- Listen to SiriusXM Internet Radio anywhere there's Wi-Fi Or enjoy the coast to coast coverage of Satellite Radio using accessory home and vehicle docking kits
- Enjoy new SiriusXM Xtra Channels-20+ channels of additional music, sports, entertainment and SiriusXM Latino, a collection of 12 Spanish language channels
- Pause, rewind and replay what you're listening to on live SiriusXM Satellite and Internet Radio, using the Replay feature
- Easily access every powerful, flexible feature using the high-definition, touch-screen display
- Using the new Spectrum Tuning mode, you can quickly tune to any channel
Update to original. After working with a very nice person at Sirius I am beginning to like the unit. They have fixed most of the software bugs and it is very dependable. Boot up is much faster and only takes about 30 seconds at most to here music. I wish there was a way to keep the power running while you are stopping and starting, that way it would work like a real radio.
My faith has been restored in Sirius, mainly from the person who has been working with me. Great customer service.
First the Good. It is small and can fit in your pocket
The battery seems good and plays for hours
Screen is nice and easy to read and use
Like the ability to store favorite stations.
Like storing your songs on it also so you can use it as a MP3 player.
Now the bad
The only way you can listen to Live stations is either
A have it docked in your car or home
B Through your home network but then only through the speakers of the Lynx or through headphones.
Having to use the dock is somewhat annoying.
I bought a car kit for $69.00 which is a jip for what you get.
the car kit comes with a antenna (Which if you have an old system your antenna will work with this which was nice seeing I didn't have to run it through my car again.
A power DC cord for a cigarette lighter. The plugin to the car kit is completely different than on the base of the unit which doesn't make any sense.
I have a Taurus with the sync system and this radio will not work with it at. Bluetooth, Nope, USB line in Nada, doesn't even charge the unit for whatever reason. I am hoping that there will be a software update to correct this in the future.
The vent clips are average at best. I like the suction cup window mount on my old star-mate much better. If you touch the unit the wrong way the clips fall off and it drops to the floor.
The option tape or screw mount is useless seeing that you have to install it with 4 screws to the back of the unit. so if you want to move it from one car to another you have to disassemble the thing which is pointless. It would have been nice to get another mount and then transfer from one car to another rather than buying another $69 car kit.
I now jut sit it on the console of each car that I have and run the music stream through my line in Aux port on my radios. Thank god I have it. Using a cassette adapter is terrible sound.
I decided to not get a home kit and I paid the extra money for Internet access through my wireless network. I have an I PAD and their app works great going through my home stereo system. I also had an star-mate boombox which will work with this lynx through the Aux port. The downside is the Bluetooth range. It sucks. Maybe 10 feet at best. My I pad, I phone, and Kindle fire all work on my backyard porch of my home but the Lynx loses the signal long before I get to my Kitchen. Not sure why they lowered the signal strength of Bluetooth.
It takes at least 2-3 minutes to boot the unit up so if you are making start and stops during the day you spend a lot of time with dead signals. They need the ability to leave the power on when you turn your car off or if you can set your power plug to on always.
About half the time it doesn't boot up properly and it just sits there with the Sirius screen. You have to open it up, pull the battery and restart it which is a pain. Again I am hoping for a software solution in the future.
In order to get your own music on the lynx the easiest way is to open up WMP and it will recognize the unit and you can sync it. The downside is for play lists it uses MU4 playlist which is not supported by WMP, only apple so you have to then go to I tunes and save your playlist on your desktop and then copy it the lynx. What a pain. Why can't these technology companies get along.
Bottom line I am going to keep the unit because I am committed but I really like my old star mate better.
The old rule holds true on this unit. Never buy the first new product until they work all the bugs out. If you are not tech savvy you will be frustrated with this unit.
Buy SiriusXM SXi1 Lynx Wi-Fi Enabled Portable Radio Kit Now
I bought a SiriusXM Lynx radio right when it came out. It sounded like a device that would finally be everything I had hoped from satellite radio. While this is a very good radio, it has several shortcomings that just leave you scratching your head.
THE GOOD:
The screen. Text is crisp and clear. The menus are easy to read. Buttons are large enough to press easily.
