Icom ID-5200 vs Kenwood TM-D750: Which New D-STAR Mobile Wins?

Published: September 2026

The two control heads side by side — Icom's 4.3" touchscreen (left) versus Kenwood's smaller 3.45" button/dial-driven display (right).

Two new D-STAR mobile transceivers are landing within weeks of each other: the Icom ID-5200 and the Kenwood TM-D750. Both are 50W, dual-band (2m/70cm), D-STAR-capable mobiles with built-in GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi — but they take noticeably different approaches, and they sit at very different price points. I dug through both manufacturers' official manuals to see how they actually compare, beyond the marketing copy.

At a Glance

Note: "DV" (Digital Voice, the D-STAR mode) and "GMSK" (the modulation D-STAR uses to transmit it) are two names for the same feature on both radios, not a difference between them.

What One Has That the Other Doesn't

Icom ID-5200 advantages

• Larger 4.3" colour touchscreen with genuine touch operation — the Kenwood's 3.45" TFT is button/dial-driven only.
• Standalone image send/receive directly over D-STAR, no computer needed.
• Newer Wi-Fi standard: 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) on top of dual-band 2.4/5GHz, versus the Kenwood's 802.11ac.
• Newer Bluetooth version (5.3 vs 5.0) with a broader profile set — adds hands-free calling (HFP) and Bluetooth Low Energy (GATT) — and supports up to 7 paired devices.
• Automatic backlight adjustment via a dedicated ambient light sensor on the controller.

Kenwood TM-D750 advantages

• APRS built in and working today — beacon, digipeater, iGate and adaptive SmartBeaconing, with no firmware wait.
• Deeper APRS configurability: separate UIflood and ULtrace digipeater aliases, packet filtering, waypoint output, message auto-reply.
• EchoLink node station support via a PC connected to the DATA connector.
• US-market TM-D750A adds 220MHz (1.25m) for a true tri-band radio.
• microSD storage in two physical locations (control head and main unit), plus USB Type-C for charging and data.
• Detachable control head has its own built-in speaker.

Practical Use Cases

Kenwood TM-D750

• Standalone APRS digipeater or iGate at a fixed site, with SmartBeaconing for efficient mobile tracking.
• KISS TNC for a computer — run Winlink packet, Xastir, APRSISCE and similar software through it.
• Continuous vehicle/event GPS tracking for SAR, fox hunts, club events, convoys.
• D-STAR voice/data on repeaters, reflectors and gateways, plus its own DV Gateway (Direct or Terminal Mode) for reaching the network with no local repeater in range.
• EchoLink node operation via a PC on the DATA connector.

Icom ID-5200

• D-STAR Terminal Mode — reach reflectors/repeaters over the internet when no local repeater is in range, similar to a DVAP.
• D-STAR Access Point Mode — the radio becomes a mini local hotspot for nearby D-STAR users, similar to an openSPOT.
• Standalone photo/image transfer over D-STAR slow-speed data.
• GPS logging and nearest-repeater lookup, with optional SBAS/GLONASS augmentation.
• Bandscope/waterfall and dual-watch monitoring, including airband alongside ham bands.
• Bluetooth hands-free calling or BLE accessory pairing, beyond basic headset support.

If Icom's Promised APRS Firmware Ships

Icom has publicly committed to adding APRS to the ID-5200 via a future firmware update, but the announcement only says support is "planned" — it doesn't confirm digipeating or iGate specifically, and gives no release date. Worth remembering too: Icom's D-STAR firmware track record isn't spotless — updates for the ID-51 and ID-5100 back in 2019 shipped with real bugs (GPS mode breaking transmissions, audio corruption) that took three revisions over about six weeks to fix properly.

If the firmware lands with full digipeat/iGate APRS and works cleanly, the ID-5200 closes the one big functional gap and becomes a very strong buy at its price. Until then, the Kenwood's APRS is a known quantity today, and the Icom's is a roadmap item.

Value for Money

At roughly €750 for the Icom and €1,200 for the Kenwood, the Kenwood costs about 60% more. That premium is mainly about APRS and depth of D-STAR gateway software: working APRS with SmartBeaconing and detailed digipeater controls today, plus EchoLink support and two physical microSD slots.

The Icom's case is stronger than it first looks, though. Its official spec sheet shows genuinely newer wireless hardware — Wi-Fi 6 versus the Kenwood's older 802.11ac, and Bluetooth 5.3 with a broader profile set than Kenwood's 5.0 — on top of a proper touchscreen, an ambient-light auto-dimming display, direct image transfer, and its own Terminal/Access Point D-STAR gateway modes that are functionally comparable to Kenwood's.

This is closer to an even trade than a first glance at the price tags suggests. If you need APRS now, or want a proven track record over a roadmap, pay the premium for the Kenwood. If you can live without (or wait for) APRS and want a nicer touchscreen and more current wireless hardware for less money, the Icom is the stronger value buy. Both are brand-new releases with no field reliability history yet, so treat all of this as launch-spec rather than years of real-world experience.

Both radios use a detachable control head design — the RF deck (Icom left, Kenwood right) mounts separately from the display, so only the small control head needs to be within reach in the vehicle.

Sources

• Icom ID-5200A/ID-5200E official Basic Manual (Icom Inc., A7870D-1EX, Jul. 2026)
• Kenwood TM-D750A/TM-D750E official instruction manual (JVCKENWOOD Corporation, B5A-4706-00)
• Icom Japan news release & product pages (icomjapan.com)
• Icom Europe pricing & press release (icomeurope.com)
• Wimo (wimo.com)
• Moonraker Online (moonrakeronline.com)
• Hamshack Reviews (hamshackreviews.com)
• GigaParts (gigaparts.com)
• Hamradio.co.uk
• F4FXL blog on 2019 Icom ID-51/ID-5100 firmware issues (f4fxl.org)

Specs, pricing and firmware plans for both radios may change before or after general availability — this article reflects information available as of September 2026.