IRiver X20 review

IRiver seems to be fond of packing features into its MP3 players, but it has really pushed the boat out with the X20.

Its 2.2in screen is unusually large for a flash memory-based player, and can be used to display videos as well as photos and album artwork. There's an FM radio, a MicroSD slot for expanding the memory capacity, a recorder function via the built-in microphone or line input and even integrated stereo speakers. The quality of the latter is extremely basic, but they're still welcome for video or voice-recorder playback.

The lithium-ion battery is replaceable, which could prove useful when the supplied cell starts to lose its capacity. Charging is via USB only, but the USB port is a standard Type B Mini-USB so finding a replacement cable will be easy if the one supplied is lost or broken.

The downside of all these features, and particularly the large screen, is that the player is fairly big compared to most flash memory-based players. Measuring 96x48x16mm, it looks more like a hard disk-based player, although at 71g it's still reasonably light.

IRiver is one of very few companies that designs interfaces that can compete with Apple's iPod range, but the X20's controls are disappointing. The navigation pad is surrounded by a wheel for adjusting the volume and scrolling through menus, but its low profile meant that we found it difficult to make accurate adjustments. The menu layout is fairly standard but some features could be improved.

MPEG4 and WMV video files are supported, but only up to 512Kbit/s, 320x240 pixels and various other limitations. This meant that videos transferred using Windows Media Player or Explorer often wouldn't play, but the bundled iRiver Plus 3 software converted a wide variety of file types automatically. However, it didn't understand the concept of PAL widescreen MPEG2 footage and squashed it to fit the screen.

Otherwise, however, videos and photos looked great on the bright screen. The sound quality of the player was generally up to scratch, too, but boosting frequencies with the EQ controls caused distortion, regardless of listening volume. The headphones were distinctly poor, so we recommend budgeting at least a further £10 for a superior pair.

The X20 has much going for it, but too many drawbacks, particularly regarding its control wheel and sound quality. If video playback is as important to you as music, though, the great screen makes it a good choice.