Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

What is it?

Vtech IS9181 is a Wi-Fi Internet radio which comes equipped with an auxiliary cable, remote control, and power cable.  It costs under $150 at Amazon.com.

The Good

Getting started is a simple as turning it on and registering your Wi-Fi via the knobs on top of the device.  I was excited to check out the featured weather widget, putting in my zip code and scrolling using the built in jog wheel allowed me to see an up to date weather forecast.  The screen itself is large enough and can be made bright enough to suffice for its display purpose.

Searching for stations was really simple; you can search by genre, country, or continent.  Needless to say, the choices are endless, however I noticed was a lack of international music.  Maybe this is because every country seems to play American music and completely ignore their own cultural tracks or I have been unlucky in searches.  A few of the channels from Belgium did, however, give me a taste of their language.  That is not a fault of Vtech.

The Bad

Sadly, the weather widget is the only widget available to this radio.  I would have loved to see top news stories, sports scores, and stocks widgets.

Believe it or not, this device does not allow you to adjust the bass or treble.  This ruined the sound of many of the stations; some came with too much bass.  This was such a turn off that I had to power off the radio.  I was very surprised to see that Vtech did not include an adjustment feature.  While my review unit was not brand new, the speakers should not have sounded like they were on their last legs.

The Crux

Ultimately, the Vtech Wi-Fi Internet radio would be best suited as an alarm clock radio or office radio.  However, try and use it to pump your next party and you’ll be wishing you were rocking out to the tunes of “Red Red Wine” at your local liquor store.