Icom IC-7300 vs Yaesu FT-991A: HF Specialist or One-Box Shack

Buy the Icom IC-7300 if you want the best HF radio for the money and you already have, or will add, something for 2 m and 70 cm. Buy the Yaesu FT-991A if you have room for one radio and want every band from 160 m to 70 cm in it, with C4FM digital voice thrown in. The IC-7300 is the easier and better HF radio. The FT-991A is the more complete station.

My short version: this is less a contest between two receivers than a choice between a specialist and an all-rounder. Decide whether you need VHF and UHF in the same box, and most of the answer follows.

Who should buy which

Both radios sit near the top of the mid-price tier in our guide to the best HF transceivers for a home station. They get there by very different routes. Here is how I would split the buyers.

• First HF radio after an upgrade to General: IC-7300. Its menus are the easiest in the class, and the pile of tutorials and settings guides is bigger than for any other radio here.
• One radio for a small shack, HF and local repeaters: FT-991A. It covers HF, 6 m, 2 m and 70 cm all-mode from one power lead and one USB cable.
• System Fusion and Wires-X users: FT-991A. C4FM is built in. The IC-7300 has no VHF or UHF at all.
• Mostly FT8 and other HF digital modes: either, with a slight lean to the IC-7300 for its scope and simpler setup. Both run audio and CAT over a single USB cable.
• Operators who live on the waterfall: IC-7300. Its scope is bigger, faster to read and more precise.
• Buying used on a budget: IC-7300. There are more of them about, and they hold up well.

Specs and use side by side

All figures are maker specifications from Icom and Yaesu. The two companies do not measure everything the same way, so treat close numbers as a tie.

ItemIcom IC-7300Yaesu FT-991A Transmit bands160 m to 6 m160 m to 6 m, plus 2 m and 70 cm Power output2 to 100 W (AM 25 W)100 W HF and 6 m, 50 W on 2 m and 70 cm (AM 25 W and 12.5 W) ModesSSB, CW, RTTY, AM, FMSSB, CW, AM, FM, C4FM, plus data and packet Receive range0.03 to 74.8 MHz30 kHz to 56 MHz, 118 to 164 MHz, 420 to 470 MHz Receiver designRF direct sampling, 15 band-pass filtersTriple-conversion superhet on SSB, CW and AM, with a 3 kHz roofing filter Display4.3-inch colour touchscreen3.5-inch colour touchscreen ScopeReal-time scope and waterfall, audio scopeReal-time scope with automatic scope control, multi-colour waterfall Antenna tunerBuilt in, 16.7 to 150 Ω, 160 m to 6 mBuilt in, 16.7 to 150 Ω on HF, 25 to 100 Ω on 6 m, none on 2 m and 70 cm Antenna connectorsOne SO-239Two M-type (SO-239): HF/6 m and 2 m/70 cm Computer linkOne USB cable for audio and CATOne USB cable for audio, CAT and PTT Receive current (no signal)0.9 A typicalAbout 1.8 A Transmit current at full power21 A at 100 WAbout 23 A at 100 W Size (W×H×D)240 × 94 × 238 mm229 × 80 × 253 mm Weight4.2 kgAbout 4.3 kg Best atHF operating, digital modes, easy daily useOne-box shacks, repeaters, C4FM, HF plus V/UHF

The boxes are close to the same size and weight. What goes on inside them is not. The Icom spends everything on HF and 6 m. The Yaesu spreads the same desk space across four band groups.

Band coverage is the real decision

The FT-991A puts 2 m and 70 cm all-mode at 50 W in the same case as a 100 W HF rig. For checking into the evening net, working the local repeater, trying 2 m SSB or FT8, and running Fusion through Wires-X, nothing else on the desk is needed. For a ham with one corner of a room, that is the whole argument.

It is handy rather than specialist on V/UHF, though. A strong nearby station can overload the front end, and FM audio from the small internal speaker sounds tinny. A larger external speaker fixes most of the second problem. If VHF and UHF are your main interest, a dedicated radio such as the one in our IC-9700 review does that job better.

The IC-7300 stops at 6 m. Pair it with a dual-band mobile or even a handheld for the local repeater, and you have two radios that are each better at their job than the FT-991A, at the cost of space, a second power lead and a second antenna run. If you are new to C4FM and want to know what you would be giving up, our explainer on D-STAR, Fusion and DMR covers the trade-offs.

HF receive and the noise tools

On HF both receivers are good for the class. The FT-991A's 3 kHz roofing filter earns its keep on a crowded weekend band, and the radio is pleasant to listen to for an evening. The IC-7300's direct-sampling receiver is quiet and sensitive, with Icom's IP+ function to help when a weak signal sits beside a strong one. Put them side by side on an ordinary night and I would not choose between them on receive alone.

Where they differ is in how you fight noise and neighbours. On the IC-7300, twin passband tuning is the tool to learn first. Squeezing the passband from either side to push an adjacent signal out works better than any other control on the radio. Keep its noise reduction low, because past the middle it starts to sound hollow.

