Archos

Archos 43

First of all, thank you to advancedmp3players.co.uk for making this review possible.

Specs:
Dimensions: 135x65x9mm
Weight: 130gram
Screen: 4.3inch resistive touch screen, 854x480 (true 16:9)
Battery life: 36h music, 10h video, 12h web browsing
Operating system: Android 2.2
Capacity: 16GB
Colour: black
Price: £157

Included accessories:
USB Cable (micro USB)
Earphones
Quick start guide

Disclaimer:
The Archos 43 and the Archos 70 are identical, except for a very few differences, so this review will be a repeat of that of the Archos 70 a few weeks ago.



Build quality and hardware:
The Archos 43 is built on a metal frame with high gloss metal and plastic covering, which makes it feel very sturdy and exclusive.
One of the differences between the two models is that the Archos 43 has a 4.3-inch resistive touch screen. Resistive screen, I hear you think, but even if it is a resistive screen, and as such cannot compete with a capacitive screen when it comes to responsiveness, it is one of the best, if not the best resistive screen I have used.
On both sides of the screen, or more rightly above and below the screen as the 43 is meant to be used in portrait mode mainly, you have the built in stereo speakers, which sound very good for their size.
On the right hand side of the Archos 43 you will find the power button and volume controls, on the left hand side of the player you have the micro SDHC slot and a mini HDMI port, at the bottom you will find the micro USB port and 3.5mm earphone jack, and finally on the back of the player there is a kickstand and a HD 720p video camera. Of course there are WiFi (b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1 EDR modules built in as well as a g-sensor, it can also be used as a USB host. The Archos 43 also boasts UPnP support, which means that you can stream media from your home network or media server over WiFi.



Menus and overall usage:
The Archos 43 and the Archos 70 share the same Android operating system, all menus etc are identical.

The options are endless when it comes to personalising the layout of the menus and general use of the device. There are five different home screens which can be accessed by swiping right/left on the screen, each of these home screens can then be set to your own preference by changing/adding gadgets and widgets, icons, wallpapers and live wallpapers, etc. Lets just say, everything can be set to your own liking.
Android marketplace is not loaded on the Archos 43 straight out of the box, it can be easily side loaded though, and as such give access to hundreds of thousands of applications.
When connected to a pc the Archos 43 will utilize the MSC mode, meaning that Windows see it as a mass storage device, with drag and drop support for file transfer.
The power button is also a hold button for the screen and with a long press it brings up a device mode menu where you can set different modes for wireless connections and sound as well as deep sleep mode, the volume controls do as the name suggests.

Another thing worth noting is that Archos are very good at bringing out new and improved firmware versions for their products. The firmware can be freely download from their homepage, or when connected to a WiFi network the newest firmware will be downloaded and installed automatically by the player.



Audio:
The Archos 43 has the exact same audio capabilities as the Archos 70.

There are a number of music player applications one can use on the Archos 43, Winamp, Cube, Poweramp and Rockbox to mention a few, but I will concentrate on the native music player application.

The Archos 43 can play mp3, wma/wma-pro 5.1, aac/aac+ 5.1, ogg, flac and wav files, and with an additional plug-in it also plays ac3 sound.
There is no gapless playback on the native music player application, but installing Rockbox enables gapless playback.
As usual, I plugged in some high quality earphones to really get the best out of the Archos 43.
The sound is very nice indeed, and when using the Rockbox application it becomes excellent.
The sound characteristic is very neutral, with no apparent emphasis or roll-off over the audible spectrum. While the sound may not quite reach the Cowon X7 standard, it is not far off, and using different applications available the sound can be tweaked to near perfection.

There is a built in equalizer with five different settings as well as a user definable one. The music library can be searched either by folders or ID3 tags, and you can create playlists on the go. There is also the option to add favourites, songs or full albums and they are then very easy to locate in the menu for quick access.
The now playing screen is informative and nice looking with the big album art and all the playback controls easily accessible.





