iriver S7

Seems like mp3 players are just getting tinier and tinier. Of course the trend these days is that small is the new big. A paradox, but seems to be true. As with the new iPod Shuffle that was reduced to the size of a clothes clip and now the new iriver S7. An odd but extremely simple looking player.

Form Factor
The first time I saw the S7 it surprised me that this little block could actually be a 1 GB mp3 player. With dimensions of just 1.65 x 1.18 x 0.38 inches I couldn’t see any buttons on the surface except for the 3 tiny buttons located on the sides. And it weighs just 0.53 ounces.

The top of this tiny player is where the earphones/USB connector socket is. Even though the earphones themselves serve as a strap with a small clip that gets attached when you connect the earphones, there is a little loop also available in case you don’t prefer to use the iriver prescribed earphones.

On the side of the player is a single switch that works as the power switch and music to FM radio selector as well. Just below that is the reset button. I think it’s great to have singular buttons that double or should I say triple up as other functions. The other side of the player is where the SRS button is located. What this essentially does is adjust the levels in sound output. For example it increases the bass or highs. You can adjust the SRS levels by pressing the button to select the various levels. The other button is for the ‘Playmode’ feature that allows you to switch between the player selecting random tracks from your list or playing them in the order you transferred them in. Pressing down on both buttons at once activated the Hold function that renders all the buttons inactive.

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You may wonder where the track or volume keys are and don’t worry almost anyone would. The front panel itself acts as the buttons that work up, down and sideways. Depicted by some pretty odd symbols, what I didn’t get at all is the symbolism of the Rooster and the little dog that’s apparently taking a pee. I get the point with regards to the tow guys running in opposite directions. Those are your skip or rewind and forward keys. Of course what the player lacks is a display of any kind. But it’s such a simple player to use so that really negates the fact of not having one.

Apparently, or so I read, the Rooster depicts loudness with its loud crowing and the soft sound of a dog doing his business depicts a low volume. Ergo those are your volume keys. In-freakin’-genius! Oddly though, there doesn’t seem to be any button to pause a track and resume it. Or maybe there is and we just can’t see it. Doubtful though.
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Features and Performance**
Apart from the fact that the S7 is such a small player that you’d probably mistake it for a matchbox and toss it, it actually fits quite neatly inside a regular sized matchbox. What makes you sit up and take notice, though, is the fact that it has a Storage capacity of 1GB and an FM radio to boot! It’s really easy selecting the various stations. All you need to do is keep the ‘running men’ buttons pressed to switch the station.

The music output is loud and clear. Not having an EQ is of course a drawback but the SRS feature at least allows making slight adjustments to suit your preference. I wonder if they did have a button for EQ presets, what would the symbol be? But on the whole I quite liked the clarity and the output level. The player also fits very well round your neck considering the really ergonomic design of the earphones and strap. The earphones are awesome. If you’d like to jazz up the player a bit the front panel can be replaced with other designs.
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It connects quickly to the PC and shows up as a separate drive so you can simply copy-paste files onto the S7. Using the iriver Plus 3 software, you can organize your files and also save the radio stations as presets. What makes it more interesting is that you can use the software to adjust the SRS levels and save them to the player.

The Bottom Line
Although the sound quality is great and I have to admit I was a bit baffled at the design. At first it grew on me and on the whole it’s a great product. The battery life was ok. it ran for 9 hours and around 10 minutes non-stop. But The Bottom Line is – it’s a kickass player, but at a price of Rs. 4,799 for just 1GB it may be a wee bit too steep. But do understand that this is the price you would pay for a brand like this with quality like this.