Sirius XM Radio SL2PK1 Satellite

I'm a long time Sirius subscriber, with multiple accounts.  I'm also a "Techie" which I think makes me a a target consumer for this product, and a safe bet, in that I'm probably more receptive, even biased, towards Sirius products.

That being said, I'm underwhelmed by the Sirius Stiletto 2.

I purchased the Stiletto 2 to replace 3-4 other Sirius radios I have in my house, cars, and motorcycle.  My thought, is that I could use the Stiletto 2 to reduce the overall number of subscriptions I have, and by doing so, have the Stiletto 2 pay for itself.  My annual "Sirius spend" is over $500 a year.  So reducing a few subscriptions by using the Stiletto, seemed like good math to me.

As a Sirius receiver, the Stiletto 2 does fine.  When docked, the Stiletto 2 will pull signals out of the air without a problem.  I traveled close to 1000 miles with the Stiletto 2 in its dock, and I don't believe I lost the signal once.  So from that aspect, the Stiletto 2 goes about its job much in the same way the other Sirius receivers do -- flawlessly.

But the Stiletto cost me a hefty $250.  Sirius radios can be had for as little as $40, $80 if you want the functionality of having the radio record up to 45 minutes of programming for you.  The Stiletto will record a satellite signal for you.  But the Stiletto can be programmed to record shows and music into its substantial 2GB memory.  This means you can record far more than 45 minutes of content.  Again, so long as the radio is docked and connected to a satellite signal, the radio will do this well.

I'm a Howard Stern fan, so I can program the radio to record the morning broadcast into memory.  Then, I can go back and listen to the show at my leisure.  This feature is pretty cool.  The Sirius Stiletto will also allow you to record songs you like, by pressing the "heart" button while the radio is receiving satellite.  The Stiletto will store these songs in the radios internal memory and save them for you later.  Again, this is pretty cool and the quality is ok.

Oh yeah, the quality.  Sirius likes to brag that they offer CD clarity.  This is true.  But ask them about CD fidelity and I wonder what the response would be.  You see, with a good antenna and a strong signal, you'll indeed get clear reception.  But all that programming takes bandwidth.  Bandwidth is not limitless.  So Sirius programmers have to decide which channel feeds are treated to higher fidelity, thus consuming limited bandwidth, and which channels must make due with lower fidelity, thus taking less bandwidth.  If you're listening to a talk channel, or a news channel, fidelity means little.  Go to listen to a music channel, where you actually care about the sound, and you may be disappointed.  This disappointment can also be expected for any songs you pull off the satellite and place in the internal memory.  That is, the songs won't magically sound better, now that they are in the unit's memory.  Too bad. 

But if you're a fan of Sirius, you're already used to being shortchanged on fidelity and making due with a frequency range on par with AM radio.

A benefit of the Stiletto 2, is that you aren't limited to the satellite signal, with the Stiletto 2, you can also pull the signal from a wireless internet feed.  By doing so, you can enjoy Premium Internet Service, and the high fidelity sound that goes with it.  Cool right?  Yes.  But not if you want to record any songs into the unit's memory.

For whatever licensing reason, I'm sure justified, Sirius cannot allow the user to record the Premium Internet content into the radio's internal memory.  Instead, if you hit the "heart" button, the user receives a message that says the song is added to the "wish list."

I have found that the Stiletto 2, for the most part, holds an Internet signal ok.  I've experienced some drop outs, at times often, but I blame my network far faster than I do the Stiletto 2.  On the other hand, when the network does drop out, I often have to reboot the Stiletto 2 in order to have it properly scan and reflect the network I have in place.  While this is not a technically difficult task, it is tedious.  The user must remove the back panel, remove the battery, wait a minute or two, and then replace the battery and panel.  The radio then goes through a "boot up" sequence that takes roughly a minute.  Go through this process enough times, especially a few times in a row, and you'll second guess why you dropped $250 for the Stiletto 2.

