it is a different device certified to a different standard, and the engineering that matters lives in the DSC class, the receiver architecture and the way the case survives going over the side. Treat range as settled: the fixed radio's masthead antenna at ~19 m wins every link-budget argument, and no amount of handheld wattage closes that gap. The real questions are whether the handheld can put your MMSI and position on Channel 70 with the boat powered down, whether it can see AIS traffic, and whether it floats, flashes and keeps talking after immersion. For the VHF fundamentals, see our VHF radio for sailors guide.

The field here is the current DSC/GPS class — Icom IC-M94DE, Standard Horizon HX890 — against the simpler voice-grade sets, principally Standard Horizon HX40 and GME GX625/GX610.

At a glance

The engineering that actually differentiates them

DSC class and receiver architecture

Everything downstream flows from the DSC class, because the class defines the receiver topology, not a feature checkbox. A fixed Class-D installation carries a second, dedicated receiver permanently tuned to channel 70 (a requirement of IEC 62238), so it guards the digital-calling channel continuously while you work a voice channel. That dual-receiver architecture is physically impossible to squeeze into a rubber-duck handheld on a single battery, so the handhelds certify to Class H instead: one receiver that time-shares CH70, scanning it periodically rather than guarding it, with a distress-call format under ITU-R M.493 that is a defined subset of Class D.

The HX890 and IC-M94DE are both Class-H sets with an internal GNSS — that is the combination that makes a handheld a genuine second distress terminal. Press-and-hold the distress key and the set assembles a digital burst on CH70 carrying your MMSI, the nature of distress and a live lat/long from the on-board GPS, with no dependence on the boat's power, NMEA backbone or a separately wired position source. That self-contained property is the entire point: when the switchboard is underwater, the panel radio is dead and the handheld in your pocket is still transmitting a position-stamped alert that any DSC coast station or vessel decodes automatically. The HX890 runs a 66-channel WAAS GPS; Icom pairs its GPS with active noise-cancelling on both TX and RX. Neither the GX625 nor GX610 carries DSC or an internal GNSS at all — they are voice-and-scan sets, so their "distress" capability is a spoken Mayday on 16, with no digital alert and no automatic position.

AIS receive — real, but antenna-limited

The IC-M94DE's headline is that it is the first handheld to integrate an AIS receiver, and the engineering is worth understanding rather than taking on faith. AIS lives on two dedicated channels (AIS 1 at 161.975 MHz and AIS 2 at 162.025 MHz); the M94DE decodes both through the same front end and the same helical antenna as the voice radio, then plots decoded targets as range/bearing on its display and can trigger a CPA/TCPA-style proximity warning. The hard limit is the physics of that shared antenna: a low-gain rubber duck held roughly a metre above the water has a horizon and a link budget nothing like a masthead whip feeding a dedicated dual-channel AIS through a splitter, so realistic detection of Class-A shipping is a few miles, not the 15–20+ a mast install achieves.

What that actually buys a Grand Prix crew is a portable collision-avoidance layer — a plot of the nearest ships from a device that still works in a liferaft, on a tender, or after the boat's N2K network fails. It is not a substitute for the boat's own AIS transponder (the M94DE receives only; it does not transmit AIS), and it will not see a small yacht that isn't transmitting. Neither the HX890 nor the GME sets offer AIS in any form. If a single hand-carried device that both raises a DSC alert and shows you nearby steel is the priority — a defensible priority for offshore legs and deliveries — the M94DE is the only radio in this group that does it.

Transmit power, and why it is the least interesting axis

All four sets cluster where handheld physics and battery drain force them: the DSC/GPS units publish 6 W (Icom's AUS-spec M94DE is rated 5 W), the GX625 runs 5 / 1 W and the floating GX610 only 2.5 / 1 W. The selectable low-power steps (1 W, 2 W) exist for battery conservation and short-range deck-to-deck traffic, not as a compromise on safety — you'd hold high power for any distress work. But the honest engineering point is that the delta between 2.5 W and 6 W is swamped by antenna height: a 6 W set held at deck level and a 25 W fixed set on the masthead are not close, because range on VHF is dominated by the radio horizon (√height), not the last few watts. This is precisely why the handheld's value is measured in DSC, GPS and buoyancy rather than headline output — treat wattage as a near-tie and spend your decision elsewhere.

Ingress protection and buoyancy — read the suffix carefully

The rating letters are not interchangeable, and professionals should read them precisely. IPX7 (IC-M94DE) and IP67 (GX610) both certify immersion to 1 m for 30 minutes; IPX8 (HX890, and the commercial HX400IS) is the manufacturer-defined deeper test, and Standard Horizon quotes 1.5 m for 30 minutes for the HX890. The distinction that often gets missed: the "X" in IPX means the dust digit is unstated, whereas IP67 on the GX610 explicitly certifies dust-tight ingress as well — a small but real advantage in a salt-and-grit environment. The GX625 sits a step lower at IP66 (powerful water jets, not sustained immersion).

More important than the immersion number is what happens after the drop. The HX890 and GX610 are positively buoyant by design and surface face-up; the IC-M94DE floats and flashes a red immersion LED, which on a night sail or a lumpy sea is the difference between spotting it in the wake and losing it. Icom also fits AquaQuake, a routine that vibrates water out of the speaker grille so a submerged-then-recovered set doesn't sound muffled — a genuinely useful detail when the radio has just been under. On an open, wet Grade-A deck, buoyancy plus a strobe is close to a hard requirement; a sinking backup radio is a backup you own exactly once.