The device gets all channels that SiriusXM has to offer on both satellite and internet.
The last firmware update included a basic web browser.
It varies depending on your mode, but a DVR of some sort is available on both satellite and internet modes.
THE CONFUSING AND BAD:
The differences between satellite mode and internet mode are downright confusing. Your presets are shared between satellite mode and internet mode. However, SiriusXM sometimes has different channel numbers. Example: during the holiday season, Christmas music is found on the "Holly" channel. On satellite, that's channel 17. On internet, that's channel 756. I need two presets for one channel. It works, it's just confusing.
The device is capable of recording channels and has DVR functionality. But only in satellite mode. And you can't set the time to record. That's fine for recording music channels. I don't care if it records some music for me at 2pm or 2am. But say I want to record Opie & Anthony's morning show each day so I can listen later on? I can't do that. However, SiriusXM offers a lot of programs on demand in internet mode. So while I can't record the show myself, I can stream it later. It works, it's just confusing.
Although system updates have made it better, the device is downright sluggish at times. It reminds me of an old Windows computer. After using it long enough, it just needs to be formatted and reset. I've had to do that twice. Granted all I'm really losing are my presets so it's not a terrible loss. But at the same time, there's no reason I should have to do this on a radio.
I own the home dock. When the device is docked, I can listen to both satellite and internet streams. The radio communicates with the dock through Bluetooth. From there, I have a standard 3.5mm speaker cable plugged into a stereo. There have been a couple times that the Bluetooth just doesn't work. A reboot of the device later, it'll start working again. Confusing to most users who wouldn't understand why their music isn't working.
SiriusXM mentions that you can take the radio with you while it wireless communicates with the dock. "Sit on the couch and control your radio!" Yes this works. But only in internet mode. The radio must be docked for satellite mode.
Internet streaming allows you to replay any of the last 5 hours of most channels. This feature works very well and it's great to have. There's also a feature called TuneStart. We've all turned to a radio channel only to hear the end of a song we like. The Lynx will use that buffer and always start songs at the beginning. The bad side is this is a lot like Pandora or Spotify. You can only skip so many times an hour. So if you turn on a channel, rewind to 5 hours ago, and think you can skip over songs you don't like...think again. You only get so many skips per hour. A great feature that falls short.
Internet streaming costs an additional fee on top of your satellite radio subscription. To get the best of this radio, you must be subscribed to both.
When listening to music in satellite mode, you get a background picture for the channel but no album art. When listening in internet mode, you get album art, but no background picture. It's odd that the internet mode doesn't include both.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
In spite of its split identity crisis between satellite and internet mode, I like this radio. But I think its appeal is very limited. I wouldn't recommend this radio for somebody to put in their car. The wifi/internet features wouldn't be available and without that, the feature set is limited. You'd be better spending your money on a simpler radio.
The only audience that would get the full benefit out of this radio is a SiriusXM subscriber who plans to put this radio in the home dock on a desk or shelf where wifi is available. It can be confusing at times to navigate back and forth between satellite and internet mode. I wouldn't give this to somebody that isn't already experienced with electronics in general like my Mom. "Oh Mom, you're in internet mode where the channel you want is 756, not 17 which is satellite mode." She'd look back at me completely confused.
If you're able to look past all the odd issues and understand its quirks, it's not a bad radio. If you're paying for both satellite and internet, you get *every* channel that SiriusXM offers. I don't know of any other radios on the market at this time (December 2012) that can say that.
Read Best Reviews of SiriusXM SXi1 Lynx Wi-Fi Enabled Portable Radio Kit Here
I upgraded to the Lynx after my Stiletto 10 finally died. The device itself is nice, and it has some pretty cool features. I particularly like how it will attempt to start at the beginning of the song when you change to a new station. Of course one of the other perks is that it is one of the few radios that can get the extra channels (i.e. Tiesto's Club Life; might I add that I'm a bit annoyed with feeling forced into upgrading to access new content). The UI is also nicely done, but it feels a bit laggy at times. I find it hard to change stations while driving, and I'm often hitting the same button repeatedly because it can take a few seconds to respond.
