I've had two Spektrums, DX3R and DX3R Pro, both worked great and never an issue. I replaced my Futaba 3PK and 3PKS with them and never looked back. They did everything I needed and weighed significantly less which is what I needed for long nitro mains. I've been using the old DSM modules in my Futabas with never a problem of range or anything. I use a Spektrum DX6i for my three Helis and never had a crash due to the radio.

I bought a Futaba 4PL for my crawlers because of the built in programming and low cost receivers. It works just as advertised.

I've also owned Aitronics but never felt comfortable with the hand position and the top heavy feel. Hitec Lynx was just so-so but cheap. My old Futaba Magnum Jr. is still functioning but who uses AM anymore.

So it really comes down to what works for you.

There is more to a good radio than simply "doesn't crash."

I picked up a used 3pm to try out. Also wanted to try out the abs feature. Handing the old DDS associated radio to my soon to use on his rustler. Nothing against the other ones this one just fell below my Max budget and had more than enough features and good reviews.

Looking at a Spektrum DX2S or DX3S any opinions?

+1 Those things have more lag than playing COD on a calculator

Guess that shows how much better of a player i am than you since i can deal with the "lag".

Lightweight, medium range of adjustments, responsive and good for a new to intermediate racer in my opinion. I used to own one and did not have any issues personally with it.

I have a fly sky gt3b, it is an ok radio. I had my hacked to the .50 firmware and disabled the channel 3 to increase response time. I did not notice much lag, but I wanted an airtronics so I picked up the MX3-X. First off, the flysky is way easier to program. Not that the MX3-X is hard, but it was just easier. The MX3X felt better in my hand though. I cant really explain it more than that. The backlite on the Fly Sky was very night and it has ABS, but the deal breaker for me was the trigger. I had noticed that the Fly Sky was hitting full throttle at 3/4 trigger pull. This was before and after the hack. I calibrated the radio and the esc and it was the same. The Airtronics uses the full trigger range. And it gives me a much better feel. I dont us ABS, so that missing feature is not biggie, but I do miss the back-lite.

Yeah the backlight was a deal-breaker for me on the airtronics mt-4. For $300 it should have a backlight, i mean seriously come on airtronics. There are kits and videos on how to add a backlight to the mt-4 but i just dont risk voiding the warranty if i solder something wrong. $300 phht....gone. Think the futaba 4pl is a good deal for my next radio.

Very well said, this same thing happened to me. I went to 3pk. So much difference. But if your a basher the Flysky Is a good radio for the price

I would avoid the Futaba 3PRKA.

Crawler guy chiming in here. I started with a dx3e worked great but I needed a better controller for more than one rig. I then purchased a dx3-c. It was a great radio for a while, not one problem not one glitch. I love the feel of the spectrums. Then I needed more channel mixing to run dual esc, so purchased the 4pl. The 4pl is amazing for the price but I still like the feel of the spectrums better. If I could get away with fewer options I would go back to the dx3c. I never had any problems with them even when I was using 333-486 in/oz servos. Of course I always used an external bec or a crawler esc with a beefy internal one.

I cannot recommend the DX3S, based on personal experience. I can't imagine the DX2S would be any different. Funtionality and feel-wise, I liked my DX3S. It's nice and light and the screen is easy to read. I also liked the menu set up and found it easy to use. It did feel a little cheap feeling in my hand though.

In my use, I encountered 2 issues. One I couldn't resolve and the other I had to use a "band-aid" to fix. First off, the range on the DX3S, using DSM receivers, is very short compared to other radios I have had. Maybe switching to DSM2 receivers would help, but I couldn't justify the investment. Under race conditions, this was never a problem since I'm always within 100-150 feet of my car at all times. While bashing, I experienced cut-outs when I went further. Even my previous DX3.0 was better, using the same exact receivers. Go figure?

Second, Spektrum DSM receivers seem to be very sensitive to voltage fluctuations. Using digital servos like Savox will cause the receiver to brown out for sure. I found adding a "glitch buster" capacitor didn't totally fix the problem and had to install an external BEC. I know the ESC I was using was partly to blame. However, I hooked up the same setup to an Airtronics MX-Sport and the problem vanished.

I am currently in the process of switching to an Airtronics MX-3X. I'm not going to look back. Spektrum is okay for what you pay, but there is better if you are willing to save a little longer for some other big name brand.