RX audio, noise handling and glove-operable controls

Received-audio intelligibility under 25 knots of apparent and a flogging kite matters more than any TX spec, and here the sets genuinely differ. The IC-M94DE publishes 1500 mW of audio — class-leading in this group — with active noise-cancelling on both transmit and receive that samples ambient noise and subtracts it, so a distress acknowledgement is legible over wind roar. The HX890 publishes 700 mW with its own noise-cancelling function on TX/RX; more than half the Icom's output on paper, though speaker efficiency and grille geometry muddy any straight watt-for-watt comparison. The GME sets run conventional speakers with dual/tri-watch scanning to keep 16 and a working channel monitored simultaneously.

Ergonomically, the axis that counts offshore is glove and cold-wet-hand operability: raised, well-spaced PTT and channel keys, a full-dot-matrix display (Standard Horizon quotes a 1.7″ × 1.7″ screen with day/night inversion) that stays legible in glare and at night, and one-handed distress access while you're clipped on and hanging off the high side. These are handling-dependent enough that a professional should thumb the actual set before committing, but the DSC handhelds are the ones laid out for emergency use under load; the voice-grade GME sets are laid out for routine traffic.

Power system and the disposable-cell fallback

Runtime figures are close and all quoted at the standard 5-5-90 duty cycle (5% transmit, 5% receive, 90% standby): the Icom's 2400 mAh Li-ion gives ~10 hours, the HX890's 1800 mAh pack ~11 hours (the smaller cell offset by lower audio draw), the GX610 1600 mAh over USB-C, the GX625 1200 mAh. On a race boat those numbers are optimistic the moment you actually start transmitting, so the more important spec is the fallback path. The HX890 ships an alkaline battery tray — drop in AA cells and it transmits with no charger anywhere in sight, which is exactly the situation a backup radio exists for. The GX610's USB-C charging is the pragmatic modern win: it tops up from the same power bank as everything else on the boat, no proprietary cradle required. Icom's larger 2400 mAh pack gives the most headroom on the primary battery but leans on its dedicated charger. Whichever set, keeping it charged and periodically test-transmitting belongs on the safety audit alongside the rest of the kit.

Australian compliance and support

For an Australian campaign the regulatory path is identical across every DSC set: the radio needs an MMSI programmed and registered through AMSA, and AMSA requires the operator to hold a Marine Radio Operator's VHF Certificate of Proficiency before it issues the number. VHF now runs under a class licence here, so there's no per-set station licence — but the DSC handheld's MMSI is what makes its distress alert meaningful, and it must be entered correctly. GME's value is that it is Australian-designed and locally serviced with fast spares, which is a real advantage for a rugged voice reserve you expect to abuse; the trade-off is that its handhelds don't carry DSC or GPS, so they can't be the self-contained distress terminal in the first place. Both Icom and Standard Horizon are well supported through Australian marine distribution.

Our take

With no partner in this category, the objective read is that this comes down to what you want the second radio to do. If it must be a genuine backup distress terminal, only the Class-H, internal-GNSS sets qualify — the IC-M94DE and the HX890 — because only they put an automatic, position-stamped alert on Channel 70 with the boat powered down. Between them, the Icom adds the integrated AIS receiver and the louder, actively noise-cancelled audio; the Standard Horizon answers with a deeper IPX8 rating, the alkaline-tray fallback and a slightly longer quoted runtime, usually at a lower price. The GME GX625/GX610 are excellent voice reserves — IP67, floating in the GX610's case, cheap and locally backed — but they are not distress terminals, and shouldn't be bought as though they were.

Our pick: for a Melges 40 programme, the Standard Horizon HX890 is the sharpest all-round safety handheld — Class-H DSC with WAAS GPS, IPX8 and buoyant, with the AA-tray fallback that a backup radio should have. Step up to the Icom IC-M94DE if the integrated AIS receiver and its stronger 1500 mW active-noise-cancel audio justify the premium — a strong case for offshore and delivery legs. Keep a GME GX610 as the knockabout, USB-C, floating voice set if you want a locally serviced third radio, but don't ask it to do the DSC job.

Who each is best for

• Icom IC-M94DE — crews who want DSC alerting and an AIS collision-avoidance layer in one hand-carried device, with the loudest, best-conditioned RX audio in the group.
• Standard Horizon HX890 — the default DSC + GPS safety handheld: buoyant, IPX8, alkaline-tray fallback, keen price.
• GME GX625 / GX610 — a rugged, locally supported voice reserve (GX610 floats and charges over USB-C); no DSC or GPS, so not a distress terminal.

The takeaway

Buy the handheld for the job the masthead antenna can't do when the boat is dark: put an automatic, MMSI-and-position DSC alert on Channel 70 from a device on your body. That means Class-H DSC with an internal GNSS, which narrows the field to the IC-M94DE and HX890 — add the Icom's AIS receive if you want eyes on shipping too. Then insist it floats, flashes and shrugs off immersion, register the MMSI through AMSA, and keep it charged and test-transmitted on the safety audit. Do that and it takes its proper place in your race yacht safety systems; skip it and you've bought a torch that talks.