Best tip for music playback, use Rockbox, while it is still in beta for the Android platform it works and it sounds very, very good.

Video:
Again the Archos 43 and 70 are identical.

As with the music player application, there are many video player applications available for the 70, and going through them all is next to impossible. Some of them are, QQPlayer, Realplayer, Vplayer, there will be a version of the Vlc player for Android as well, sometime soon.

If you decide to use the native video player, I would suggest buying the cinema plug-in to enable ac3 and mpeg-2 decoding. With this plug-in you can play the following formats on the Archos 70, avi, mp4, mkv, mov, wmv, mpg, ps, ts, vob, flv, rm, rmvb, asf, 3gp.
External subtitles supported are, .srt, .ssa, .smi, .sub.
The only limitation of the video player is that it can only play up to 720p, full HD content will not play. You can connect the Archos 43 to an external screen or HDTV with a mini HDMI cable.



The native video player is excellent, and with the cinema plug-in it can play just about every possible format in an excellent manner.

Photo:
The photo application is the same as on the bigger brother, with the exception that there is a direct access icon to the camera. You can zoom, rotate and slideshow the pictures. Nothing extraordinary, but all works as it should. Of course you can install a more powerful image viewer or editor if you like.

Extras:
Again, the Archos 43 can do exactly the same as the Archos 70.

The Archos 43 is capable of the same tasks as any netbook. Thanks to the USB host function you can connect external hard drives to it, external keyboards, either USB or Bluetooth ones, connect it to an external screen or HDTV. There are a multitude of applications freely available to make the Archos 43 a fully fledged mobile office, Word and Excel apps, Skype, a plethora of web browsers and email clients to choose from, navigation apps (requires a GPS receiver).
The built in 720p camera is a nice touch, but cannot really compete with a standalone camera. There is no radio in the Archos 43, but then again you can listen to internet radio. There are endless amounts of games to download, I have tried a few of them and the Archos 43 is a really nice game machine as well.



Conclusion:
What’s not to like about the Archos 43, it has great features in a great form factor at a really great price. Highly recommended.

Archos 70

First of all, thank you to advancedmp3players.co.uk for making this review possible.

Specs:
Dimensions: 201x114x10mm 8GB, 201mmx114mmx14mm 250GB
Weight: 300gram 8GB, 400gram 250GB
Screen: 7inch capacitive touch screen, 800x480
Battery life: 36h music, 7h video, 10h web browsing
Operating system: Android 2.2
Capacity: 8GB SDD or 250GB HDD
Colour: black
Price: 8GB £212, 250GB £269.99

Included accessories:
USB Cable (micro USB)
220 volt charger
Earphones
Quick start guide



Build quality and hardware:
The Archos 70 is built on a metal frame with plastic covering and as such it feels very sturdy and well put together. The 7-inch capacitive touch screen is very responsive and bright with excellent viewing angles. On both sides of the screen you have the built in stereo speakers that sound surprisingly good for their size. To the left of the screen there is a built in VGA web camera for video calls/chat. On the right hand side of the Archos 70 you will find the power button and volume controls, on the left hand side of the player you have the micro USB connector, a micro SDHC slot (only on the 8GB model), 3.5mm earphone jack, a mini HDMI port and the AC input, and on the back of the player there is a kickstand. Of course it has WiFi (b/g/n) and Bluetooth 2.1 EDR modules built in as well as a g-sensor, it can also be used as a USB host. The Archos 70 also boasts UPnP support, which means that you can stream media from your home network or media server over WiFi.



Menus and overall usage:
As the 70 use Android operating system, the options are endless when it comes to personalising the layout of the menus and general use of the device. There are five different home screens which can be accessed by swiping right/left on the screen, each of these home screens can then be set to your own preference by changing/adding gadgets and widgets, icons, wallpapers and live wallpapers, etc. Lets just say, everything can be set to your own liking.
Android marketplace is not loaded on the Archos 70 straight out of the box, it can be easily side loaded though, and as such give access to hundreds of thousands of applications.
When connected to a pc the Archos 70 will utilize the MSC mode, meaning that Windows see it as a mass storage device, with drag and drop support for file transfer.
The power button is also a hold button for the screen and with a long press it brings up a device mode menu where you can set different modes for wireless connections and sound as well as deep sleep mode, the volume controls do as the name suggests.


