As with the RCA Jet, the Pearl has a quirky menu structure, with two top menus instead of one. Although the interface is easy enough to get the hang of, the wacky menu organization makes certain things take more effort than they should. Also, unlike with the Jet, the Pearl doesn't organize songs into an artist-album hierarchy, which makes it a pain to find a particular track. As a result, the Pearl makes a fine shuffle-play device, but if you require more organization in an MP3 player, you'll want to look elsewhere.
As for features, the Pearl does OK. It offers just a small (1-inch), monochrome LCD (with a rather garish green backlight), so there's no photo or album art display and certainly no video support. However, the player supports Audible and WMA subscription services such as Yahoo Music Unlimited. You also get an on-the-go playlist function, five EQ settings, a voice recorder, and surprisingly good sound quality.
In fact, we found that with a pair of Shure SE310s, bass response was pretty much incredible, and music overall sounded rich, clear, and warm. You probably won't be purchasing a pair of $250 earbuds for a $50 MP3 player, but that audio response capability is something to consider if you already own a good pair of headphones. To RCA's credit, sound quality through the included earbuds was also decent, though bass is considerably lacking. Battery life is average at 14 hours (based on CNET Labs testing).
In the case of the RCA Pearl versus the SanDisk Sansa Express, it's tough to choose. The Sansa is exceptionally easy to use and offers a better design for its plug-and-play purpose, but the Pearl sounds much better. It really depends on the user, but for casual use--which is really what these players are made for--the Sansa is probably the winner.
What You'll Pay
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