The Clix will play MP3, WMA, OGG and WMA DRM-format music. It supports high-quality MPEG-4 video, and video is so easily watchable you'll soon forget you're watching it on a small screen. Also supported are JPG photos and text files. There's also an FM radio (recordable to the player's memory), an integrated microphone for voice recording and five quirky games.
If you're part of the online music store crowd, you'll be glad to know your favourite DRM'd downloads from Yahoo and Napster, among others, are fully supported by the Clix. Sadly though, if you'd like to rip that old vinyl classic or bootleg cassette to the Clix, you're not in luck, as there's no line-in option. If this is a crucial feature for you, consider Creative's Zen V Plus.
Music is sorted using the traditional three-tier structure (artist/album/song), and ID3 tags are obeyed, meaning all embedded song information -- such as track number and genre -- is used to correctly sort your library.
Finally, a useful feature is the 'Smart Key'. A special button located on the side of the Clix can be assigned to a custom function, such as turning the screen on or off, or enabling shuffle mode.
Performance
Audio quality is on a par with all our
top-rated players, which is to say it's very good indeed. Reproduction
of deep lows on the bass-driven dance anthem Slam
by Pendulum is superb, with high-frequency effects in the track equally
clear and well defined. A broad range of frequencies throughout the
audible spectrum are used and well mixed in the Counting Crows song American Girls, all of which are exceptionally well presented and powerfully driven into our Shure SE530 headphones.
As usual, the supplied headphones are rubbish. You'll want to invest in a decent pair immediately if you're interested in anything better than low-quality sound.
Video playback is equally impressive and the high quality of the video files supported by the Clix look nothing short of stunning on the screen. Files with up to 30fps are supported, so playback is smoother than even the smoothest baby's skin. It's really comfortable to watch videos on, and 8GB of memory would store a few episodes of your favourite TV show. Photos, as you might expect, look just as crisp.
Our tests showed that iRiver is almost justified in saying its new Clix will play music for a solid day, as we got 23 hours of continuous music playback. iRiver also claims the Clix will play video for 5 hours, although we managed 5 hours and 20 minutes. Not bad at all. With 8GB of memory, it also means your video content won't eat into your music library too much.
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User reviews3
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wanbo 9 March 2009
Good: Absolutely Everything
Bad: At the time I got it nothing but now i need more memory
Comment: This player is the best I have ever seen or had. What more can I say. The only thing that can better it will be the next clix.
Cols_Ears 13 February 2009
Good: Great Screen, intuitive navigation, weighs next to nothing
Bad: Not compatible with MAC OS
blackleg 11 January 2008
Good: Ogg Vorbis support, open source games and navigation. Perfect sound quality, brilliant display.
Bad: Potential to get scratched easily if you don't buy protective covers.
Comment: I was looking for an MP3 player that supported a good range of file formats including Ogg Vorbis. This was the thing that caught my eye in the shops although when i picked it up in the shops the screen felt like a see-saw and it put me off briefly cause i thought it was badly built. Then when i switched it on i realised it was the method of navigating where the faceplate is actually a 2-axis rocker switch. Even though it's more a more expensive player, it's far better value than the iPod nano which is what my mates got at the time. You're not restricted to WMP or iTunes either, which i liked because i use neither and would detest using anything like that. Another thing I found once i'd bought it was that there are a good range of free Flash games/themes made by Clix enthusiasts in Korea (where i believe it's very popular) available to download on various sites and this is something you simply don't get with the big brands. The attention to detail is impressive too, if you connect it to your computer you can decide whether it goes into transfer only or if you can still play music while it recharges of the USB connection -- Wallpaper changes colour through day to day -- Alarm buzzer and music alarm -- comprehensive Now Playing info screen with next track caption -- small dedicated volume adjustment buttons that still work even when Hold is on -- a wide depth of volume range level that goes quiet enough to sleep to. Overall there's every little thing on this gadget that i'd like from a music player so that's why it gets a perfect from me.
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