Home > Consumer Reviews > SIRIUS Stiletto 2 Portable Satellite Radio with MP3 Player

I thought about writing a review for some time now. I wanted to make sure I was out of the honeymoon phase before I wrote about this device. I have had it for over a couple of weeks now and feel like it's time.

I purchased the Stiletto 2 as a late Christmas present to myself. I had signed up originally for the 3-day trial and loved the radio selections. I live Montana and our radio stations are pretty decent, but we have a lot of commercials. So, being able to listen to music without commercials is fantastic.

I wasn't sure what device to purchase, so I started reading. I had read a number of reviews (particularly the poor ones) about the Stiletto 2, but I liked the portability aspect, so I purchased it.

I now understand their complaints. They want better reception from the device itself, better/more comfortable headphones, etc. I agree the reception on the device isn't the best when indoors, but I purchased the home kit and that significantly improved reception.

When I am away from my home dock, I connect through Internet radio and it works just fine.

I also bought the car kit, but haven't had a chance to install it yet. I was able to get reception in my car without it though, so I imagine the car kit will only improve upon that.

The user interface is quite easy to navigate and the controls on the device are fairly intuitive. I like to test devices without reading the manual first to see how easy it is to figure out and the Stiletto 2 was pretty straightforward. I had to refer to the manual to understand the recording options, but otherwise, it was simple.

The recording option is fantastic. I set up a number of recurring sessions in the middle night. In the morning, I can then listen to them when I am working out, running errands, etc. I think this is probably one of the best features of the device. I have 15+ hours of recorded content and have used only 35% of the internal memory. Replay is fantastic. You can skip through songs just like your MP3 player and for me, that's a great option.

The size of the device is just right. It fits in my pocket, but it's not so small that I am afraid it's going to get broken or lost.

The battery life has been more than adequate. It's rated at like 4+ hours for Satellite or Internet radio and 20+ for recorded or library selections. I can attest that I have listened to it for many hours without running out of power. I wouldn't mind having a spare battery, but it's probably overkill.

As for the additional SD card slot. It's too bad it's under the battery. When you install an SD card, it's like you are putting in RAM in your laptop. This is not simple or intuitive for a lot of people (thinking of my mom here). I am sure there was an architectural reason, but it's too bad it's not just inserted on the side like a number of cell phones.

I have owned a number of musical devices in my life, 5+ iPods, a Zune, Rio, CD players, Walkmans, etc, but I can say this device has really reminded me of how music can be such a wonderful part of your life. I listen to my radio non-stop, and I wouldn't have it any other way now.

As the subject states, I really wanted this to work.

For those who read through my review, I want to make it clear that I am a Sirius fan. I've had a Sirius satellite radio in my car for two years now and I cannot imagine driving around without it.

Last year I accepted a new job that puts me on the train every day instead of in the car for my morning commute. I've missed my satellite radio since then so for the last few months, I've had my eye on the Stiletto. I decided to wait for the Stiletto 2, and I finally took the plunge over the weekend.

Out of the box, the radio looks very attractive and fits perfectly in my hand. The large display is colorful, bright, and easy to read and navigate. The controls are very easy to operate. Overall, a very intuitive design.

The radio is feature packed. You can import your own music into the device via included software. In my opinion, there is plenty of space for stored content out of the box (about 100 hours worth) and I think that will acommodate most people. For those of us with large music and audio book libraries, the added micro-SD card slot is a nice touch. Another feature was wireless connectivity. Some claimed they had problems with frequent disconnects. I didn't have this problem.

Activation was pretty simple, however I couldn't grab a signal indoors, I needed to stand outside on the front porch to complete the activation and the initial download of the channels. I was hoping this wasn't going to be a typical problem, as I even had the antenna headset plugged in. By the way, I've heard rumblings about the Altec Lansing headphones being uncomfortable and I would have to agree. I think Sirius could have made a better choice in headphones, since they seem to be a requirement for this device to get any kind of a signal.