My biggest complaint which may be more an issue with XM vs Sirius rather than the radio itself is that the sound quality is borderline unbearable. It sounds like a 32k internet stream. Percussion and "s" sounds in songs sound muffled and distorted. It's frustrating to say the least when you pay this kind of cash in addition to the monthly access charges. I'm hoping I can just ignore it since Sirius has seemingly stopped creating new radios. Speaking of which Sirius tried to sell me a USED (and quite dated) Stiletto 2 for $160ish, which is a complete ripoff but still tempting with the prospect of better sound quality. Maybe I'm too critical (my fiancee could not tell a difference), but try listening to a CD and then turn this bad boy on...
At the end of the day, if you're looking to upgrade this seems to be the best option in terms of being the latest and greatest. If you're a previous Sirius subscriber start listening to crap quality internet radio to prepare your ears for the disappointment they face.
Want SiriusXM SXi1 Lynx Wi-Fi Enabled Portable Radio Kit Discount?
I ordered two units, one for my wife and one for my car. The first unit I opened was dead on arrival. It simply would not boot up. I returned it to Amazon. I used my wifes unit to try to install and it skips or cuts out even though there is a strong signal. It happens every 30 seconds or so, so if you are listening to jokes you miss the punch line. If you are listening to music it is simply very maddening! A major problem is that with XM or Sirius there is a charge every time you have them initialize a new radio even if the reason is because of a defective product. In my case my subscription is an annual one so it is $15 every time you switch radios.
My wife has a lifetime subscription. The problem there is that you can only change radios 3 times and each swap cost $75.00. After the third switch if the hardware fails your lifetime account is expired as you cannot switch to a fourth device [a gotcha I wasn't aware of when I paid the lifetime
charge as I would not have considered that policy 'lifetime'...]
Now I am past the 30-day point on one radio and both car installation kits. The other radio has been returned once and I am not sure Amazon will let me return it since I already returned the original unit. In other words I am out about $600 for the two units.
It is difficult for me to believe that two of the three units don't work, and I am reluctant to spend another $15 in XM fees to attempt to install the third unit. Hopefully, the manufacturer will see this review and contact me to make things right. If they do I will edit this post to let you know the problem was fixed.
As it stands now, I cannot recommend this unit to anyone!
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Let's start with the unit is retailing for $150 now, and I found a store that had a $50 rebate so it is $100 afterwards.
I did some research, especially reading on here, so I wanted to clear some things up with a recent purchase of the unit. (Late Dec. 2012)
1: It does take a while to boot-up "out of the box." Once you get to install the updates, it doesn't take that long at all. To do the updates, you just need a WiFi connection. Relax, you don't need to change your subscription to do the updates.
2: Battery life is pretty dang good. I'd have thought it'd die quickly. I have had it, between the car and the apartment, a few days before it finally died at work.
3: I have no idea what the overseas customer support has to do with the device. I called and it was up and running within 10 minutes while driving down the highway.
4: This unit is standalone, you have to purchase a home or vehicle dock to use the satellite option. Otherwise, with WiFi you can use it if you have the internet radio subscription.
I added the internet radio to test it out, and I'm VERY happy with the option. I'm streaming XM via my Android Phone, which you can do with the internet radio subscription, and it's working great!! The desktop version is inconsistent and was jumping back every 20 minutes. Weird, but the Lynx has no issues with WiFi play.
It's not hard to figure out how the two modes work; even the instructions explain it with pictures. Satellite = docking station, Internet = WiFi.
5: I'm not sure how the DVR feature works, other than it randomly records a minute or two of certain station. It's nice, but I'm use to not having that so it's fairly new to me.
6: The unit DOES have a built in speaker. This isn't a Bose speaker, but it does a great job considering.
I upgraded from a SkyFi2 and this is LIGHT YEARS ahead. Only feature I am missing is having the unit alert me when a preselected artist is playing. Other than that, I love this lil guy! It was a xmas gift, bought from a retail store, and I got the vehicle dock as well.
Not knowing how to use all the features is a lil intimidating, but I did read through the instructions and it's not very hard to use. If you are a longtime subscriber like myself you will LOVE this device. I just need to not let me dad play with it or he'll want one.