The background is a live wallpaper, this is why it looks blurry.



Another thing worth noting is that Archos are very good at bringing out new and improved firmware versions for their products. These firmwares are free to download from their homepage, or when connected to a WiFi network the newest firmware will be downloaded and installed automatically by the player.

Audio:
There are a number of music player applications one can use on the Archos 70, Winamp, Cube, Poweramp and Rockbox to mention a few, but I will concentrate on the native music player application.



The 70 can play mp3, wma/wma-pro 5.1, aac/aac+ 5.1, ogg, flac and wav files, and with an additional plug-in it also plays ac3 sound.
There is no gapless playback on the native music player application, but use Rockbox and voilà we have gapless playback!
As usual, I plugged in some high quality earphones to really get the best out of the Archos 70.
The sound is very nice indeed, and when using the Rockbox application it becomes excellent.
The sound characteristic is very neutral, with no apparent emphasis or roll-off over the audible spectrum. While the sound may not quite reach the Cowon X7 standard, it is not far off, and using different applications available the sound can be tweaked to near perfection.

There is a built in equalizer with five different settings as well as a user definable one. The music library can be searched either by folders or ID3 tags, and you can create playlists on the go. There is also the option to add favourites, songs or full albums and they are then very easy to locate in the menu for quick access.
The now playing screen is informative and nice looking with the big album art and all the playback controls easily accessible.



Best tip for music playback, use Rockbox, while it is still in beta for the Android platform it works and it sounds very, very good.

Video:
As with the music player application, there are many video player applications available for the 70, and going through them all is next to impossible. Some of them are, QQPlayer, Realplayer, Vplayer, there will be a version of the Vlc player for Android as well, sometime soon.

If you decide to use the native video player, I would suggest buying the cinema plug-in to enable ac3 and mpeg-2 decoding. With this plug-in you can play the following formats on the Archos 70, avi, mp4, mkv, mov, wmv, mpg, ps, ts, vob, flv, rm, rmvb, asf, 3gp.
External subtitles supported are, .srt, .ssa, .smi, .sub.
The only limitation of the video player is that it can only play up to 720p, full HD content will not play. You can connect the Archos 70 to an external screen or HDTV with a mini HDMI cable.



The native video player is excellent, and with the cinema plug-in it can play just about every possible format in an excellent manner.

Photo:
The screen really shines when it comes to showing photos. You can zoom, rotate and slideshow the pictures. Nothing extraordinary, but all works as it should. Of course you can install a more powerful image viewer or editor if you like.

Extras:
Where do I start? The Archos 70 is capable of the same tasks as any netbook. Thanks to the USB host function you can connect external hard drives to it, external keyboards, either USB or Bluetooth ones, connect it to a external screen or HDTV. There are a multitude of applications freely available to make the Archos 70 a fully fledged mobile office, Word and Excel apps, Skype, a plethora of web browsers and email clients to choose from, navigation apps (requires a GPS receiver). The only thing missing is a radio, but then again you can listen to internet radio. There are endless amounts of games to download, I have tried a few of them and the Archos 70 is a really nice game machine as well.



Conclusion:
For the price and size and overall usability, the Archos 70 is very, very hard to beat, if not unbeatable. Highly recommended.

Chuwi P7 Touch L

First of all, a big thank you to ownta.com for letting me review the Chuwi P7 Touch L.

