Entered CNET Catalog: 08/10/2006
SKU: SN-A800-BLK-1G
Manufacturer: Signeo
Product summary
The good: Signeo's SN-A800 is a wonderfully designed player with retro-modern style and three standout colors; dedicated function buttons; good sound quality; compatible with OGG; superthin and lightweight; includes FM, voice/line recording.
The bad: Signeo's SN-A800, being a designer piece, is overpriced; uses an uncommon USB cable; not compatible with protected music files; buttons can be a drag for some users.
The bottom line: The smooth retro-modern design of the Signeo SN-A800 is almost good enough to make us forget about its lofty price tag.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 08/10/2006
Want to impress your jaded gadget geek friends? Show 'em the Signeo SN-A800, a sleek and unusual MP3 player straight out of Japan. From the beginning, the retro-styled flash-based player, with its circular display and 14 "blister" buttons caught our fancy; you might even say it's our current MP3 crush. But in the A800's case, love is costly.
Available in 512MB or 1GB capacities (at a spendy $170 and $250 respectively), the MP3/WMA/OGG/WAV player has a basic set of features that is spread out across its numerous Intellivision-style puffy keys. Available in black, 1970s yellow, or a superfresh 1970s blue, the device was designed by renowned industrial designer See all the colors here). It is actually thinner than the iPod Nano at 0.26 inches, weighs about an ounce, and measures a very pocketable 1.9 by 2.6 inches.
The control system is anything but iPod. The numerous buttons (which aren't as difficult to press as they seem, but could annoy some) may confuse the first timer, but eventually, they make a great deal of sense. Each function has its own dedicated button, so menu surfing is unnecessary. For example, Line takes you to line-in recording, Voice takes you to the excellent voice recorder, and FM takes you to the autoscannable 20-preset FM radio feature. There are even dedicated buttons for power on (green) and power off (red). The hold switch, by the way, is on the back.
Four arrows plus the center Play/Pause button stand out as a cross underneath the charming circular OLED display (the actual display is actually a 1-inch diagonal rectangle nested inside the 1-inch diameter circle). The up and down arrows are dedicated to volume control, while the right and left arrows serve both as forward/reverse and for menu navigation. A button labeled Mode/EQ allows you to apply the extensive set of EQ effects (Normal, Rock, Jazz, Classical, two User Settings, SRS, TruBass, and Wow). Holding for a bit longer sweeps you through the repeat and shuffle options.
The display itself is monochrome and legible; the playback screen is packed with relevant info, including a clock, scrolling songs titles, format, bit rate, and a tiny output level meter. The cool shimmering screensaver with clock is a nice digital touch. Pressing the Menu button opens up the minimal icon-based options such as Music, Setup, Game, Text, and Record Play. Record Play simply takes you directly to your recordings. Voice, line-in, and FM recordings (in up to 160Kbps MP3) are actually easy to make on this device. The only hiccup to navigation is that you need to learn that the Menu button, and not the Play button as would seem natural, is the select button.
Digging deeper, you can adjust playback speed of MP3s 150 percent down to 50 percent; adjust the record gain, use the player as a text viewer, and even play games (Blackjack and a strange game called Biorhythm).
Though the novelty and the smooth looks of the device appealed to our visual sense, audio quality is also quite good. The included olive-colored headphones are reasonable, but the player truly shined when we had our Shure E500s plugged in. The battery is rated to last 11 hours per charge, which is on the weak side. Battery life fared better in CNET Labs testing at 13 hours. The battery is charged via either the included AC adapter or USB. The USB port is uncommon (though the Kingston K-PEX that we just reviewed had the same tiny port), so you'll want to keep the bundled cable near. Incidentally, line-in recordings are done via USB with the included USB-to-1/8-inch-minijack cable. You also get a lanyard in the package.
All in all, we really dig the design of this player, though all the button pushing can get a little bit 1990s. It's most definitely a fresh conversation piece, and it has some good sound to back up the pretty face. However, the device's inflated price (you can get two 1GB Creative Zen V Plus's for the price of the 1GB A800) is likely to keep most of us wanting but not needing this museum piece. If you are interested in this player, it is being sold at a couple of places online, including Dynamism.com.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7out of 7 user reviews
Retro-geek is not cool.
Pros: It plays music.
Cons: Everything else.
out of 7 user reviews
Ugly as sin itself
Pros: I can't see any
Cons: Well, it's incredibly ugly.
out of 7 user reviews
Cute as a Dozen Buttons
Pros: Easy to use, no Menu Maze
Cons: Just another MP3 player.
Replacing multi-modal menus with dedicated buttons is a godsend for anyone who wants to operate their player by touch instead of having to stop and look at the thing; for those of us whose "eyes have seen the years" this may be the most usable portable yet. In the end, though, there's nothing innovative in the Signeo -- no wireless linkage, no user awareness, just another way to shake out the salt.
out of 7 user reviews
Not sexy at all
Pros: None at all
Cons: Looks, form, red and green buttons at top, USB cable
out of 7 user reviews
White wires
Pros: Super thin. Many features. Very retro. Ice breaker.
Cons: Attracts disgruntled ipod users.
In a sea of white wires, my daily commute will never be the same.
In the design world, homogeneity is shunned.
Thank you Marc Newson!
Soqi
out of 7 user reviews
iPod killer nonsense hype
Pros: Flat design
Cons: Cheap quality, reminds me of my old credit card calculator
With all those socalled "iPod killers" on CNET the iPod should have been dead long time ago
This is a place where you can express your opinion. My opinion is NOT based on actual usage but based on industry experience!
My score is based on:
1. This is the cheapest looking of the Signeo MP3 players found on the Japanese web site. I've met many consumer electronics designers and this Marc Newson design, although it's unique, simply can't impress me.
2. A round display does not make much functional sense when you want to see multiple lines of text and scroll it.
3. Membrane keyboards never appeal to me. They feel cheap and just can't compete in terms of the look and feel. There is a reason why this technology is rarely seen in any device. But it's good for humid environments where it seals the electronics...
4. The key layout is obviously inferior to what iPod has been so successful with. How can I navigate among 1000s of song with these membrane keys on such a small screen???
It will take me ages...or did I miss something?
5. The price is way higher than it should be. The Nano is better designed with better UI.
6. I don't need record functionality and FM radio is almost useless considering the problems with reliable antenna reception.
7. I'm not sure if it integrates well with any of the popular download systems like iTunes. But I don't want to copy music illegally and certainly ripping music from CDs is not me either...
Now the more I think about it, 3 is fair I think! But perhaps other people have other values than I have. I like that it's thin though.
out of 7 user reviews
WOW!! AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY
Pros: IT PLAYS AUDIO
Cons: IT'S UGLY, THE DESIGN IS NOT DEDICATED,
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