Roberts Stream WM-202 Review

I was given a Roberts Stream 202 radio as a birthday present and was very excited being an avid radio listener. However, I was quickly disappointed when I found out the radio doesn't have a pause or rewind function for listening to Wifi and DAB radio and for podcasts. This is one of the main advantages of digital radios, particularly if you have a baby who decides to cry while I'm listening to a podcast or WiFi or DAB radio. I asked Roberts if a software update would be available to remedy this but was told it would be considered for future radio designers, ie no. Very strange as most Roberts DAB radios have a pause function already. Also what is the point of the software update function?

I agree with previous reviews that the controls are overly complicated and the layout is fairly naff. Most of the buttons could be done away with as there is a digital screen so all that is needed is a menu up and down button and an 'enter' button.

Good points - The sound quality is very good. The preset 'My Favourites' function is very good and easy to use, stations are preloaded on a website along with favourite podcasts.

Bad points - No pause or rewind function on Wifi, DAB or podcasts. Poor layout of complicated controls. It takes a long time to start up on Wifi though this is probably true of most Wifi radios. It's expensive compared to some other brands.

My rating is 6/10 due to the controls and no pause / rewind function. I wouldn't recommend the radio considering these bad points. The radio is good if you want a good quality realtime radio or want to listen to music on your computer through the radio.

If Roberts had thought abit more about the design and functions it would simply be the best radio ever. Shame!

I think the initial review and subsequent debate regarding the WM 202 got a bit overheated. I already owned a Sangean and have just acquired a WM 202 because I needed a portable and, despite the fact that DAB reception is not available in Florida, I am very, very happy with it (BTW the power supply can handle US voltages - you just need a plug adaptor). It took me all of 2 mins to connect to my WPA WiFi network without reading anything (not recommended!). I am not an audiophile, but the sound quality is way good enough for me and I like having two speakers - so there!

Let’s admit that Internet Radio is a relatively new technology, with limited options for the chip set, and face up to the fact that ALL the user interfaces are fairly primitive. Across the whole product range there are glaringly obvious HUGE improvements in general design and user interfaces. In addition the limited number of presets (as small as 5 per mode for the WM 202) is ridiculous considering the minimal extra programming etc. involved - just plain lazy! Shame on them! Most of the Internet radios I looked at seemed like they had been designed by an alien with tentacles who had never seen an Earth radio, or cobbled together out of old lawnmowers.

True the layout of the WM 202 push buttons is weird. Personally, I prefer lines of military style push buttons - going back to my trusty Sony ICF-2001 short wave receiver (standard issue for KGB agents in the Cold War and probably the best portable ever made) but hey, everything on the WM 202 works fine and styling is a very individual matter of taste - I quite like the spacey layout (sorry!). Volume and frequency tuning should always be a rotary as far as I am concerned, so a small minus for the +/- buttons volume control.

I haven’t got a Pure Evoke Flow, but I have read the reviews and specs. On balance I agree with the reviewer, I think it is a slightly better buy than the WM 202. But the style for PEF is clunky, not spacey like the WM 202. The PEF is black and simple - well that’s perfectly fine if it’s what makes you happy.

What I do NOT like about the WM 202 is: [1] If I push the presets in quick succession (so I can remind myself what I set them to) the system crashes and goes through a reboot (stack overflow?); [2] The backlight should have a separate ON/OFF dimmer control - it always stays on unless you are turned off and running on battery (a bummer at night); [3] You can pull OUT the power supply and it will keep running on battery, but if you plug it back IN again the system will do a complete restart - not cool Roberts; [4] (This applies to virtually all of them.) Why, oh why, do they always put the earphone socket at the back? Just a few seconds thought suggests this is bad idea. When I put the light out at night I have to put my earphone in (I won’t go into details :) ) - so I do it EVERY night, and pull it out the next morning when the coast is clear! Fiddling around at the back, when you are about to phase out into null space and are often not cognitively fully functional is extremely aggravating.

Still, all that being said, I really like my WM 202 and have no regrets. At present the cognoscenti choice in WiFi portable radios seems to be between these two, and in my personal opinion the decision is relatively marginal - except maybe if you have super-strong feelings about the relative look and feel - as the original reviewer obviously had. As far as I can see, either way you won’t go too far wrong.

Hint to manufacturers: One huge improvement would be to add a “Record (and Playback)” function onto a high capacity removable SD card. Now THAT would be an incredibly useful feature for either of the WM 202 or PEF! As far as I know only the Morphy Richards Internet Radio purports to have that function (at least one review suggests it plain doesn’t work) although it generally got really rotten reviews - which perhaps is not surprising - after all it is way down market! However, it seems a bit illogical that top of the range portables don’t have it, but the bottom of the range has at least made an effort?

I love my WM-202, although not as stylish as the 50's looking radios it's functions outweigh the looks.
When looking to buy this I had certain objectives in mind:
DAB
Stereo Speakers
Some way of playing mp3's

In the store I went to this was the only one that matched all three of these simple specifications.
When I got it home and tried the Wifi features I soon forgot about the way it looked, some people have complained it's not easy to use but as a self confessed technophile I think the controls are perfectly fine. I even got my technophobe girlfriend using the streaming features to blast out the likes of Kylie Mynogue and she is over the moon with this feature.
The only thing I think lacking from this device is a pause/rewind radio feature.
The only fault I've seen from it was when the Wifi signal was low and I was listening to internet radio it seemed to reset itself, a slight repositioning of my wireless hub resolved this.

All in all when compared to the 50's styled units this has much better sound and added features.