In the end, if you are choosing between these two transceivers, it will be a personal decision based on the way you operate.
Another factor is price with the IC705 considerably less expensive than the FTX-1 in the UK. In this video, both are compared. The IC-705 has more features built in.
Personally, I would not pay the extra for the FTX-1. If it was the same price as the IC-705 it might be a harder decision!
Wimo has a video on YouTube about the FTX-1 Field. They did this before the radio arrived in Europe. It is quite a decent overview of the product.
It is quite a respectable radio but far too expensive in the UK and, I presume, mainland Europe. It comes without GPS and Bluetooth. If it was £999 or less I might have considered it, but at this utterly stupid price I am afraid, like many, I shall give it a miss.
For a long time I have said Yaesu has lost its way. They make some good products, many of which I have owned, but for some time they have appeared to have been drifting. I have serious concerns about their future in this market. I hope I am very wrong and the FTX-1 drops in price a long way!
This new Yaesu radio has really disappointed me.
It is far too expensive and lacks features the IC-705 has had for years. Before it was released I seriously considered trading my IC-705 in for this new radio. Like many, I shall stick with the IC-705.
I really think Yaesu is floundering around.
It is not yet available in Europe and just a few weeks after launching it in the USA, they have released a firmware update. I am not at all impressed. Even the firmware update looks messy.
Yaesu get your act together, and very soon, or the market will judge you harshly.
This is video by a man with my views. Some in the USA love the new FTX-1, whereas I feel, like this man, that it is overpriced and lacks some features.
In the USA the FTX -1 is now on sale.
People have reported some bugs with the Yasesu radio and I am not sure if these have been corrected with latest firmware. Certainly in the UK, the Yaesu radio is far more expensive that the IC-705.
In my view the ICOM IC-705 represents far better value. There is certainly (at least) one video on YouTube comparing the two.
I am definitely NOT rushing out to buy the FTX-1F. Personally, I still think Yaesu is floundering again.
MLS, one of the large UK distributors, is selling the DX Patrol Ground Staion for QO-100. I guess you have to add a GPS external reference, ...
