iRiver Volcano T7 review

Still, an integrated microphone enables you to record voice in WMA format, at a range of bit rates. The highest quality -- 128Kbps -- gives decent results, and the microphone seemed pretty sensitive. As long as you're not more than a couple of metres away from the voice you're capturing, taking notes from the recording, for example, shouldn't be a problem.

Throughout all this testing we never developed a fondness for using the T7. It's a clunky player: the buttons are tough to press, the menus are sluggish at times and skipping from track to track takes a needless couple of seconds.

The main music menu gives no browsing control over to you -- it simply plays songs sequentially, sorted by artist in alphabetical order (ABBA albums play entirely, followed by Zebrahead albums), though you can browse music in a more traditional folder view in a separate menu. Alternatively, you could create one large playlist within Windows Media Player and the T7 will obey its track listing and song order.

Conclusion
The iRiver Volcano T7 isn't impressive, but nor does it overly disappoint. It's just an okay MP3 player with okay features and okay performance. The best reason to choose it is for the cable-free design and its above average screen within a low-cost category.

If you want a more simple player to use, go for the SanDisk Sansa Clip. If you want a better sounding player and Audible support, go for the Creative Zen Stone Plus. If you need something even simpler, go for the iPod Shuffle.

The T7 is available now from Advanced MP3 Players.

Edited by Shannon Doubleday