Icom IC-705 price and availability

Note: We will update this post as pricing information is confirmed by retailers.

Many thanks to several SWLing Post readers who have been carefully tracking the price of the Icom IC-705 transceiver which is expected to start shipping around the second quarter of 2020.

Pricing in Japan: 124,800 yen

Paul Evans notes that the price in Japan, according to this Icom Japan press release [PDF], is 124,800 yen + tax. That’s roughly $1150-1200 USD.

Pricing in UK: £1200.

In addition, ML&S have recently posted updated details from Icom UK and have noted that they “anticipate a price of around £1200 (£1000.00 excluding VAT).” To put that in perspective, the IC-7300 is currently being offered for the same price and it’s been on the market a while now.

This could mean that after the IC-705 has been on the market for a while, discounts could place it well below that of the IC-7300. Of course, if history is an indicator, early adopters will likely pay the top price.

Pricing in US: [TBD]

No confirmation yet from US retailers, but at this point, I would bet we could see pricing around $999 USD. That would be a competitive starting point. Of course, once we have confirmation from retailers we’ll update this with actual figures.

Other regional pricing

We will update this post with pricing and availability once we confirm details. Please comment with any tips!


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12 thoughts on “Icom IC-705 price and availability

  1. Bill Warren

    Hi just a note, the ic-705 radios are in our country as of 5 days ago. A ham buddy of mine sent me two pictures of pallets loaded with cases of ic-705s. i was told they were off loaded from a cargo ship. there were hundreds of them. At least their in our country !!!!!!! Bill wb2iwc

    Reply
  2. Bill Warren

    Hi 705 price everywhere is $1299. a bit more than expected and backpack is 169.00, Hro and others want payment now they said they would send to those who pay earlest . I Dont have one yet but it hit my charge card already!!! didnt think they could do that till they ship…. oh well I heard shipments start next week……to Australia US next !? LOOKS LIKE 3 OR 4 MORE WEEKS FOR US.

    Reply
  3. Bill Warren

    Hi any updates on the Ic-705 ? Has it been approved by the FCC ? AS of june 1st it was not… that was 7 weeks ago.. so many utubes and ads but no radio ! Please Give me an update HRO says theyn dont know anything but has over 150 on hold! Im number 34 not that .that means anything ! thank you i enjoy your web site Bill Warren WB2IWC

    Reply
    1. Thomas Post author

      Hi, Bill,

      The IC-705 does not have its type rating/FCC acceptance yet. Ironically, I just confirmed that an hour ago.

      The retailers really know nothing substantial at this point. There are a hand full of prototype units out there right now–in fact, Ray Novak will show one of them tomorrow at DX Engineering’s online event.

      I’ve heard that they hope to have units shipping in the US by the end of September or in October. That vague of a timescale tells me that there really are more things that have to fall into place in order for the IC-705 to start shipping.

      It’s certainly not vaporware–not at all–but there is real uncertainty surrounding its availability in the US/Canada.

      Cheers,
      Thomas

      Reply
  4. Jack

    Ya the “SDR” scam is getting a little old. This technology is almost 50 years old now. It ‘the SDR technology” was and is meant to bring the hard component cost replaced with that of ..to be blunt…MATH. Literally the only thing that is not “off the shelf” component wise in these radios is the outer case and the inner RFI cage. I added up a friends 7300 in 10k unit price points (and that’s not really even ballpark for a retail produced item) and found the total component pricing to be around 63$ US including the RF finals….that’s sad considering the first release price point of the 7300 was 1499.00$ USD.

    Reply
  5. HOWARD SMALL

    So it is an SDR. Does that mean it can be programmed for operation outside the ham bands? If not, how long before someone reverse engineers it and finds a way to do that 😉

    Reply
  6. Mark

    It’s nice to see a new radio but the price is shocking really. It looks nice and has a nice screen this is what People will be paying for + the Icom brand.

    My main interest is HF so VHF and UHF Dstar etc are of no interest to me. It will be interesting to see what the bluetooth and LAN are used for. But it’s got features I’ve no interest in so it wouldn’t be worth it ( for me )

    What would have made me pay more attention is if it had the more important things like tuner and more power and a proper battery one might expect in 2020 and not a battery designed for their handhelds, these batteries are also very over priced by today’s standards in Li tech.

    Icom couldn’t make me give up my ft-891 for a fancy screen VHF/UHF because when I’m out portable I don’t have lots of time so I want to make contacts and the 891 with it’s 100 watts gives me no problems making contacts.

    If one has to bring an external battery for 10 watts then they should have had 50 – 100 watts. But it’s really disturbing that Icom install a li battery than can only provide enough power for 5 watts and God knows how long that will last having to power the fancy screen.

    I’m sure the 705 will sell well to those looking for a nice looking new toy.

    Even Xiegu can provide 20 Watts in their G90 which also has a great tuner and is sdr and sounds better than the 7300, I love my 7300 but it sounds harsh compared to that little G90 !

    Great to see ICom coming up with something new but they could have done a lot better which they went to the effort.

    Reply
    1. Garry

      Well it is QRP and I think it will sell like hot cakes. And you can use what ever battery you want thru the coax connector. I have the 7300 and love it just wish it had the vhf bands. The VHF bands are a real asset for some of us. And Dstar will add to it’s appeal for many. Any ham radio is a toy but this is sure a nice one. Interesting what you think of the Xiegu as I have never seen or heard one. Must have a look at one one of these days. It sure looks like it is a nice little radio.

      From what ray was saying this is a direct SDR below 25 MHz and down converts above that..

      73

      Reply
  7. John

    If it is introduced to the US market at just below $1000 that’s lower than I was expecting.
    Thought the price of this interesting new Icom mobile transceiver would be initially around $1200 here.

    Icom sure have released some excellent gear in the last few years and pushed the technology forward.

    Reply

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