Now, on to reception. Let me make it perfectly clear that I live in the outer suburbs of Chicago. I live near a small city called Crystal Lake, and although is not very close to downtown Chicago, I wouldn't consider myself as living in the "boondocks" either. I also want to make it clear that I purchased this radio so I could listen to it on the train. Those of us who have long train commutes would appreciate having such ability to listen to their iPod or satellite radio. And since my commute is up to 1.5 hours each way (up to 3 hours round trip commute) one could see how I would become excited about bringing my Sirius programming with me on the train.

When I first put the headphones on and fired up the unit, I was standing in the depot after having just finished mixing my coffee. No signal. Okay, so I walked outside and with a cloudless sky, I was able to get two bars and I was able to listen to the radio. I walked across the tracks and went to one of the open-air shelters (it was a particularly cold day and there are warmers installed overhead in the shelter.) As soon as I entered the shelter, I lost signal. Huh, okay. I decided to test it. I walked out of the shelter and received signal again. I walked around and although uninterrupted, I walked under a tree and the signal was interrupted. I started to become discouraged.

So, the train arrived and I boarded, selected a window seat and settled in. I was very disappointed (heartbroken, would be a better term) that I could not get a signal for pretty much the entire train ride. I tried moving the headphone wire closer to the window, I tried leaning my head closer to the window, tried holding the unit closer to the window, but the screen continuously displayed "Acquiring Signal." It was only when we were a couple miles from downtown that I was able to get a signal, but I attribute this to retransmitters that I hear people talking about.

I realized the same results on the way home. I tried it again the next day, this time sitting on the upper row of seats but to no avail. Since this purchase was primarily for entertainment while on the long train commute, I have decided to return the radio. I suppose I'll look into XMs option or just get an iPod. I will keep a sharp eye out for future offerings from Sirius and XM. I haven't given up on my quest to bring satellite radio with me where ever I go.

I give this product two stars, for the added features and well designed menues and navigation. It's too bad that I couldn't use it for its intended purpose, hence the deduction of three stars.

This item is a homerun. I had the first Sirius Stiletto and that, while a nice item, was a little limited with it's WIFI connection and also it was a little large.

Sirius hit a homerun with this, the much improved SL2. To start off, the WIFI capability has been expanded to support 802.11b/g and also will work with most wireless hotspots. Plus, you can now enter a username and password to connect where you could NOT do this on the first Stiletto.

In addition to it's upgrade, it is also almost 30% smaller that the first Stiletto yet this item does not feel cheap. It is very solid, yet very small. It is slightly larger than a Motorola Razor phone. The feel of the device is also very nice with the all black look and the rubberized plastic covering on the back that will prvent scratches when set down.

Overall, the performance of the device has been 100% perfect with no lockups, freezes or issues. Plus, the exandable memory is GREAT. You can add up to an 8gb micro sd card making this a 10 gig MP3 player (2 GB internal memory).

Sirius has also updated the channel logos and wallpaper screens for each individual channel. Plus, the sports alerts are much improved and when listening to on NFL game, the screen displays a graphic of each team's helmet, ie. if the Raiders are playing the Cheifs there will be a Radier Helmet and a Chief helmet on the screen. This doesn't enhance your listening of course, but does make for a nice touch.

There are a few other added features but most importantly, they have included a bass boost with four settings (off, low, med, high) and also SRS Focus, also with four settings. The sound is much improved over it's predecessor when using as an mp3 player and, in my opinion, far better sounding than any IPOD.

The antenna headphones are probalby the BIGGEST improvement as the original ones were god awful. The improved headphones are extremely comfortable and are made by Altec Lansing. Portable reception has also improved with this device but if you do not live near a terrestrial signal repeater, you are probably going to be forced to either use the Antenna Headphones or try to connect over a wireless network because the built in antenna on the device is just not that strong and probably never will be---this is just a shortcoming of satelitte radio, not of the SL2 or Sirius.

