Baylis Revolution review (8GB)

Features
Any MP3 player bold enough to include a built-in flashlight had better not skimp on conventional MP3 player features. Luckily, Baylis really does make good on its promise of utility by including several unique features along with above-average support for audio formats.

As an audio player, the Baylis Revolution handles all sorts of file formats, including MP3, AAC, WMA, OGG, WAV, and Audible. You won't get DRM support for subscription music or FairPlay iTunes purchases, but music purchased in the DRM-free AAC+ iTunes format works just fine. Unlike the first generation model of the Eco Media Player, the Revolution lets you browse your music by artist, album, or genre, even if content is loaded onto the player via SD memory or drag and drop over USB. Features such as a five-band custom EQ, album artwork, and on-the-go playlists are also a welcome sight.

The Baylis Revolution also includes an FM radio with an autoscan feature, automatic and manual presets, and FM recording that encodes to WAV files. Recordings can also be made from the Revolution's built-in microphone or 3.5mm stereo line input jack, all of which encode directly to WAV.

The Revolution's video player isn't shabby either, with support for WMV, H.264, AVI, and MP4 files. You'll still need to resize your videos to a 220x176-pixel resolution (up to 30 frames per second), but a PC-only video converter application is included that converted most formats we threw at it without any difficulty. Video playback is noticeably brighter than the first-generation model, and at its brightest setting rivals the iPod Classic.

The Revolution comes packaged with a ton of little accessories, such as headphones, phone-charging adapters, and a retractable USB cable.

The text reader and photo viewer built into the Baylis Revolution work just as you'd expect them to and are easy to operate. An integrated speaker on the back of the Baylis Revolution can be switched on and off manually through settings and offers a handy way to enjoy your music or movie audio out loud. We're happy to see that the FM radio also works over the integrated speaker, considering that the original model required a connected pair of headphones to act as an antenna.

Another feature of the Baylis Revolution we can't neglect mentioning is its capability to recharge other portable gadgets you may have with you. Four phone adapter tips come with the Revolution, including a proprietary adapter for Nokia phones and a mini USB tip.

Performance
The audio and video performance of the Baylis Revolution doesn't blow us away, but it's much better than it needs to be for such a niche product. The sound-isolating earbuds included the Baylis Revolution offer decent sound quality, but an upgrade will certainly improve the listening experience.

Baylis rates the audio battery life of the Revolution at an impressive 48 hours, more than double that of the original model. Charge time takes 3 hours to complete over a USB 2.0 connection. If you're powering the Baylis Revolution using the built-in crank, you can expect 1 minute of winding to produce 45 minutes of audio or 3 minutes of cell phone charge time. No word on what to expect for video battery life, but our CNET labs were able to coax 17 hours of continuous video playback from the first-generation player. We'll update this review with CNET Labs results as they become available.