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CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 08/18/2003
- Updated on: 11/14/2009
Philips's MP3 Key Ring Key004 caters to the music lover who values both style and convenience. The $99 player looks great either hanging from your neck or snug in the palm of your hand. It connects directly to your USB port, and its neck-strap controls (or in-line remote, in the case of the Key003 version) distinguish the Key Ring from the competition.
Measuring 3.4 by 1.1 by 0.6 inches and weighing a slight 1.3 ounces, the Key Ring is a whisper of a player, and its suave, white design makes it look like a cousin of the Apple iPod. The only control on the body is a switch for toggling between the Off/Charge and Play/Download modes. The volume, Start/Stop, and song-navigation buttons are embedded in the included neck strap--a surprising and innovative feature. If you don't want to wear your MP3 player, go instead with the Key003, which replaces the strap with an in-line remote.
When you plug the Key Ring into your system's USB port, the player shows up as a removable drive in Windows or Mac OS X. Loading MP3, WMA, and data files onto the device is an easy drag-and-drop affair, but the maximum capacity is only about an hour. Songs play in alphabetical order, so if you want a specific sequence, you have to add the appropriate numbers to the beginning of the filenames.
Some people will find this simple operation liberating, while others will undoubtedly wish for more functions. The design, while beautiful, lacks an LCD. You can't see which song is playing; the only information you get is from an indicator light, which flashes whenever the player is running low on juice or connected to a computer. Aside from autoresume, there aren't any features to speak of. Random and repeat modes, voice memos, line-in recording, and an FM tuner are all missing.
We were impressed by the Key Ring's sound quality, although both its signal-to-noise ratio (80dB) and its output (4.2mW per channel) are relatively low. The power was great enough to drive the included earbuds to loud volumes. Music through our test earbuds was clear and crisp with plenty of bass, although an equalizer would have been nice. Expect a brief 6.5 hours of life from the rechargeable nickel-metal-hydride battery, which charges via a USB port in 3 to 4 hours. Luckily, Philips supplies a nifty external battery pack whose AAA cell gives you another 10 hours--handy when you don't have time to charge the player.
If you are a slave to fashion or just want an hour of hassle-free music for the gym, the Key Ring is a good choice. But its scant feature set and low capacity limit its appeal to bargain hunters. Power users looking for direct USB connection in a more-advanced player should consider the Jens of Sweden MP-100 or the Creative Nomad MuVo NX.
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