Customer Reviews

Sony SRF-M80V S2 Sports Walkman Arm Band Radio with FM/AM, TV and Weather Channels

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(15)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

I listen to the radio while jogging and my search for the perfect companion has come to an end. This one is it.

Over the years I have tried most of the main brands (Panasonic, Sangean, Radio Shack) and consistently found the Sony's to be surperior in reception and sound. Most recently I was using the Sony SRF-M78 armband radio, the predessor to this one. The SRF-M80V is better in several respects. Let's look at the details:

Design:
The white and orange color scheme is ugly in my mind but who cares. This is a tool, not a fashion statement. The waistband clip is much better than on the M78 allowing carry on both arm and waistband. This finally gives the option to put the radio where it belongs during running: the small of my back.
Button placement is intuitive and clear. However, the numbering on the buttons is starting to rub of and will probably be gone in a few weeks. No big deal, use a Sharpie for re-labeling if it bothers you.

Reception:
In one word: Great. I live in New York City which has notoriously difficult radio reception. Both FM and AM are as good as it gets for a portable unit. In addition this radio offers TV channel reception and weather band, both are coming in well enough to be useful.

Features:
As mentioned the M80V allows you to listen to FM, AM, TV, and WB and has sufficient presets for all channels. In addition you can use the radio as stop watch, split timer, or can set it for automatic power-off, useful if you tend to forget to turn off the unit. The volume control is a small wheel which turns much to easy, the only true flaw of the radio. I slipped a 10 cent rubber O-ring over the wheel to provide the right amount of friction so that the volume doesn't get knocked unintentionally. Works perfectly now.

Head Set:
I don't care for the ones that are provided and replaced them with a good pair of Sony earbuds. The Mega Bass button is useless with my earbuds but may give you more oomph with bigger headphones.

Conclusion:
A small, well designed radio with all the features that you might desire in a work-out companion. Great reception and great sound. Highly recommended.

I purchased this to replace my old sports walkman when I forgot to take it with me on a month long overseas trip. I loved my old one (don't have a model number, it's about 10 years old). The reception was great, I could change stations by feel, and it took whatever abuse I gave it, which typically included dropping it on the pavement at least once a week.
I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with the SRF-M80V. When shopping I immediately noticed all the changes, and assumed they would all be for the better, but not so.
Pros: It's lightweight, and the shape fits nicely on my arm. Running with it strapped to my arm doesn't bug me the way I thought it might, and it's a nice change from the radio pulling on my shorts. There is the option to strap it onto your shorts, but since it seems OK on my arm, I haven't tried it yet. The reception equals the reception on my old one, and I've never had any complaints. The headphones are lightweight, and they've shortened the cord, which keeps the excess from flopping around, but limits what you can do with it. I've only dropped this one a couple times, and it hasn't suffered, but the battery compartment does pop open.
Cons: It brags of 25 presets, but you can't really do it by feel since they are numbered, and not just an up/down button. When I'm running, I'm not particular as long as it's music and not talking. Scanning up and down worked pretty well for me. Grabbing my left arm with my right hand and looking slightly down to see what I'm doing while running is a bit awkward. Don't know if it would be better hooked on my shorts or not. The buttons are not recessed, so if you bump anything you get instant station change, or even worse, just a tap up or down on the station you are on. You can use the "hold" feature to avoid this, but then you have to take it off hold if you want to change stations. I should probably purchase different headphones, but I'm trying to avoid spending the money. The headphones are OK, not great, not terrible. The short cord was annoying this morning when I hooked the radio to my camelbak for a bike ride and it kept pulling the phones back because it wasn't long enough to drape over the backpack and up into my helmet. The worst feature is the volume control. For active sports, an up/down button would work best. Surprisingly they stuck with the dial method. And the placement couldn't be worse. Everytime I grab this thing, I inadvertently hit that volume dial. I cannot count the number of times I have almost come out of my skin when I either turn it on and it's been turned up too loud, or when I change the station and accidentally grab the volume dial. A word of advice: don't ever turn this thing on with the headphones on your head, it could damage your hearing.
It's nice that this radio has AM/FM/TV/WB, not that I can use anything but FM right now (living in the outback). Perhaps I will appreciate the 25 presets more when I get back to the states. But for me, since I use this radio exclusively for running and cycling, simpler would be better. A sports walkman designed for a blind person would be perfect for me, as I don't want to look at it when I'm using it. If you're looking for a portable radio with lots of features, you might like this. If you're looking for something simple to use that will provide distraction from your own heavy breathing when exercising, think before buying this one.

I have owned the Sony SRF-M80V for nearly a year.

I bought it for it's compactness and sound quality, because I have owned many Sony products for years and respect their quality and because I needed a radio that allowed me to use it while being very physically active outdoors: (mowing the grass, running, biking, etc.).

