Roberts WM201 Review

Overall Rating

The single rotary control can be a little frustrating to use at times. Would like more front panel controls!!

The Roberts WM201 has excellent build quality, great little remote control, superb sound and very easy to set up and use. As an experienced 'internet radio' user, AE, BT, Magicbox IMP, Blik, Pure, Logitech and Ministry of Sound etc, I can honestly say that the Roberts WM201 is the best I have used.
That's not to say that it doesn't have it's problems but overall it is a superb way of listening to the world through the internet and streaming your own PC or MAC based music collection.
Setup out of the box was easy on my WEP encrypted system and soon I was listening to a huge list of stations provided by the Reciva portal. The list is up-dated regularly but does contain lots of 'duplicate' stations and some that are simply no longer around. Overall though the list of available stations is pretty comprehensive and the Roberts does a great job of delivering the sound subject of course to the stream rate of the selected station. There has been a recent firmware update that you can 'choose' to download which improves the radio's operating system improving things like back light brightness, the number of alarm settings and improved search facility to find your favourite stations. The best way to operate your Roberts WM201 is with the handy sized remote control as this gives you much better 'button' control of the radio and is a lot easier than using the radio's single rotary control. Unlike some other remotes (such as the Blik) it is well laid out and works without having to 'jump' on the buttons. Using the Roberts to stream my music from my PC was also a pleasure and set up with my Windows Vista computer was really easy. The rear of the radio has a line in socket to connect your MP3 or iPod as well as a headphone jack for private listening.
I've been using the Roberts as a bed side unit and after setting the display to its lowest brightness I used the new comprehensive array of alarms to wake me up to my favourite stations which it has done without fault. If the station isn't available the Roberts will sound the buzzer instead so no worries about getting up late for work.
If you want a more fully featured radio equipped with FM and DAB I would recommend the Pure Evoke Flow, but if you want a great sounding 'internet' radio I would definately recommend the Roberts WM201.