Is Flex radio suitable for contesting?

I own Flex since Sept 2019. The goal was to have SO2R capability onsite, and possibility of a remote operation. First years were painful. Remote connection was iffy; sometimes I could not connect in half an hour. Crashes. New firmware that caused more crashes. Disappearing memories during contesting. Lousy transmit audio. Noisy remote receive.

The bright spot was hotkey operation using the FRStack utility. Hotkeys would widen/narrow/center the panadapter, switch between receive and transmit antennas, toggle diversity, toggle APF for CW, change preamp level… With Expert 1.3k amplifier, hotkeys controlled power level, turned the amp on/off, and initiated tuning.

Over the years the updates made the radio more stable. Remote connection is fast. Transmit audio is nice although very weak,. In the end, the casual operation is enjoyable. Not so contesting that now I do with PG XL amp, Tuner Genius and Antenna Genius 8x 2 switch.

Here are some experiences from the recent CQ WW SSB and CW contests.

1. Bad CW Skimming using DAX. While CW Skimmer works well via DAX in casual operation, lots of bad spots are generated in contesting, and eventually CW Skimmer crashes. Recently, I set up a Wellbrook loop some 800 ft away and connected it to a SDR-IQ receiver. No crashes and good spots.
2. Interlock messages from the amp/switch/tuner. Require cycling the tuner and the amp.
3. Increasing scratchy noise when running a pileup. Requires a reboot.
4. Scratchy audio when S&P when tuning at the side of the panadapter.
5. Messages about excessive drive when the amp is operated at < 1.5 KW. More on 160m.
6. From time to time, antenna genius spontaneously changes to a different antennas for transmit than selected.
7. Weak transmit audio – not able to hold frequency – read my other posts.
8. No voice memories. Memories recorded/played via N1MM+ are extended/truncated and need editing before use.
9. In SO2R, transmitting on the other radio (Ctrl-Fx) causes error messages

The only reason I hold to the Flex is its remote capability plus hotkeys via FRStack. Otherwise I would have switched to something else; probably FTDX101 that has the best SSB signal of all current radios on the market. It is also #1 on the Sherwood list.