It's best attribute is it's sound. I am constantly amazed how good it sounds-when the signal is strong enough, that is. The 'Mega Bass' is definitely a "must have" feature. Sensitivity is fair to good, although I can get much better reception from more distant stations on my home entertainment stereo / tuner than I can on the SRF-M80V,(I live in a suburban area).

It's reception is VERY "directional" (especially when worn on your body, which is 99% of the time), as most small portable radios are. This is aggravating when you are running, walking, riding a bike, or doing just about anything except just sitting around. When you change directions, even slightly, the reception many times fades, drops out completely or you get a lot of static or "interference". However, if you sit in one place,(sit in a chair on the patio, for example), orient the unit well and don't move around a lot, you don't have this problem. It actually works much better when OFF your body. But, for a portable radio, this "directionality" can be very irritating, nonetheless. You are, obviously, going to probably strap it on your arm (as it is designed to be used) and MOVE around when using it!

Also: I am a 53 year old. My eyesight is still pretty good, but I still have a difficult time reading the very small display on this Sony without my mild prescription reading glasses! If I am riding a bike or doing some other "multi-tasking" physical activity, I have to often stop completely just to tune the radio or change one of it's settings. I know this may be a bit unfair, since the design is so small and has benefits because of it's small size, but there is ample physical room for a much larger text display - as well as some bigger keys! I think Sony messed up by not making the text display and keys much larger than they are.

Battery life is excellent. I'd recommend getting some rechargeable nickel metal hydride AAA batteries if you plan on using this radio a lot, (it uses 2 'AAA's and for the $50 bucks purchase price, you DON'T even get batteries included in the box- kinda "cheap" if you ask me!). I bought (4) Sony rechargeables and they have been great. The radio only uses 2 'AAA's at a time, but I always have 2 spares charged up when I need them.

The "key lock" capability is a really great - and you soon realize it is a totally necessary - feature!

The TV sound and weather radio channel capability is great to have also, even if you don't think it is before you buy it. I listen to them both a lot. I can cut the grass or ride my bike and listen to the audio feed for the 'ABC Evening News' news.During the recent power failures, I especially appreciated these features. Not being able to see the video is not that much of a loss, really, I have found.

Lastly, being able to wear this unit on your upper arm is a great feature,(you can also opt to wear it on your belt if you prefer). The headphone cord can be more easily run up your sleeve and under your shirt so it doesn't just hang and get caught on stuff,like the headphones cord on a wear-on-the-belt type small radio does.

I'd recommend this unit to anyone who wants a durable, quality radio receiver for an active lifestyle - but especially if you live relatively close to the broadcast towers, (like in an urban or semi-urban area). However,if you want to use it in the "boonies" a lot, I wouldn't highly recommend it. Too bad it doesn't have a small, pull up antenna (like a cell phone) to improve it's reception in difficult areas.

Bottom line: I am glad I bought it and, despite some annoyances in design, I'd buy another one if I lost or irreparably damaged mine.

I intended to use this radio while jogging, but that's just about impossible. First of all, unlike Sony's older molder that simply had up/down bottons for moving through the pre-set stations, this unit uses a separate button for each station. It's very difficult to select a station without stopping and looking at the unit. The buttons aren't even arranged well so that you could just feel around for them, just look at the picture. In addition to the five buttons for the preset stations, there are 4 or 5 more bottons, all the same size, that can be accidently pressed as well. In short, navigating stations while jogging is about impossible. Too make matters worse, the volume dial is easily bumped, and very sensitive. So, while jogging along, trying to change stations, you're likely to blast your ears out accidently.

I've been a life-long Sonly walkman devotee for during my work outs and travels. This model is, by far, a sorry comparison with the older models I've also had. To begin with, the velcro arm strap looses its "stickiness" with frequent use after less than a year. Secondly, the volume dial (yes, that's right, DIAL) is placed in an awkward place making for constant monitering of the volume to prevent it from accidently being too loud or too soft. This DIAL broke off the first month I had the walkman (I'm not that hard on my electronics, really!). Poor signal reception in my gym doesn't help, and there's something terribly wrong with the headphone connection.

Funny enough, all these problems finally came to be too much almost exactly one year after the walkman was purchased for me as a gift (it comes with a 1 year limited warranty).

Beware! SONY has could have done better, and hopefully will improve their next model of walkman. Until that time, I'm buying the competition to replace this one!

I bought this when my previous Walkman could no longer cope with the beating it took from hitting the ground too often when I fell running. I am very disappointed with this model, which I think is far inferior to the other. The sound is mediocre - often the headset jack needs jiggling to get sound in both ears, and the buttons/dials are placed very awkwardly. The volume dial is at the base of the unit when worn on my left arm, and it is really easy to accidentally increase or decrease the volume when running, just with normal arm movement. The On/Off swith is awkwardly placed, and not easy to use quickly. The unit is even more difficult to place on your arm than the other one was. There are really no improvements I see in this model, only problems. I would recommend the older model over this one, if you can still find one. I don't use the stopwatch features, as I have a good stopwatch. I think adding these was a gimmick - most regular athletes will have a decent stopwatch, and not need their radio to provide this feature.