The FT-991A gives you contour, IF notch, auto notch, DNR and, on CW, an audio peak filter. Its DNR divides operators. In a noisy city location it can be very effective, while others find it watery and distorting on SSB. My view: run it low and switch it off once the signal is readable. Setting contour near 450 Hz makes for quieter SSB receive.

Neither radio has a second receiver. For serious contesting, look further up the range.

Menus, screen and scope

This is where the IC-7300 wins clearly. Its 4.3-inch touchscreen menus are laid out so you can find a setting without the manual, and pushing the multi-dial brings the common adjustments up on the side of the screen. You can operate it the first evening.

The FT-991A's front panel is crammed. Squelch has to be assigned to the multi knob, a lot of functions live behind soft keys, and the first weeks go better with the printed manual beside the radio. Putting your most-used functions on the four customisable soft keys under the screen helps a great deal. Some operators never warm to it all the same, and if you want a knob for every function this is the wrong radio.

The scope gap is just as wide. The IC-7300's scope and waterfall are fast and precise, and touching the scope to zoom and tune becomes second nature. Fixed mode, a narrower span and a properly set reference level turn it into a real tuning tool. The FT-991A's scope on a 3.5-inch screen is small and primitive by comparison, and weak signals barely show on it. It tells you where the activity is. It does not replace a proper waterfall, and if that bothers you, an SDR panadapter add-on is the usual fix.

Built-in tuners and antennas

Both radios have an internal automatic tuner, and both maker spec sheets give the same HF matching range of 16.7 to 150 Ω, which works out to roughly a 3:1 SWR. That covers a resonant dipole or vertical across a band. It does not cover a random wire. On the FT-991A some 160 m and 80 m antennas fall outside it, so plan on an external tuner or a resonant antenna for the low bands on either radio.

The FT-991A's tuner works on HF and 6 m only, with a 100-channel memory so it returns to a known match quickly. On 2 m and 70 cm you need an antenna that is already matched. It also has two antenna jacks, one for HF and 6 m and one for 2 m and 70 cm, so a dual-band vertical and an HF wire can stay connected together. The IC-7300 has a single SO-239. If you run more than one HF antenna on it, you need an external switch.

Digital modes, transmit audio and FT8

Both radios carry audio and CAT control over one USB cable, with no external sound card interface. Load the driver, pick the radio and the audio device in your software, and you are on FT8. Our step-by-step FT8 guide for new operators covers the software side.

On the IC-7300, the habit to learn is keeping the ALC meter at zero. If it moves on FT8, you are overdriving. Icom also added a one-touch FT8 preset in later firmware. On the FT-991A, turn off radio control in WSJT-X when you work 60 m, because the band is set up as memory channels, and test any FSK RTTY setup into a dummy load first. The Yaesu does let you run FT8 on 2 m and 70 cm from the same cable, which the Icom cannot.

For SSB voice, the IC-7300 sounds good with no outboard help. The FT-991A sounds flat out of the box, and its parametric microphone equalizer is what makes it punchy. I would not judge its audio until the EQ and mic gain are set.

Power draw, firmware and long-term ownership

On receive, Yaesu quotes about 1.8 A with no signal against Icom's 0.9 A typical, and the FT-991A draws about 23 A at 100 W against the IC-7300's 21 A. Neither is a backpack radio. The FT-991A works fine for park and Field Day trips with a car nearby, but on foot it is too heavy and too hungry for battery work.

Firmware updates are easy on the Icom, which loads them from an SD card. Icom's current release is version 1.42. The FT-991A's update procedure is clumsy by comparison, so read it through once before you start.

Both have clean long-term records. The IC-7300's finals and receiver front end almost never fail, and it is a safe used buy if you check the firmware version and press every corner of the touchscreen. The FT-991A feels solid and runs trouble-free past the first year. If you shop used, make sure it is the A. The A version fixed the problems of the original FT-991, so do not judge one by stories about the other.

For the long write-ups, read our long-term Icom IC-7300 review and the Yaesu FT-991A one-box shack review. If the IC-7300 is your pick and you want to see it against a newer HF-only rival, the IC-7300 versus FT-710 comparison is the next step.

Verdict by buyer type

• New General licensee with HF as the goal: IC-7300. Easier menus, a better scope and more help when you get stuck.
• New ham with one desk and one budget: FT-991A. HF, 6 m, 2 m and 70 cm in one box beats two radios you cannot fit.
• FT8 and HF digital operator: IC-7300, narrowly. The FT-991A is just as easy to wire up, but the Icom's waterfall is better to work from.
• Fusion and Wires-X user: FT-991A, since the IC-7300 has no V/UHF at all.
• CW and casual contest operator: IC-7300 for the scope and twin passband tuning. Neither has a second receiver.
• VHF and UHF specialist: neither. Buy a dedicated V/UHF radio and add an HF rig later.
• Park and Field Day operator with a car: FT-991A, for HF and 2 m from one box. Neither suits portable work on foot.

My tie-breaker is simple. If you already own a 2 m radio, or know you will buy one, get the IC-7300. If this is the only radio you will have, get the FT-991A and give its menus a few weeks.

The IC-7300 catalog page and the FT-991A catalog page collect the specs and every related article in one place.