Speed MV8 MP3 Player Review

After a long time of absence Asia based gadget shop Fancylogic sent us again one of their direct sourced gadgets.
The shop provided us this time with a sample of the Speed MV8/MV-8 digital music and video player. The brand Speed is based in Hong Kong and develops and markets multimedia products for digital imaging and digital audio markets. The tiny "zippo-style" DAP feature packed and on first impression makes a high quality impression.

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Benchmarks

There are myriads of digital audio players out there. The Speed MV-8 is one of them and tries to compete with small size, broad feature offering and high quality implementation. The case of this DAP is made from metal and immediately reminded me on a Zippo lighter. The shape is also similar. Only the 2 inch color TFT screen with 65k colors and the buttons give the Speed MV-8 away. The measurements are  78mm(L) x 46mm(W) × 11.5mm(T) and the weight is 55g.

Besides playing MP3 and WMA music files, the Speed MV8 offers MP4 video playback, FM radio, voice recorder, built-in speaker, photo viewer (JPG), lyric display, games (e.g.: Tetris) and  equalizer. You get all these features for $78 with 1GB of internal memory.

The built-in memory of 1GB can be extended with miniSD cards, which you usually find use in mobile phones. The player supports miniSD cards up to 2GB.
Speed designed a colorful icon based user interface that is easy to navigate through.

The sound quality is very decent. The bundled speaker are the typical low value kind, but at least they are white. The Speed MV8 can be charged via the mini-USB port. The package includes a AC power adapter to that connects via USB. A mini-USB converter is also part of the package to connect the power adapter. The AC adapter I got has UK plug. You better ask Fancylogic before ordering if they can supply an AC adapter for your country.

The battery life is depends on what you do with it. The manufacturer does not give a playtime of the Built-in Li-ion rechargeable battery. I did not had time yet to measure it.

Watching video on the small 2 inch screen actually works pretty well. It is like watching video on a mobile phone. Video playback on small players like that are a fun gimmick, but not a great way to enjoy video on the go.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

• Small Size
• Feature packed
• Good Screen
• Metal Case

Cons

• no WMA-DRM support
• Rubber flap over miniSD card comes off easy

 

Verdict
For $78 (+shipping) you get a neat small digital audio players with lots of features. The metal case gives it a nice high quality appeal. It would have been nice if Speed would support WMA-DRM.

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