Specs:
CPU: SLP chip and WOLFSON audio chip
Dimensions: 112x74x12 mm
Weight: 130 gram
Screen: touchscreen, 4.3 inch 480x272
Price: $114

Features:
Audio codec: MP3, WMA, WAV, APE, FLAC, OGG
Video codec: MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG3, MPGE4, ASF, AVI, WMV, 3GP, H.263, TS, MP4, MKV, M2TS, RM, RMVB, 720p, 1080p
Images: JPEG,BMP,GIF
Voice recorder
Micro SDHC expansion slot
HDMI port
Upgradeable firmware
E-book reader
File browser
External hard drive in Windows (ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Win7)

Included accessories:
USB Cable
Earphones (earbud type)
Manual
Cleaning cloth

Optional accessories ($15):
Wall charger
OTG cable
HDMI cable
Remote control
Pouch
Screen protector and cleaning cloth





Build quality and hardware:

The P7 Touch L has a metal housing and it is very well put together. The weight is well balanced and feels comfortable in your hands. The screen fills nearly all of the face of the player and is very bright, with good viewing angles. The sensitivity of the screen could be better, but it improves by using a stylus instead of a finger.
At the top of the player you will find the power and/combined hold button, on the left hand side you will find a mains charger input, a micro SDHC slot, a mini HDMI port, a mini USB port and the earphone jack.
Battery life is around four hours, which is enough for two films, but could be better.

Audio:

For this review I have used my own IEM earphones, to make the most of the audio qualities of the P7 Touch L.
To use it as a mp3 player alone is almost a love/hate experience. The audio menu is very basic, and consists of shuffle play, repeat single track, repeat all. There are no EQ or DSP settings, no playlist support, not even a full ID3 tag support, but, and this is the most important, the P7 Touch L has a great sound quality!
I just had to try the P7 Touch L side by side with my Cowon D2+. To make the comparison fair, I switched all sound enhancements off on the Cowon, and, I really cannot tell the difference between these two, they sound equally great. If anything, the P7 Touch L sounds a tad more powerful, with better bass quantity as well as quality.

Video:

The P7 Touch L natively supports nearly all video formats known to mankind. I have tried it with AC3 and DTS soundtracks, HD video, subtitle files, two or more soundtracks and it plays everything without any hickups, impressive!
The on-screen controls are easy to use, even if a little fiddly for big fingers but all in all they work very well. You can choose between four different zoom ratios (normal, full screen, 16:9 and 14:9), different soundtracks and different subtitle tracks. The real reason to buy this player has to be the superb video quality, and even more so, the unbelievable codec and format support.

Photo:
Just as with watching videos the big and bright screen really shines when viewing pictures. The on-screen controls are easily accessible and easy to use, even if the functionality is quite basic.

Extras:

The P7 Touch has a built in ebook and text viewer, which works very well. There is a timer function built in as well, which works as it should. The P7 Touch can also be used as USB on the go (OTG) storage, which again works very well, and is a very good application to have.
The P7 Touch L can be used as a stand alone media player, when connected to a TV. It even has Hdmi output, sadly my HD TV broke before I got to try the P7 Touch L with it, but I have no reason to believe it would not work.





To sum up:
The good: great audio and video quality, excellent file support, expandable memory, OTG storage
The bad: screen sensitivity could be better, basic audio control (tags, playlists), battery life

Conclusion:
The Chuwi P7 Touch L offers great audio and video quality. Hats off for the easy video transfer and huge array of supported file formats, not many players offer such extensive audio/video codec support.
I would recommend it for the audio and video qualities alone, and of course being able to use it as a stand alone media player on any HDMI capable TV is a great bonus too.

Cowon

Cowon J3

First of all, thank you to advancedmp3players.co.uk for making this review possible.