Well, the title says it all -- not terribly happy with the new Sony S2 armband radio. Compared to the predecessor model, the new S2 at first appeared to provide several improvements, but upon more use, many flaws were revealed. Most of these comments are geared towards those people who have the old model and are looking to "upgrade" (I use that word loosely...)

Positives:

Sony attempted to address several complaints regarding the prior model but wound up going further in the wrong direction (for the most part.) On the positive side: A "hold" lever was added which means it is far less likely that the radio will turn itself on in your gym bag or when you travel. Nothing worse than getting 5 minutes into your workout/run and realizing the thing turned itself on overnight and drained the batteries. Which brings up another big plus for the new model -- the inclusion of a battery meter, which I have found to be quite accurate and very helpful. Sony has also moved the power button to the side and geared the button so that it needs a firmer push to activate, making it less likely that you will turn it off inadvertently.

Other plusses include the addition of an extra 5 FM presets, TV and weather bands, a stopwatch with lap feature, and a new mega-bass booster. The new headphones are pretty good for working out and provide much fuller sound than the old model. All of these new features work reasonably well, although I do not use the TV and weather bands very often.

Sony has also changed the shape slightly so that is a little larger and more curved to match the curvature of your arm or waist. While it is slight larger, it feels more solid and better shaped to its purpose.

Reception: Although there seem to be many compaints with respect to this, I have found the reception to be comparable to the old model -- nothing stellar but good for a small radio which uses the headset cord for the antenna.

Back to the drawing board...

Now for the not so good. First, and probably the most annoying thing about all Sony Armband radios, THE HEADPHONE JACK IS AWFUL! After only a few weeks of use, it was shot (without dropping it or having the cord yanked out.) I constantly have to jiggle the jack to get clear sound in both ears, and it was the same with each of the prior models I have owned. I attributed this shortcoming to the fact that the headphone jack used to be on the side of the unit and more prone to get wet. Sony tried to improve this by placing the jack for the S2 on the bottom of the unit where it is more protected, but it simply has not helped. I do not understand why they cannot get this most crucial connection to work!

Next, the contrived upside down design is abysmal compared to the old model. I know Sony was trying to make it easier to read/manipulate while running, but it missed the mark by a mile. If using it on either arm and having it mounted so that the face points away from you (the only way to wear it and not have it interfere with your arm movement), there is almost no way to see the display or face of the unit without almost pulling it off your arm. Furthermore, the layout of the buttons makes it very difficult to manipulate the presets by feel. Presets 1-5 are all bunched together, along with the button to activate the weather band (it is the same size and color, as well.) Once pushed, which is easily done when feeling around for a preset button, getting back to your FM or AM station requires seeking out the "band" selector, slightly smaller and right next to all the preset buttons. Very hard to do by feel, and it is not very fun while trying to maintain your pace.

Finally, the position of the volume dial makes it very easy to inadvertently turn the volume to ear-splitting levels, even through normal arm movement if the cord gets caught up in the wheel. I happen to like the wheel design, but its was better positioned on the side as it was on the predecessor model.

In conclusion, if you still have the old version and it is working, or you need a replacement and can still find a "new" old one, I would definitely choose that over this S2. If that is not an option and you must buy a new sports radio, this is still the best sports radio for working out by a mile. If you are looking for a radio/MP3 player suitable for the gym, which has been hard to find for a while, have a look at the Rio S35 Sport.

I bought this to replace my previous Sony sports walkman radio. This radio has several deficiencies compared to the old Sony design.

1. The WB (weather band) button looks exactly like the other radio presets. But if you press it, sorry, you're in a new "mode" and you can't get back to your other preset stations without some effort. I would much rather have a sixth preset button.

2. The battery case frequently snaps ajar. The batteries then come loose and I lose all presets.

3. The volume wheel is right next to my arm when I'm using the radio, so I frequently am adjusting the volume inadvertently.

I would really like Sony to redesign this product to make it more useful.

Headphone connection stopped working, like with so many others that reviewed this product before me. I wish I had read these reviews before I purchased. Called Sony and they said that they'd replace it for 40 bucks since the problem happened past my 90 days warrantee time. Considering that so many people are having this same problem and I could buy a new Panasonic for about 40 bucks, I passed.

I liked my 2 SRF-M80V walkmans (After replacing 1). The problem with this walkman is the internal contacts that meet the headphone plugs become loose and the audio is intermitant. You contact Sony and the service is lets say weak. No extra effort to make-do on a problem that I have had with 2 of these radios.

Guess what the service fee after a year is ahhhhhh $45.00. Guess how much a new radio is $49.00. "gee, great". No more.

I am a Sony fan and I loved this radio while it worked for a year or so. The exterior has held up well but, not the interior engineering.