Product Reviews: Meizu Miniplayer M6

A few weeks ago, I purchased a Meizu Miniplayer. I needed a small MP3 player, preferably with video and photo capabilities. Needless to say, I have been nothing short of amazed. While most people see it as a Chinese knock-off of the Apple iPod, I honestly have to disagree, at least to some degree. While it does share a few similarities with the iPod, it's features go above and beyond that of most MP3 players I have ever dealt with.

The player has many positive points. It's intuitive touchpad interface allows you to find any song in just a few seconds. It's TFT LCD screen has an excellent picture quality, and really makes your pictures and videos come alive. The sound output isn't exactly audiophile quality, but it's definitely good, and with a 10 band equalizer, not to mention Virtual3D, a Phase Corrected Equalizer, and Virtual Bass Enhancement (ViBE), the Miniplayer is definitely capable of making some very nice sounds. The battery lasts 16-20 hours if you keep the backlight off, and it works as a USB Mass Storage Device, so you can use it with virtually any Windows, Mac, or Linux computer. And if that wasn't enough, it even includes a decent FM tuner, the ability to play 4 popular music formats, and support for the XviD video codec. All the Open Source geeks out there will love it's built-in OGG support, and your average Windows user will be pleased with it's support for MP3 and OGG. But the audiophiles will be particularly happy with it's support for lossless FLAC files.

On the other hand, there are a few downsides. My chief complaint is the lack of a video converter for Linux, but I am able to run the Windows version through WINE. Also, the device manual is translated directly, word-for-word from Chinese, so it can get somewhat confusing.

But all in all, this was an excellent purchase, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a cheaper iPod alternative.