While the MobiBlu DAH-1500i is cute enough to make you want to take advantage of its wearable nature, the white headphone/neck strap combo that's included isn't stylish enough to tempt most people to sport it; a silver or clear cord would have been better. Unfortunately, the lanyard loop isn't large enough to string a standard necklace chain through it. In addition to the headphones, a minimalist case is included. This highly appreciated extra is made of clear rubber and wraps just along the edges and around the corners of the player, thus protecting it from dings while not overly concealing its stylishness. You also get an install disc with a program that allows you to update the firmware of the player. You don't get music-management software, but you don't really need any. Drag-and-drop takes care of most transfers, while Windows Media Player--a standard on all Windows machines--is necessary for moving DRM-protected files to the device.
Surprisingly, the MobiBlu DAH-1500i isn't as feature-sparse as one would expect from a device of its size. The player supports MP3 and WMA (including DRM) files, packs in an FM tuner, and records voice and FM radio. There's also an ample selection of sound settings, including five preset EQs, a custom setting, and the SRS Wow sound-enhancement setting, for which you can select SRS Surround, TruBass, or Wow (for both). All in all, you end up with your choice of nine sound-adjustment settings. You can even fiddle with several levels of the SRS effects--focus the SRS on the low, mid, or high levels; choose the speaker size; and adjust the individual volume levels for TruBass and surround sound--not bad for an MP3 player that's smaller than your average ice cube.
In the numbers segment of our testing, the MobiBlu DAH-1500i wasn't quite up to the task. Its 7-hour battery life was the main disappointment, though transfer times didn't fare much better at 1.6MB per second over USB 2.0. Luckily, the little player gave a fairly impressive performance in the sound department. Even through the included earbuds, which were fairly uncomfortable, tunes were loud and clear with no noticeable background hiss, and highs and lows were balanced and defined. When we switched in our Shure E4c test 'buds, the sound actually seemed to deteriorate--things got too bright for our tastes. We also noticed a very faint clicking, staticky sound between some tracks. Overall, however, the MobiBlu DAH-1500i is a decent little performer and easy to recommend to those who drool over tiny tech.
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