MP3 Players Review

Meizu Slim 4 GB MP3/MP4 Player (White)

Customer Reviews

Quality, Quantity & Linux Friendly

I purchased this item as a birthday present for my mother, and in a household that exclusively uses Linux, I can safely say that Meizu's little media player is a quality device. With support for video playback, playlists, ID3 tag display/browsing, file tree browsing, OGG, radio, audio/radio recording, MTP/MSC, text files, JPEG, and custom backgrounds, Meizu's miniPlayer SL can do a lot of things, and it does them well. Gorgeously crafted out of brushed aluminum and smooth, high density plastic, the miniPlayer is first and foremost a portable audio player. As such, it delivers a powerful low end even with the included earphones. It's so strong that Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" makes a sound that I can only describe as a heavy, unpleasant thud throughout playback. Not only do I have to LOWER something called the bass boost, I have to completely turn OFF another setting called the virtual bass enhancement as well. The rest of the sound spectrum is less pronounced, but still very clean & clear; for example, in Starship's "We Built This City," the highs during the chorus aren't earsplitting, something that my beloved Insignia Pilot can't boast at its default setting. Also compared to my Pilot, and my old 2nd Gen iPod Nano as well, climactic portions don't distort at higher volumes such as portions in Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson's "Beauty and the Beast." If the miniPlayer's default sound setting still fails to impress, there are several tweaks that can be done to cater to just about everyone's personal tastes. In addition to the bass boost settings, there are also settings for treble boost, spatializer, and equalizer. The treble boost is self-explanatory and quite ordinary compared to the spatializer, which does an awesome job of distinguishing different instruments and other sounds, and the equalizer, which adjusts various sound frequencies. With the spatializer, of which the virtual bass enhancement is part of, I can hear sounds that I never even realized were there in the first place. As for the equalizer, it offers several presets and the ability to adjust TEN different bands just in case sound is lacking in quality or is distorting too much. Other players usually offer only five bands (like my Pilot) or no customization at all (like my Nano). At four gigabytes (GB), this particular model of the miniPlayer can store upwards of a thousand songs. Navigation would be daunting if it weren't for the intuitive graphical user interface (GUI). Basically, anyone that has used a Zen or iPod in the last few years will be right at home since the miniPlayer emulates their step-down method perfectly. The button layout is also a combination of the old Zen VisionM/Micro and the latest iPods. The miniPlayer uses a touch strip like the VisionM/Micro as well as buttons embedded under the touch-sensitive surface like the iPods. If there's any drawback it would be that the touch controls need little pressure to activate making it easy to make mistakes--practice is needed for precision. As for the GUI, if your music files are tagged correctly, you can browse by album or artist, but strangely not genre. You can also make your own playlists using either a computer or the miniPlayer itself which can save on-the-go playlists (I'm not sure how many though). Currently, I haven't found an easy, sure fire way to make playlists under Linux. If you prefer folder browsing, the miniPlayer supports a folder hierarchy at least three layers deep. The only thing lacking is a word search function. The miniPlayer's secondary role is video playback, a role it plays reasonably well. However, this is one area that other similar devices trump the miniPlayer. With the ability to play XVID encoded AVI videos at max 20 frames per second (fps), videos are quite smooth except for maybe high speed action scenes. To achieve the full 20 fps, though, video bitrate and thus crispness must be sacrificed, with a max of about less than 300 kilobits per second (Kb/s) to eliminate lag. In comparison, my Pilot and my brother's 3rd Gen iPod Nano can play videos at 30 fps at 512 Kb/s without a solitary hitch (plus both support A/V out for video playback on TV). Still, video playback on the miniPlayer's large, beautiful 2.4" 320x240 260k color display is hardly choppy or blurry. Furthermore, for some reason, videos at low bitrates on the miniPlayer are less blurry than videos at the same bitrate on my Pilot. Lastly, the miniPlayer has a very sensitive voice recorder and a radio with decent signal, auto-scan, save and recording. The remaining features includes games, a calendar, and a calculator, all of which are near useless due to their lack of refinement and function. Software-wise, the included video converter does a great job of converting most common file types. The software is Windows only, but it is compatible with WINE. Personally, I use the command line, but there is an excellent free program called iRiverter if you prefer something with a GUI. If all else fails, there is an online community dedicated to supporting the miniPlayer such as the AnythingButiPod, MeizuMe, and Ubuntu forums if you need guidance. Other complementary programs for Linux users are Easytag or Kyamo to edit MP3 tags/OGG Vorbis comments (nothing for wma unfortunately), and Amarok to help organize and transfer your music. Other things of note are support for album art for MP3/OGG files and firmware upgrades, both of which can be manually done under any operating system (take that Sandisk!!!). You can also use your own pictures as the default background and change the color scheme. Aftermarket accessories include a myriad of skins, plastic cases, and silicon cases as well as a speaker dock. In addition to the useless calendar, calculator, and games, cons include the lack of a resume function for audio files (although there is a fast and competent search function), no gapless playback, no memory card slot, and having to manually update the music library every time you disconnect from the computer or wall charger. With so many good quality features, most of the cons are overshadowed by the pros. The only deal breaker would be the lack of memory expandability, and truthfully, that is why I am sticking to my Pilot. However, there is little to be disappointed about the miniPlayer. Ample memory, fair price, sleek design, good community/developer support, and superior sound quality, the miniPlayer is a good choice for people who enjoy music and the occasional video but aren't self-described power users.

Keyword : meizu