Specs:
Dimensions: 106x56x10mm
Weight: 76gram
Screen: 3.3 inch capacitive AMOLED touch screen, 480x272
Battery life: 64h music, 11h video
Capacity: 8, 16 and 32GB + micro SD slot
Colour: black or white
Price: 8GB £169, 16GB £199, 32GB £239

Included accessories:
USB Cable (proprietary/Korean standard)
Earphones
CD with software and quick manual


Build quality and hardware:
The J3 is made of plastic on a metal frame and the screen is scratch resistant glass, it feels very sturdy and well put together.
The 3.3 inch AMOLED screen is the best screen I have seen on an mp3 player, it is very bright with excellent viewing angles and highly responsive.
On the left hand side of the J3 you will find the power/hold button, at the bottom of the player you have the 3.5mm earphone jack and hidden under a hatch the half-standard USB connector and the micro SD slot, on the left hand side you will find the volume controls, play/pause and ff/rew controls, and finally on the back of the player you will find a reset hole, a microphone and a speaker.


Menus and overall usage:
There are three different ways of displaying the main menu, one text based and two icon based options that can be tweaked to own preference. As if this was not enough, the J3 can be customized with flash based themes as well. There are hundreds of different themes and tweaks for the J3, everyone is guaranteed to find one that works for them and that makes the J3 a real pleasure to use.
As with all Cowon players, the J3 can be used either in MTP or MSC mode, meaning that Windows can see it as either a media transfer compatible device, with playlist and sync support, or a mass storage device, with drag and drop support.
There is also a G-sensor, so that when you tilt the player the screen rotates automatically, it can even be set to change tracks by a shake of the player.
Thanks to the tactile buttons the J3 can be used without having to use the screen.




Audio:
The J3 can play the same audio codecs as the recently reviewed X7, i.e. mp3, flac, wma, ogg, wav and ape files, and most importantly, it also supports gapless playback. Thank you Cowon!

Remembering that I hailed the X7 as the best sounding player I have heard, I was very curious about how the older and smaller J3 would stack up against it.

As usual I plugged in some high quality earphones to get the best out of the player.
The J3 sounds remarkable! There is ever so slightly less “body” to the music compared to the X7, but this is with highest end earphones and very critical listening. With normal listening there is no question about it, the J3 is a superb sounding player.
The J3 has the same BBE+ and JetEffect 3.0 settings as the X7 with the same 39 presets including four user definable ones.

You can search the music library either by folders or by ID3 tags, and the J3 supports playlists as well. The now playing screen is informative with easy access to all playback controls, and with the option to install new themes it becomes a visual masterpiece as well. Audio playback is stated as 64 hours.



Note, the music interface is a flash based third party application called Aero Music.


Video:
File formats, avi, wmv, asf. Support for external subtitles.
The AMOLED screen will give you a great film experience it really shines when watching videos.
The audio settings can be used during video playback as well, the video can be cropped and stretched to fit the screen and external subtitles can be turned on and off and altered for colour and such. All in all a very nice set of features for the video playback. The video playback is stated as 11 hours.





Photo:
Once again the AMOLED screen shows its excellence, pictures look very good when viewed on the J3. You can zoom, rotate and slideshow the pictures. Nothing extraordinary, but all works as it should.


Extras:
FM radio with 24 presets, audio/radio recorder, bluetooth, calculator, hand written or typed memo, comic reader, document reader, flash support, stopwatch, alarm and a game called hunter. You can also buy separate cabling to gain TV out and line in functionality on the J3.
I have not tested these extra functions in any deeper sense, just enough to see that they work well and as meant to.


Conclusion:
Excellent sound quality and Pink Floyd friendly gapless playback, excellent screen, great battery life, memory expansion, great design and fully flash customisable. Highly recommended.

Cowon X7

First of all, thank you to advancedmp3players.co.uk for making this review possible.

Specs:
Dimensions: 127x79x14mm
Weight: 212gram
Screen: 4.3 inch resistive touchscreen, 480x272
Battery life: 103h music, 10h video
Capacity: 120 or160GB HDD, 2GB SDD
Colour: black or white
Price: 120GB £229, 160GB £249

Included accessories:
USB Cable (proprietary/Korean standard)
220 volt charger
Earphones
Hand strap
CD with software and quick manual

Build quality and hardware:
The X7 is made of metal and it feels very sturdy and well put together, with a nice weighty feel.
The 4.3 inch screen fills nearly all of the face of the player and even if it’s a resistive screen it feels very responsive and smooth in use, it’s also very bright and has excellent viewing angles. Below the screen you have the menu button and a built in speaker that sounds perfectly adequate. On the right hand side of the X7 you will find the power/hold button, at the bottom of the player you have the AC input and hidden under a hatch the half-standard USB connector and a reset hole, and the 3.5mm earphone jack, on the left hand side you will find the volume controls.

