Several manufacturers are moving towards SMA connectors for HT antennas. I bought a Yaesu VX8-DR last month, and it uses an SMA connector (male instead of female like the Baofeng).
I use the Nagoya NA771 on my 5 watt Baofeng, and use the 771R on my 8 watt. The 771R is telescopic, so it's easier to carry around by simply collapsing it. Either way, the Nagoya's perform much better than the stock rubber ducks.
I'm going to pick up some 300-ohm twinlead at the upcoming Huntsville hamfest, and plan to make a roll-up J-Pole to use for my HT's. The Yaesu I bought is a quad bander (2, 6, 220, 440), so I think I'll make one for each band. From what I have heard, a roll-up J-pole hanging from a tree limb will outperform even the best HT antennas.
If you want to use a regular PL259 antenna connector, I'd recommend using a pigtail type such as the one in this link:
https://www.amazon.com/DHT-Electroni...s=sma+to+pl259
The pigtail type is less stressful on the HT connector than the adapter when you have a big coax attached to it.