The smooth black finish gives the EZ a modern feel (something that its older brother, the Audiovox Xpress, several lacks). The large display shows clearly even in bright light conditions, and the "cool white" backlighting is bright enough to see clearly, but not so obnoxious that it lights up the whole cabin. The biggest downfall to the display is something that I've express distaste about for all plug-and-play receivers - no color. In the age of paper-thin iPod nanos with color displays, it's time for satellite radio receivers to follow suit. But I digress.

Surfing channels is easy. A simple twist of the knob (officially called the "Channel Scroll Wheel") and you start scrolling up and down channels incrementally. Clockwise goes up, counter-clockwise goes down. There's tactile feedback (so you know when you're on the move) and it takes a total of 18 "clicks" for a full 360-degree turn. The faster you turn the wheel, the faster the rate of channel change. It's remarkably intuitive, and anyone who's used an iPod knows exactly how this works.

But navigating through hundreds of channels can sometimes get tedious. So with a quick push of the knob, you change into "Neighborhood Mode" ("Category Search" is the official nomenclature). A rotate of the wheel jumps between XM's Neighborhoods - from Pop, to Rock, to Urban, to Comedy, etc.

The top line of display shows the Category, and the second line shows the Channel.

A second push of the knob selects the Category, and a subsequent twist of the knob let's you zero in on specific channels.

Establishing and surfing through your favorite channels is just as easy. Find a channel of your choice, press and hold the Favorites button for two seconds, and that channel is saved. You can store up to 10 favorites total. To surf through your favorites, just quickly press the Favorites button and it sequentially jumps through each channel you saved. (It's a good idea to save your favorites in the order of listening preference.) 

The Xpress EZ snaps securely into the supplied vehicle docking station. To remove, simply lift it up and slip into your pocket. Since it employs XM's universal connector, you can easily pop the unit into many of the supported docking stations and boomboxes. The XpressEZ itself is lightweight and portable, with a decent level of build quality.

One gripe is that I truly hate the vent-clip mounting option, and the XM SureConnect FM transmitter system is a pain to install. Considering the target market, the vent-clip + XM SureConnect combo might not be suitable, especially as a gift (unless your favorite Technophobe also happens to be a DIYer). If I was to give this as a gift, I would opt for a professional install so everything comes out clean and nice.

• Pros: Easy to use, and attractive. Display reads well in day and night. It's does one thing and it does it nicely.
• Cons: No remote and lack of color display. Vent clip and XM SureConnect are annoying.
  

Final verdict:
In my opinion, the Audiovox Xpress EZ is hands down the best entry-level XM radio to date.

Technically I suppose you can call the RoadyXT an "entry-level" unit, but only because it's been on the market for a while and as such is priced low. The RoadyXT definitely packs more features, but in turn it better suited for the power-user instead.

The Xpress EZ on the otherhand is extremely easy to use, and that's its main strong point. For those who are not-technically incline, or prefer the simplier interaction, you may be better off with the Xpress EZ.