Menus and overall usage:
There are two different ways of displaying the main menu, either as text or icon based, both are good in their own right and very easy to get used to, my favourite is the text based one. The X7 can be used either in MTP or MSC mode, meaning that Windows can see it as either a media transfer compatible device, with playlist and sync support, or a mass storage device, with drag and drop support.
The tactile buttons can be set to act differently depending on if the screen is on or off, the power button is also a hold button for the screen or entire device, depending on the setting. In fact most of the menus and buttons can be set to your personal preference and altered to suit your needs. The X7 can be charged either over USB or with the provided AC charger.
Once you have gotten used to the X7 it is very easy and quite intuitive to use.
One more thing worth noting is that Cowon are very good at bringing out new and improved firmware versions for their products, free to download from their homepage.



Audio:
The X7 can play mp3, flac, wma, ogg, wav and ape files, and most importantly, the X7 supports gapless playback. Thank you Cowon!

Cowon, or iAudio as they also are known as, have always been known for their excellent sound quality, and the X7 continues that legacy.
Advancedmp3players had a “sound off event” not long ago where the customers voted for the best sound between the X7 and an iPod Touch, the X7 won comfortably.

So, with this in mind I plugged in some high quality earphones and hit play.
I can safely say that to this day I have not heard a portable player with better sound, it’s as simple as that. What is it then that is so spectacular about the sound of the X7?
In my opinion the JetEffect 3.0 and BBE+ offer a dynamic and true to life sound that is very hard to beat in a portable player.
There are 39 presets, of which four are user definable. Without going into too much geeky tech talk, lets just say that no other player offers such advanced tweaks for the sound, or what about a five band parametric EQ, bass/stereo/3D boost, reverb, mp3 enhance, and of course the BBE+ settings on top of it all. Everyone can find a setting that suits you and your earphones, or just leave all settings on flat and enjoy a untampered sound.

You can search the music library either by folders or by ID3 tags, and as already mentioned the X7 supports playlists as well. The now playing screen is informative and flashy looking with the big album art filling all of the screen with easy access to all playback controls. Audio playback is stated as 103 hours!



The excellent sound quality and the enormous battery life, and of course not to be forgotten the native support for gapless playback (rejoice Pink Floyd fans) makes the X7 the best portable music player I have had the pleasure of using.

Video:
File formats, avi, wmv, asf. Support for external subtitles.
The screen, even if the resolution is “only” 480x272 is bright and vivid and offers a pleasant watching. The audio settings can be used during video playback as well, the video can be cropped and stretched to fit the screen and external subtitles can be turned on and off and altered for colour and such. All in all a very nice set of features for the video playback. The video playback is stated as 10 hours.



Photo:
As with watching videos the bright and vivid screen makes pictures look very good, even with the limitations already mentioned. You can zoom, rotate and slideshow the pictures. Nothing extraordinary, but all works as it should.

Extras:
FM radio with 24 presets, audio/radio recorder, bluetooth, calculator, post-it memo (hand written or typed), comic reader, document reader, flash support, stopwatch, alarm. There is also the option to buy separate cabling to gain TV out and line in functionality on the X7.
I have not tested these extra functions in any deeper sense, just enough to see that they work well and as meant to.



Conclusion:
For a high capacity media player, with excellent sound quality, the Cowon X7 is hard to beat. Highly recommended.

Pasen REI-16

Today I will have a closer look at the Italian Pasen REI-16 portable mediaplayer (PMP).



