Sony SRF-M85V S2 Sports Walkman Armband Radio

• Lightweight digital radio with armband for joggers, skaters, and other active users
• Picks up AM/FM radio, VHF TV channels 2 to 13, and weather bands 1 to 7
• 30 station presets (5 TV, 5 weather, 15 FM, and 5 AM)
• Built-in stopwatch and split and pitch timer; easy-to-read angled LED display
• Includes armband, belt clip, and stereo headphones; 1-year parts warranty

First I read all the reviews here about how horrible the Sony SRF-M85V S2 is. Then I went to Sony's website and saw that the S2 had more features and a higher price than the Sony SFR-M37V. Yet the M37V gets very good reviews. I wondered how a higher end Sony product could be so much worse than a lesser Sony product. I figured the reviewers of the S2 were just too picky or something. So I disregarded the warnings and bought an S2 anyway. Yikes! Big mistake.

I was looking for a small earbud AM/FM radio that I could use while biking and working out. I typically only listen to AM talk radio. So when I first tried the S2, the AM worked fine on the 2 stations I usually listen to. I figured I was right, the other reviewers were goofy. But, even though I don't listen to much FM or TV, I want it to be able to pull in those bands for the rare occasion that I might want to listen to them.

That's were the S2 fails MISERABLY. I couldn't believe that I couldn't pull in even one single FM station! It was all just hissing and static. I could only pull in 2 TV stations!

I wondered if it was just a typical problem with all of these little tiny radios. So I decided to get the less expensive Sony SRF-M37V to test against the S2. Wow! What a difference.

The M37V is AWESOME! It seemed to pull in everything with excellent fidelity. All TV stations came in without a problem and all AM/FM stations that I tried came in perfectly. I immediately returned the worthless S2. Good riddence!

Since the M37V only comes with these huge over-ear headphones, I decided to buy some really cheap JVC Gumy earbuds (HA-F120-A) for $9. Wow! They really work well. They blow away the earbuds that come with IPOD's. They work so well my wife swiped them from me and I had to go get another pair. I can't believe they sound so good for only $9. They sound as good or better than earbuds that cost over 5 times more.

I highly recommend the Sony SRF-M37V with JVC Gumy HA-F120 earbuds for anyone looking for a tiny radio setup with great reception, great sound, and comfy earbuds.

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I have recently used the Sony SRF-M85V S2 arm band radio...as soon as I got home from my walk, I found all the packaging it came in, packed it all back up and sent it back. The reception is HORRIBLE, it is even worse than horrible. I live in an area where reception is never a problem, but when on my walk, I was lucky if I had a total of 60 seconds of clear reception. There is a button for local versus further away stations, that made no difference in the reception. Maybe if you were standing in the lobby of the radio station would you be able to actually tune it in. I have had much cheaper radios that worked far better than this one. The only good thing I can say about this product is that I really l liked the armband.

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The previous Sony S2, model SRF-M80V had two AAA batteries. This one , model SRF-M85V, has only one. I presume this is the reason for the terrible FM reception. Hay Sony, isn't the primary purpose of a radio to BE a radio?

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I had this radio for only a day before I got fed up and returned it back to Amazon. I did read the other reviews but bought it anyway hoping it would work fine for me and because I've always seen Sony as making reliable products. Well, it turns out the other reviewers were right for this particular product and I regret not taking their advice before purchasing this.

The reception was horrible. I'm in Southern California and I could not get a clear signal from even the strongest broadcasting station. All the stations had either a lot or a little background static, audible at all times. The reception improved slightly while outdoors but not greatly. Note that this was with the FM stations. The few AM stations I listened to sounded fine. For the TV reception, I could not get channels 2, 4, or 5 at all; all I would hear is buzzing and humming. I will hand it to Sony though for including TV station reception; it was what sold me on deciding to get this model. I want to listen to the news or talk shows on the go. Too bad it didn't work very well. I was able to get reception on the remaining TV channels though. For the weather channels, I could barely hear one of the seven bands.

The look and feel of this unit are fine. It is a good compact size. It runs on a single AAA which is convenient. Did not have a chance to try out the armband as I was intent on returning it soon. My biggest gripe is the reception. For its cost I expected it to perform a lot better than it did. I have an old AM/FM walkman from the 80s that gets better reception than this.

On another note, after returning this, I went to a store and bought another Sony walkman radio (I really wanted the TV feature). I ended up buying the Sony SFR-M37V, based on reviews that I found here. That unit has much better reception and I can actually hear all the stations. It is about the same size as this unit and less expensive, but does not have an armband. I am satisfied with that model. If you are still thinking about getting this SRF-M85V, try to get your hands on one and hear for yourself the reception quality. Also consider the other model (SFR-M37V) if you still want AM/FM/TV/Weather but don't need the armband.

I totally agree with the other review that this radio is extremely poor. Unfortunately, I did not read the other review until after I purchased the SRF-M85V and tried it out, first outside and then at the gym. Granted, radio reception inside gym facilities are the poorest you will find given the interferences, but this product failed to pick up most stations in my city and gave poor reception for the ones it did pick up while I was walking outside. My old Sony Walkman still performs beautifully in this area. In the gym? Forget it...absolutely no reception on the SRF-M85V! I too ended up gathering the packaging materials and returning this radio ASAP.

I opted for a Jensen SAB55 armband radio that gives wonderful reception outside and decent reception in the gym. The weight of the Jensen radio is acceptable for walking. The Jensen armband, however, is barely tolerable. I have not tried running with it. I give Sony credit on the armband...it's great. However, if I cannot get reception, what's the use???

Also, in between the Sony SRF-M85V and the Jensen, I tried the Sony SFR-M37V radio. The Jensen still gives me the best reception of the three at about half the cost of the M85V.