MPIO FL400 (1GB)

Reviewed by

Jasmine France

on 10/17/2006

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CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
Detailed editors' rating
Average user rating: Write your own review

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Quick specs
Device type: Digital player / radio
Flash memory installed: 1 GB
Digital player supported digital audio standards: MP3 WMA Ogg Vorbis Protected WMA (DRM)
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The good: The MPIO FL400 has a sharp-looking, wearable design; its simple drag-and-drop transferring is preferred by some users; supports purchased (but not subscription) WMA files.

The bad: The MPIO FL400's tiny screen is hard to read, and the interface is clunky; doesn't support playlists or sort tracks by ID3 tags; rated battery life is unimpressive.

The bottom line: The MPIO FL400 is OK as an MP3 player necklace, but with its relatively high price and lack of new features, there's no compelling reason to buy it.

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CNET editors' review

CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
Detailed editors' rating

Reviewed by:
Jasmine France
Reviewed on: 10/17/2006

Wearable electronics are nothing new, and with the as-yet-unobtainable 2G 2G iPod Shuffle shrinking even smaller and incorporating a built-in bag/belt clip, they're probably not going away anytime soon. MPIO's most recent wearable MP3 player, the FL400, takes a different tack, opting for a pendant-style design meant to be worn around the neck. Unfortunately, other than its tiny design, there's no compelling reason to buy the FL400: at $109 for the 1GB version ($129 for 2GB), it's not particularly cheap, and it doesn't bring anything new to the table.

The itty-bitty (1.8x1.0x0.5 inches; 0.9 ounce) black and silver FL400 isn't remarkable in design, but it's stylish enough--I like the way the metal wraps around the edge of the player and provides the controls. There are dedicated volume keys, a menu button, and standard playback controls (FF, RW, play/pause/power). A tiny monochrome screen occupies a rectangle on the front of the player; the light text on the dark background could stand to be brighter and sharper (those with poor eyesight are out of luck).

The poor display quality isn't helped by the FL400's clunky interface. The physical navigation is fairly straightforward: click Menu to get to the folder list or hold it to get to the top menu; use the track shuttle keys to scroll through menu options; and so on. But the onboard software is rather clunky. For example, the Radio selection doesn't take you to the FM tuner; instead, you use the Mode selection to switch between MP3 and radio modes. Also, there's no sorting by ID3 tags, so you can't search tracks by artist, album, and so on; and neither M3U files nor playlists transferred from Windows Media Player are supported. Instead, you must arrange all your music into folder tree and use drag-and-drop transfer to organize your songs. Some users prefer this utilitarian method, but I'm not one of them.