Specs:
CPU: Rockchip RK2706B 400 MHz
Capacity: 8 GB flash drive
Dimensions: 95x50x11 mm
Weight: 65 gram
Screen: touchscreen, 3 inch 16:9 MVA 432x240

Features:
Audio codec: MP3, WMA, APE, FLAC , AAC
Video codec: AVI, DIVX, XVID (without conversion) RM, RMVB, FLV, MP4, WMV, 3GP
Images: JPEG,BMP,GIF
Micro SDHC expansion slot (up to 32GB)
5 band EQ with 8 modes (normal, rock, 3D, pop, classical, bass, jazz, custom)
7 playback modes (shuffle, shuffle repeat, folder, repeat folder, all songs, repeat all, preview)
Built in FM radio with recording feature and FM transmitter
Multi-tasking
TV-Out
Voice recorder
Upgradeable firmware
E-book reader
Karaoke feature with lyrics in LRC format
Built in speaker
File browser
Built in Games
External hard drive in Windows (ME/2000/XP/2003/Vista/Win7)

Included accessories:
USB Cable
220 volt charger
IEM’s with volume control
Compact touch pen
FM antenna
Player stand
CD with software and manual

Pretty impressive specs and features, if you ask me, and all for €79.

Build quality and hardware:
The REI-16 is made of high quality plastic and what seems to be a metal frame, it feels very well put together. The screen fills nearly all of the face of the player and is very bright, with excellent viewing angles. Below the screen there is an “action light”, that lights up when a button or the screen is pressed, above the screen you find the built-in speaker which sounds surprisingly good and loud for its size. At the top of the player you will find a standard mini USB port, on the right hand side you will find the power button, reset hole, earphone jack and the Micro SDHC slot, at the bottom of the player there is a microphone and on the left hand side you will find the volume controls and a menu button.

Audio:


Even though the included earphones are far better than the bundled ones on your average player, I have used the Klipsch S4’s to review the audio qualities of the REI-16. They seem to pair together very well, and I would highly recommend this economy setup to anyone.
The overall sound quality is very good, maybe a little on the analytical side, but in no way too cold or boring, just as I like it. If this isn’t enough, there are several presets and a user defined EQ curve as well as DSP to help you tailor the sound to your preference. I particularly like the Microsoft Playfx setting LEQ as it gives a dynamic and clear sound, and a very big soundstage.
You can search the music library either by folders or by ID3 tags. In folder view the tracks are in tracknumber order and in tag view they are sorted alphabetically. There is no playlist support as such, transferring playlists with WMP will not work, but there is a favourites list in which you can manually add songs on the player. The now playing screen is informative and well thought out and flashy looking with the big album art filling most of the screen and the very good on screen controls easily accessible. From the top of the screen you can access EQ and DSP menus as well as playback mode. Audio playback is stated as 16 hours.

Video:

The gorgeous screen combined with the native support for the most common formats means the REI-16 is a serious alternative for film lovers. The screen rotates either right or left, and the on-screen controls are easy to use and work very well. Video playback is stated as 3.5 hours.

Photo:
Just as with watching videos the bright and vivid screen really shines when viewing pictures. The on-screen controls are easily accessible and easy to use. The photo menu is accessible from the top of the screen and gives all the basic zooming and such.

Extras:
There are four games built in, and they seem to work as expected. There is also a FM radio and a transmitter built in, which means you can play your music from the player to your car stereo. This is quite a handy feature, but the sound quality suffers a little. The radio reception is perfectly fine both with the external antenna and with the earphone cable used as the antenna. Ebook and text viewer, no surprises there, everything works as it should. It even has a TV out which works well and is easy to hook up to nearly any TV with the included cable. To round it off, there is a voice recorder built in as well, which can come handy at times.

Conclusion:
For the asking price the Pasen REI-16 offers a great set of features and a solid audio and video quality. Especially the easy and hassle-free video transfer and playback deserves both thumbs up!
If you are looking for an affordable PMP with good video capabilities, then Pasen REI-16 should be on your list.