Ham Radio · New Gear · September 2026
Xiegu G7250: Xiegu's First Proper 100W HF/6m Base Station
Direct-sampling SDR, a detachable 7-inch touchscreen head, built-in ATU and 100 watts out — for under £1,000. Here's what we know so far, and what we don't.
Quick take: The G7250 is the radio a lot of us have been waiting for Xiegu to build — a full-power shack rig rather than another portable. On paper it goes straight after the Icom IC-7300 and Yaesu FT-710. It's pre-order only right now, but I've had some hands-on time with a pre-production unit — my first impressions are further down.
What is it?
Xiegu announced the G7250 on 22 July 2026. Until now the brand has been best known for small, affordable portables — the G90 (20W), the X6100 and X6200 (QRP with built-in batteries and screens). The G7250 is a different animal: a 100W HF + 50 MHz transceiver built around a direct RF-sampling SDR receiver, in a split design with a separate RF deck and a detachable control head.
The front end is a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen with a spectrum scope and waterfall, but Xiegu has kept physical buttons and rotary encoders alongside it, so you're not stuck prodding glass for everything. Because the head detaches, you can stick the RF unit under the desk (or in the car) and keep just the screen and controls in front of you.
Headline specs
| Spec | G7250 (preliminary) |
|---|---|
| Coverage | 0.5–30 MHz, 50–54 MHz (160m–10m + 6m); WFM broadcast RX 78–108 MHz listed by some dealers |
| TX power | 100W ±1 dB on HF, 90W ±1 dB on 6m |
| Modes | SSB, CW, AM, NFM, DIG (plus WFM receive) |
| Receiver | Direct RF-sampling SDR with multi-stage front-end filtering |
| Sensitivity | 0.2–0.25 µV SSB/CW/FM, 2 µV AM (sources vary) |
| MDS | −138 dBm |
| Display | 7-inch capacitive touchscreen, detachable head, spectrum + waterfall |
| ATU | Built-in, 20–150 Ω; first tune ≤10 s, memory recall ≤0.1 s |
| Antenna ports | 2 × SO-239, selectable |
| Tuning step | 1 Hz minimum |
| Power supply | 13.8V DC nominal (9–15V quoted); ~1.2A RX, up to 25A TX |
| Size / weight | 41 × 27 × 24 cm (packaged figure likely), 5.8 kg |
| Operating temp | 0–55 °C |
Specs are preliminary and taken from Xiegu's announcement and dealer listings (Radioddity, WiMo, ML&S). A couple of figures differ slightly between sources, so treat them as a guide until the final manual lands.
Features worth getting excited about
- One-cable digital modes. There's a built-in USB sound card, so FT8/FT4 with WSJT-X should be a single USB lead for both audio and CAT — no interface box, no tangle of audio leads.
- Built-in CW and digital decoding on the screen, handy for a quick look at what's on the band without firing up a PC.
- Network baseband streaming. Xiegu mentions “remote baseband signal transmission over a network”. Details are thin, but this hints at proper remote operation — something the IC-7300 never really did out of the box.
- Two antenna sockets + ATU with band memory — switch between, say, an end-fed and a 6m beam without swapping coax.
- SWR sweep built in, so you can get a rough idea of an antenna's resonance without an analyser.
- Voice memory keyer and CW messages for contesting or calling CQ (voice recording needs a microSD card).
- Adjustable DSP filters, noise reduction and noise blanker.
Price and availability in the UK
| Dealer | Price | Status |
|---|---|---|
| ML&S Martin Lynch & Sons (UK) | £949 | Pre-order with deposit, delivery date TBC |
| WiMo (DE) | €1,090 | Listed as available from 16 November 2026 |
| Radioddity | $999 | First batch shipping early–late November; EU warehouse option |
Prices correct at the time of writing (late September 2026). In the box you should get the control head, RF unit, link and data cables, hand mic, DC power lead and manual. A matching GY-10 external speaker is sold separately. If you order direct from outside the UK, remember import VAT and handling fees can eat the saving.
UK licence note
At 100W the G7250 sits comfortably within the Ofcom limits for Full and Intermediate licence holders. Foundation holders will need to wind the power down to stay legal — the rig's power setting makes that easy, but it's worth checking your current licence conditions before you key up.
How does it stack up?
The obvious comparison is the Icom IC-7300: same basic recipe (direct-sampling SDR, 100W, touchscreen, internal ATU, HF + 6m). The G7250 brings a bigger screen, a detachable head, two antenna ports and network streaming. What Icom has is years of proven reliability, a mature firmware, and a huge ecosystem of accessories and software support. The Yaesu FT-710 is the other one to beat, particularly on receiver performance.
Against its own family, the G7250 is a big step up from the G90 — five times the power, a proper screen and a modern SDR front end — and it fills the gap for anyone who's had an X6100 as a portable and wants something Xiegu-flavoured for the shack.
Hands-on: first impressions
I've had the chance to get hands-on with a pre-production G7250. That means it's not final hardware or firmware, so bear that in mind, but it gave a good feel for where the radio is heading.
- Touchscreen behaviour. The screen was a bit strange at times — the odd touch not registering as expected or behaving oddly. On a pre-production unit this looks much more like early firmware than a hardware problem, and it's the kind of thing Xiegu normally sorts out with updates. Worth keeping an eye on once production radios ship.
- Noise reduction. This was the surprise. The NR is genuinely effective — it pulls weak signals out of the band noise without turning the audio into that watery, robotic mush you get from a lot of cheaper DSP. Better than I expected.
- Fit and finish. It feels like a proper base station. The case, controls and detachable head all feel solid and well put together — especially impressive at around £950 in the UK.
Overall, the bits that are hard to fix later — build quality and receive audio — are already in good shape. The rough edge I saw is software, which is the part that can be fixed with a firmware update.
What we don't know yet
- Real receiver performance. Sensitivity and MDS figures are easy to hit. The numbers that matter on a busy band — blocking, reciprocal mixing, phase noise — need independent lab tests.
- Firmware maturity. Xiegu radios have historically launched a bit rough and improved through firmware updates. Early adopters should expect some of that.
- Heat on long FT8 sessions. 100W on a continuous-duty digital mode is a good stress test of the cooling. We'll want to see how it copes.
- Rear panel detail — ACC socket, linear amp keying, external ATU support and exactly how the network remote works haven't been fully published yet.
Verdict (for now)
The G7250 is a very tempting package for the money: a 100W HF/6m SDR with a big detachable screen, dual antenna ports, ATU and single-cable FT8 for under £1,000 in the UK. From my time with the pre-production unit, the build quality and noise reduction already punch well above the price — the touchscreen quirks just need firmware to catch up. If you like being first and don't mind a few firmware updates, a first-batch order could be fun. If you want a rig that just works on day one, it's worth waiting for the first proper reviews and lab results before putting your money down. I'll update this post once real-world reports start coming in.
Sources: Xiegu.eu announcement (22 July 2026); dealer listings from ML&S Martin Lynch & Sons, WiMo and Radioddity. Specs are manufacturer preliminary and subject to change. GazLabs has no affiliation with Xiegu or any dealer mentioned.