If you purchase the Stiletto 2 with dreams of walking around, outside, enjoying your favorite satellite programming, take note:  you'll only do so if you're wearing the rather large antenna/headset combo.  If wearing the larger headset brought about better sound, I'd be more likely to accept this signal solution. But remember, you'll only be pulling down the substandard satellite signal, with the limited fidelity.  So essentially, you're penalized by being made to wear the rather dorky looking headset.

The radio's internal antenna, I've read, will work well when in an urban setting with a large number of repeaters.  In other words, having those satellite signal repeaters nearby will allow you to use only the radio's internal antenna and you'll not be forced to rely on using the dorky headphones.  I spent a week in LA, and I found this to be somewhat true.  There were still drop-outs, depending on the angle of the radio.  I live north of Chicago, where we apparently don't have repeaters.  The headphones, in this case, are a must. 

Ok, here is something that I found to be cool, and a not advertised feature of the Stiletto 2.  On a flight from LA to Chicago, I was able to listen to live satellite broadcast, so long as I had a window seat.  On the way to LA, when I was parked in the aisle, this was not possible.

Sirius and others, like to compare the Stiletto 2 to an iPod.  Now having both, I find this comparison laughable.  Ignoring the iPod Videos and the iPod touch products, and limiting the comparison to audio only models, such as the iPod Shuffle, the Stiletto 2 still gets trounced.  The most serious offense, is the Stiletto 2 sound quality.  But the deficiency goes much deeper than that.  The iPod is a remarkable design.  It's intuitive, simple to use, and for the most part, solidly built.  Say what you will about iTunes software.  It's not perfect.  But compared to the My Sirius Studio software that comes with the Stiletto, iTunes is a work of art. 

And though you can expand the internal memory via SD cards, you cannot use the expanded memory to store any Sirius content.  Only after dropping $30 on a large SD card, and then suffering through the crappy Sirius Studio software, did I realize I wasted my money on the expanded memory.

So the Stiletto 2 is no iPod contender.  Not close.  Yet they still price the Stiletto 2 in iPod Touch and iPod Classic range.  I can only assume this is done to recoup the subscription revenue lost by subscribers such as myself, purchasing the radio to replace multiple radios and subscriptions.

The overall build quality of the radio is average.  On the plus side, as previously mentioned, the battery is removeable and thus, easily replaced by the user.  Battery life is acceptable, and when used for anything other than pulling down the satellite signal, pretty remarkable.  As much as I've used the Stiletto 2 over the past few weeks, the battery life was not an issue.

The radio itself feels solid for the most part.  But the design is lacking.  The center knob, as far as I can tell, is only used to (eventually) change the channel, or enter the WEP password to connect to protected networks.  The center knob feels flimsy with poor tactile feel.  Again, in day-to-day use, the center knob is only needed to browse channels and scroll menus.  A major twist is needed to scroll up or down the list.  I expected a minor twist to bring a minor response, a major twist to bring a major response, a la iPod.

The radio is long and narrow.  The cradle makes the radio even longer, and thus, narrower.  Depending on where you intend to place the Stiletto in your car, this can be a positive or a negative.  From a purely aesthetic stance, I find the design awkward.  The radio itself is ok, but the docking stations really could benefit from the workings of a few more talented minds.  Again, the folks at Apple have spoiled me.

This is at least the second iteration of the Stiletto.  I really thought this was a safe time to buy the Stilletto, in that the early adopters will have already paid the big bucks and been let down by any design flaws.  I trust the unit I purchased will last at least a few years.  But the design itself is a disappointment.  I really hope the folks at Sirius take a long hard look at their radio, and go to work developing an inspired design.  While I haven't spent any time with one, some of the portable radios from their sister company, XM, look to be a lot closer to the mark than the Stiletto.

In summary, as a replacement for multiple satellite radios, or as an entry to the world of Sirius, the Stiletto goes about its job pretty well.  But if you're looking for iPod functionality, design, quality, and pure enjoyment, look elsewhere.