Satellite Radio technology has been around for many years, and there are many satellite radios on the market. Here is a comparison of popular SiriusXM satellite radio for car.
SiriusXM SXPL1V1 Onyx Plus
Onyx Plus has a color display, which can show not only a title of song, album, artist name, but also album art or channel’s logo. Onyx Plus offers many features, such as TuneStart, TuneMix, and TuneScan. TuneStart is the feature that starts songs from the beginning when tuning to your favorite channels. TuneMix shuffle songs from the channels you select. TuneScan plays samples of songs of the first 10 seconds each from the channels you saved as the favorite. If you like it, you can press a button to continue playing the full song. Above all, what’s the most favorable and handy feature is that you can pause, rewind, and replay on your saved channels for up to 30 minutes.
There are ten buttons to pre-set your favorite channels for one-touch access. It’s compatible with accessories like SiriusXM SXSD2 Portable Speaker Dock for home, office, and outdoor use.
Pros
- Color display
- 10 pre-set buttons
- Pause, rewind, and replay a song
- TuneStart
- TuneMix
- TuneScan
- Compatible with a home kit and portable speaker dock
Cons
- Relatively inexpensive
SiriusXM Commander Touch
Commander Touch has a full-color display with touchscreen feature. It can show an artist name, the title of the song, album title, and album art or channel’s logo. TuneStart automatically starts a song from the beginning when you tune into your favorite channels. You can listen to a mix of songs from your favorite channels with TuneMix. You can also pause, rewind, and replay up to 30 minutes from your favorite channels.
Commander Touch is different from the other radios in this post. One of the main characteristics of Commander Touch is that you can hide cables and wire as much as possible. Unlike the other radios, a tuner is separate from the display. By using FM Direct Adapter (included), you can hide everything but the display behind the dash.
There are two drawbacks because of this characteristic. First, the installation is not easy. You have to open the panel of your vehicle to pull out a car stereo to install the devices. And, you have to find electrical wires for power, accessory, ground, and illumination and splice them.
Second, it’s not portable or compatible with an accessory like SXSD2 Portable Speaker Dock. All devices, cables, and wires except for the display are designed to be placed behind the dash. So, it’s not intended or designed for portable use at all.
Commander Touch can be updated manually via micro USB cable when available.
Pros
- Color display
- Touchscreen
- Pause, rewind, replay a song
- TuneStart
- TuneMix
- Hide all devices, cables and wires except the display behind the dash
- FM Direct Adapter included
- Software update
Cons
- Installation is not easy
- Not compatible with home kit or portable speaker dock
SiriusXM SXEZR1V1 Onyx EZR
Onyx EZR has a large, easy-to-read, 3.2″ high-resolution display. It can show an artist name, the title of the song, the title of album or channel information at the same time. You can choose two display options: white text on a black background or black text on a white background. The split screen mode allows you to see what’s playing on other channels you saved as the favorites while listening to a current channel.
There are ten buttons to pre-set your favorite channels for one-touch access. It also has the feature of TuneMix to play songs in a unique mix from the music channels you have saved. It’s compatible with accessories like SiriusXM SXSD2 Portable Speaker Dock for home, office, and outdoor use.
Pros
- Large display
- Two display option
- Split screen mode
- 10 pre-set buttons
- TuneMix
- Compatible with a home kit and portable speaker dock
Cons
- Not many features
SiriusXM- XEZ1V1 Onyx EZ
Onyx EZ has a blue back-lit display. It can show an artist name, the title of the song, and album or channel information at the same time. The relatively large display allows you to browse channels easily, and there are ten buttons to pre-set your favorite channels for one-touch access. It’s compatible with accessories like SiriusXM SXSD2 Portable Speaker Dock for home, office, and outdoor use.
Pros
- 10 pre-set buttons
- Compatible with a home kit and portable speaker dock
Cons
- No fancy features
SiriusXM Stratus 7
Stratus 7has a easy-to-read blue back-lit display. The 3-line display can show artist name, the title of the song, and album or channel information at the same time. There are no fancy features, but it’s one of the most inexpensive satellite radios for a car. It supports A La Carte subscription package, which allows you to select 50 channels with a reduced monthly subscription fee.
It’s compatible with accessories like SiriusXM SXSD2 Portable Speaker Dock for home, office, and outdoor use.
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Small
- Supports A La Carte subscription package
- Compatible with a home kit and portable speaker dock
Cons
- No fancy features
| Product | Onyx Plus | Commander Touch | Onyx EZR | Onyx EZ | Stratus 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dimension (of head unit) | 4.5" x 2.4" x 0.7" | 4.1" x 1.69" x 0.48" | 5.0" x 2.7" x 0.72" | 4.5" x 2.4" x 0.7" | 4.5" x 1.9" x 0.7" |
| Weight (of head unit) | 3.4 oz | 3.88 oz | 3.9 oz | 3.4 oz | 2.3 oz |
| Color Display | Y | Y | N | N | N |
| Touchscreen | N | Y | N | N | N |
| Pause, Rewind, Replay | Y | Y | N | N | N |
| Other Features | 10 pre-set buttons TuneStart TuneMix TuneScan | TuneStart TuneMix Software Update | 10 pre-set buttons Split screen mode TuneMix | 10 pre-set buttons | Supports A La Carte package |
| Included Accessories (for audio connection) | 3.5mm AUX cable PowerConnect(FM Transmitter) | 3.5mm AUX cable FM Direct Adapter | 3.5mm AUX cable PowerConnect(FM Transmitter) | 3.5mm AUX cable PowerConnect(FM Transmitter) | 3.5mm AUX cable PowerConnect(FM Transmitter) |
| Compatibility with home kit or speaker dock | Y | N | Y | Y | Y |
| Price* | $99.99* | $129.99* | $79.99* | $69.99* | $79.99* |