 |
Moving from a dumb phone with a decent Mp3 player to an even dumber phone without I needed an alternative means of listening to tunes both generally and when out on the bike. It seems that smart phones have largely replaced Mp3 / Digital Audio players; those DAPs that remain being separated into smaller / lighter / cheaper units designed for sports use and more expensive items designed to appeal to discerning audiophiles. The Clip Sport Go falls into the former category. The falling demand for such players is evidenced by the shrinking spec and cost of this unit compared to previous models - this one lacking Bluetooth and removable storage, amongst other things. Externally the unit is pretty much what you'd expect - all plastic, lightweight and very small (comparable to a box of matches). It feels somewhat lacking in substance but not overly cheap and nasty. Button presses are positive but operation while holding the unit can be a little difficult due to its size. The buttons are a lot easier to operate with the unit clipped to something (such as your pocket); the clip doing a pretty decent job of securing the unit against coming adrift. The clip itself is wide and well sprung, but its gloss finish is easily marked - showing some light scratches upon unpacking and quickly picking up more during use. The GUI is pretty well structured; allowing you to browse by title / artist / album, shuffle randomly, create and use playlists, or search by folder (easier if you just want to dump a load of stuff in one place to play consecutively). The menu can be customised to an extent and there's control over other variables such as screen brightness, power saving etc. Transferring music is straightforward; the unit connecting to the PC via a supplied USB cable (also used for charging) and appearing as a storage drive into which you can drag and drop your chosen files. 32Gb seems more than enough capacity for my needs. I've not used the bundled headphones; I imagine they're pretty basic and I already have a set of Soundmagic E10s which I've found to be excellent and have been used throughout my time with this unit. When I got the Clip Sport Go I was extremely disappointed by the sound quality and volume - the latter sounding barely adequate at the max setting; the journey to which was interrupted half way by an irritating warning about hearing damage that disappeared once dismissed, but infuriatingly came back again once the unit had been powered off. More oddly, while the volume and apparently sound quality were crippled when playing Mp3s, it was so much fuller / louder if listening to the unit's radio. I was on the brink of sending the unit back when I found a post online stating that the volume was limited on the units set to the "European" setting when first powered up. Sure enough, a reset and selection of "Rest of World" when prompted removed the nanny-state warning and restored the volume to its full range; which is more than enough. The quality also sounds far superior now you can actually hear what you're listening to! The Clip Sport Go has an equaliser with a custom setting as well as a range of presets. While the sound quality is decent on the normal setting all of the EQ presets sound bloody awful regardless of the music you're listening to at the time. The worst setting is probably "pop" which just sounds muddy, flat and generally nasty.. perhaps a way of further dissuading people from listening to mainstream rubbish; if the "music" itself wasn't enough already.. The battery seems to last fairly well, although was down to perhaps a little over 50% after a 4.5hr ride recently - casting a little doubt on the 18hr figure stated but then batteries sometimes don't reach optimum capacity until they've been used a bit. In summary I'm not bowled over by the Clip Sport Go as it seems to have some pretty poorly executed features (the EQ and nasty nanny state volume limiting in the Euro mode). This as well as the curt instructions, minimal product presence on the Scandisk website and diminished spec compared to previous models all suggest that this is a product the manufacturers have little interest in developing; presumably because its target market is small and shrinking. That said we shouldn't be too hard on the Clip Sport Go; while basic it's pretty cheap, has a good amount of storage, decent sound quality (EQ etc not withstanding), a useable GUI, is small, light and looks pretty good. It generally does what I need from a DAP and has grown on me somewhat since buying it. It can be a faff finding somewhere to put it upon one's person, however the clip helps in this regard. When it's obviously "on display" I can't help but feel a bit like a pensioner trying to impress with his new (old) tech.. Ultimately it's a decent, honest, basic little player that gets the job done. Ideally I'd have given it 3.5/5 but since it has to be round numbers I'll go with 4/5 as 3/5 is a bit harsh.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Old stock mp3 player i was worried the battery would be too flat but all good very pleased prompt postage and well packed.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Best-selling in iPods & MP3 Players
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- Save on iPods & MP3 Players
Current slide {CURRENT_SLIDE} of {TOTAL_SLIDES}- You may also like
