I own a few UV-K5s and compared to superheterodyne the actual RF capabilities of the radio isn't all that great. I own a few Wouxon (higher end Chinese radio) and they aren't even remotely in the same league. I've tried a number of more quality antenna on the Quansheng and they do help. I've even had one where the RF was clearly broken out of the box, so your mileage will really vary on these.

All that being said, for the money and programability, they really are cool radios. Not legal on GMRS, but perform as expected in those bands with a better antenna. Airband on these things is pretty much next to useless though.

Hopefully other manufacturers will follow suit.