Overall, I am loving life with this device as it is now my Satellite Radio for use in my home, car and in portable modes and also my primary MP3 player. I ditched my Ipod since I am now able to squeeze 10gb onto this player. Also, I can record any Sirius program on a daily basis and listen back when I have the time.

If you have been considering Sirius, or your are a current subscriber looking to upgrade to a better radio, your 100% best choice would be the Stiletto 2. A great device without a lot of cool features and capabilities.

I received my Stiletto II about two weeks ago, and I've enjoyed the convenience of listening to Sirius programming on-the-go after recording it in my office during the day. The headphones it comes with are quite nice (metallic wiring). Most of the joy I get out of the device, however, is dashed by the very buggy software that's installed - and that I find myself having to reinstall over and over again - on it. In the last two weeks, I've had to perform an approximately 15-minute "device recovery" using a PC and the provided software to erase everything I've recorded and then reformat the Stiletto II. Thus far I've had to recover because: 1) the device had some kind of issue with an inability to delete recorded programs I no longer needed, freezing and then giving me an "error, plug into computer to recover" message; 2) for no apparent reason other than waking up the device after it had been recording during the afternoon; and 3) the software crashed the first time I attempted to upload mp3's onto it because I foolishly downloaded updated device software when prompted to by the "My Sirius Studio" program (the software you use to upload music and manage the files already on the Stiletto II, provided on a CD-ROM). In fact, I'm typing this as my Stiletto II is recovering after incident #3 ("Recovering / Please wait..." it says).

I regret buying this; I had a Sportster 4 that worked just fine. I haven't had to reboot the Stiletto 2 in the last few days (the time between incidents 2 and 3 because, I suspect, I'd been limiting my use to very simple things, like recording and listening to just one station, rather than attempting to upload mp3's or manage what files I had on the device after successive recordings. That means, however, it seems that to avoid future crashes I'll have to avoid enjoying the Stiletto 2 to its fullest advertised capability. I hope in the future other device makers than Sirius/Directed Electronics offer Sirius reception. The Stiletto 2 is just a mess.

It's been about 15 minutes already and my Stiletto 2 is now in the "Receiving Software" stage of the software recovery. I'll have to reselect my favorite stations and will have lost all my recordings. Sigh.

What an adventure! I have had this radio for 4 days now and purchased the home docking kit so I could listen to it at work. I work in a single story building located in zone 2 (for those of you who found the satellite zones on the sirius website because of signal problems) and do not have access to an open window that faces north to northeast. In fact, I do not have access to a window at all! So I have had difficulties trying to get a good (or any) signal where my desk is at. I was able to squeeze 1 bar, but it was intermittent. I called Sirius to no avail. They suggested I use the wi-fi. We do have one at work, but I cannot get it to authenticate and connect. I think it has something to do with our proxy server. Sirius suggested that I mount an outdoor antenna. YEAH RIGHT! Not possible at WORK!!! They suggested that I use a signal repeater. NOPE! I am not about to spend another $100 just to get it working. Finally they suggested that I just use the internet radio through the website! At that point I was just about ready to return it. But, I have been a Sirius subscriber for over 4 years now, and I love the service. So, I searched the web to find a solution. I found on one of the forums I scoured, that someone had used the car antenna, which got a better signal than the antenna that comes with the home docking kit. I was skeptical at first, but found the car antenna (the low profile one) at a local dealer for $15. I took a chance and bought it. I figured that if it does not work, I can replace the bigger antenna that is already on my car with this one. So, I connected it and got no signal. #$^@!!! I disconnected it and was ready to take everything back. But, I thought to myself, I really did not try all the available spots to place the antenna. I placed it on top of the hutch at my desk, in the same spot I had the home docking antenna. VOILLA!!! It WORKED!!! I was able to get 3 bars or @ a 70% signal vs. the intermitten 1 bar and 30-40% signal with the home docking kit. I guess it has something to do with the multi-directional technology vs. the directional that the home docking antenna uses. Try it! It may or may not work for you, but I think it's worth a try. I'm a happy camper for now.