iRiver Clix 2 review

iRiver Clix 2 Review

Reviewed by: Nate Lanxon

Reviewed on: 9 May 2007

The Clix 2 -- officially called Clix 2nd Generation -- is the younger brother to the hugely successful and highly rated Clix. Even now, the Clix sits in CNET.co.uk's MP3 channel with one of the highest ever scores.

The navigation system of the original Clix was almost as revolutionary as the iPod's Click Wheel, and it sat upon a feature-packed device that worked incredibly well. Now it has a successor and it's even better still.

Design
The new Clix is so attractive, it actually looks slightly edible. 

The stylish curved body and glossy screen look fantastic

There are no visible buttons on the front -- instead, the front itself acts as a four-way button. Pushing the screen in any of four directions allows you to navigate through the various menus of the Clix, and it's incredibly easy to use. It's also very refreshing not to be fiddling around with small buttons or poor Click Wheel imitations. 

Are there any downsides to the design of the new Clix? Only a couple. It's slightly difficult to see the buttons on the side, and the player feels distinctly breakable. The gap between the body of the player and the screen gives the feeling that the screen is breaking off. It's not though, so it just takes a little getting used to.

Small and refined: the Clix is significantly smaller than a playing card

Features
The 56mm (2.2-inch) screen on the new Clix is sharper than Paul Merton's wit, and menus, photos and videos are crisp and rendered with vivid colour. There's an option to change the main menu's background to one of several attractive themes, the most seductive of which is a beautiful, brightly coloured rendition of what could be mistaken for a close-up of Saturn's rings. The 'rings' move slowly in the background and add an elegance to the menus that we've never seen before in an MP3 player.

The menu system itself is completely foolproof and simple to browse. Clicking the screen in the direction you wish to travel is all you need to do. It's intuitive and simple enough for a child or an ageing grandparent to master in seconds.