Auvi SA100 review

4 February 2004 22:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Auvi hopes its SA100 64Mb MP3 player will offer a cheap and affordable solution to those looking for an MP3 player on a budget, but is it worth cutting corners for a couple of tunes? We don the headphones and find out.

The MP3 player is based on the USB Key model and this makes for easy transferring of files. Find a USB socket - either on a Mac or PC - plug in the device and away you go. Both MP3’s or non-music data can be stored making it possible for this unit to double up as a small portable hard drive.

The unit itself is small, thin, and black. Operation keys, such as play, pause, fast-forward rewind, and volume adorn the front and are a shiny silver colour. When not plugged into a computer the unit comes with a cap to protect the USB head and everything seems fine until you realise - there’s no LCD display. This can cause problems when trying to find your favourite track on the player as you have to go through the laborious task of skipping each track until you get to the one you want.

Get past that fact that you won’t know what you’ve got loaded on your player and you’ve still got the issue of sound. Overall it’s rather tinny and the headphones included in the box don’t really offer much. Yes this is an entry level player, but better budget players are available.

Verdict

Overall the SA100 from AUVI is a bit of a disappointment. The lack of LCD display and tinny sound quality let it down. It seems strange that a display hasn't been included and a sacrifice too far in the quest for an attractive price point. Bar the small green light on the player you never really know what is going to happen next. Unless you've numbered your MP3 tracks and even then you'd need to memorise every running order you ever created, which isn't feasible. While this 64Mb option may seem like a bargain, you soon wish you'd have saved your pennies a little longer if you opt for this unit. Keep saving for something better.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Auvi
Price as reviewed: £50
The good: Cheap
The bad: Sound not great; no display
Quick verdict: You will never stop getting what you pay for, so carry on saving for a better model.
Score