UV-7B (Baofeng) or UV-K1 or UV-K5 (Quansheng)
I want to get into the hobby. I want a practical radio that I can use in emergencies. My local emergency management agency operates in the 2m band, so anything that gets NOAA alerts is fine. Other than that, I enjoy hacking, so getting a custom firmware could be fun.
The K5 has more firmware options and is well known. The K1 has a better processor and memory, so there is more headroom. The 7B is completely unhackable but is said to be more user-friendly thanks to the app and adds 1.25m band access. K1 reportedly has better spurs on 2m, while 7B performs well in terms of harmonics except for 2m??? I don't want to pollute the airwaves...
Leaning towards the later model Quansheng, currently. How important is 1.25m TX, phone programming, and 5x the channel storage for a beginner? (Bearing in mind that AFAICT, my local repeaters are also all on 2m, so I would primarily be using 2m, with 70cm as a side benefit.)
Either way, I can get a QMX+ kit for fully hackable SDR performance from shortwave to 6m as my upgrade path...