Short abstract:
Me geeking away about this new MP3 player I bought.
Image found at Meizu site.
When the copy became original: A discursive review of the Meizu M3 Music Card
Web-published 10 May 2007
Although I actually was a writing editor of an MP3 Magazine once (it's gone now), I normally don't spend my time writing reviews of MP3 players. But given that this baby is something you should take an interest in, and at the moment there doesn't seem to exist an English manual, I thought I'd give it a go.
I don't want to bother you with the specs or the sizzling hot product shots. You've seen them, I'm sure. It doesn't take a nuclear physicist to spot that this player was made as a direct competitor to the Ipod Nano. Note that I do not cry 'iPod clone' like 99 % of the tech blogs every time something plays music. One obvious reason that I hesitate to do this, is that I really it has some advantages over the iPod (and yes, I do hope to increase my hitrate significantly by poking at hotheaded evangelists).
I have been a music freak for almost 20 years and have owned more than a few iterations of Sony's MC Walkmans (-men?) and later their excellent MiniDiscs that unfortunately never really took off (obviously because they clung on to their Atrac format too long when MP3 was the horse to bet on).
But I never got around to buying an iPod, mainly because I'm no fan of DRM or iTunes (too heavy for a music player, I happen to still like lightweighters such as WinAmp and FooBar). And I never really understood why I should need another software other than my operating system to transfer music to an external player that works as a simple storage unit (well, actually I do—it's about money).
Apart from a few obscure gadgets from eerily resurrected Commodore (yes, the brand was bought and is abused on rather clumsy, but charming MP3- and media players) and of course no-name crap players, almost no MP3 players support simple drag-and-drop file transfer. Since my music collection is organized in folders by the thousands and I don't like iTunes, the iPod was never an obvious choice.
(Disclaimer: I really do like Apple, though. This review is being written on a black Macbook which by far is the best computer I've had since my Amiga 500. The only thing I dislike is the paintjob that always looks like the windshield on a Take That tour bus).
Drag and drop
But, I digress. All this simply to say that the M3 supports drag-and-drop (hi-hat followed by applause), both for folders and individual files. So, you can access these files on the player via the 'Browse' menu, which works exactly like a any simple file browser would. You can choose an album by opening a folder and start playing from the top, and it will play that entire album until you tell it to do something else.
If you are an Apple fan, you may want to browse by artists, albums, or songs, which the M3 is more than happy to help you with. Note that this information is derived from the embedded tags of the particular music files. No tag information results in 'Unknown song', which is why the file browser is so handy as it only needs folders and filenames. I get a lot of those since I've ripped all my sub-mainstream CDs and demos that I retired years ago.
Features galore
Let me tell you; there's a lot the Music Card can do that no iPod will ever do. I know thats a deliberate choice from Apple's side and key to their success. But, hey, I like features.
Let's name some of the semi-superfluous functionality the Music Card sports:
FM stereo radio with auto-tuning that finds your station like a charm,
color photo display with audio-assisted slideshow (including five different transition types),
excellent video playback on it's tiny 1,5” screen (there's an excellent but ugly video converter on the bundle CD but it must be AVI),
voice and radio recording (clear with only a little background noise),
text reader (.txt only),
lots of styling functions (change background image, font colors, menu bar colors and brightness—you can even do custom skins),
sleeptimer, file info, calendar, and,
oh yes, a 80's style graphical volume playback meter that shows your surroundings just how much you're down with the beat (or what's it called).
It also plays music
And then there is music playback. I bought the black 8 GB version straight from Hong Kong, from this excellent gentleman that gave me the best eBay feedback I've had so far. Including customs (50 $) the price amounted to a total of 210 $ also including shipment to Europe. Compared to the 364 $ I would have to pay for an iPod Nano in my country (everything included), I'd say it's a steal.
Unlike another music players I know of, you actually get black head phones with your black music player. They are of the in-ear type and delivers a skull-challenging base that I in no way anticipated when I unwrapped them from the Apple wannabe packaging. Topped with a clear and distinct treble and several EQ tweaking options I must confess, that I'm a disturbingly happy and God Machine supported morning traffic maniac at large.
Navigation leads us everywhere
The volume is easily adjusted on the central touch-sensitive slide bar. But, wait! It's more than a slide bar, it's also a tabbing pad. But wait! It's more than just a slide bar and a tabbing pad. It's also a play button and menu button!
How is this possible, you ask wildly animated? Well, it's like this: You slide the bar with your thumb to move up and down the menu list, adjust the volume and so on. When you want to select something you simply tab the pad lightly. Tabbing the bar in the middle opens up additional options such as fast forwarding, song-info, and the luminous volume meter.
In the top of the slide/tab bar theres an M-icon (M for menu and Meizu) and in the bottom there's a play/pause icon. These are selected by pressing a little harder than just tabbing. They both have multiple functions relating to the context, just as the iPod.
Everything is made easier with a logical no-bullshit menu structure that's customizable (with all this fun there's a dire need for selecting what's relevant for the particular user). There's even a scroll bar indicator and small pop-up windows that presents the user with the right options at exactly the right moments.
Apart from the slide bar theres only one button on the front, and that's the skip-button. It skips to the next track on the playlist. Simple. It'll also do page-scroll in list-mode and other nifty stuff. The last button is the lock-button on the top which helps you keep your hands out of the way.
Just to recap on the navigation: I've never seen so simple and yet versatile navigation in this small a format anywhere. It's just amazing and ultimately complete joy to operate. It's what I love the most about this player, and goes to show that actual intelligent beings created it (not dollar-starving copyright-infringing satanists from hell).
Build and design
I was a bit worried about the finish on the M3. You can make any plastic toy look like millions with a decent product shot. You just can't tell how it really feels before you hold it in your hand. And with the risk of being banned from Chinese servers, I must confess that growing up with 'Made in China' on the back of mostly cheap and counterfeited products, the pessimist inside me told me to expect the worst.
Shame on me! The finish is comparable to the best of MP3 players I've held (and that's quite a few), and the general build is sturdy and impressive. The back is a shiny metal mirror (that easily greases up as they always do) and the front is as smooth as any grand piano. Suitable, I should think.
The screen is bright and its colors strong. It does well in direct sunlight and is lowered in the body under the one-piece glass front, so it's protected and without any visible assembly marks. And a neat detail: There's a small hole in the button where you attach a strap to it. It's a minuscule thing but apparently something insurmountably huge for the iPod designers who would rather sell you a clumsy plastic casing that doubles the players' size. I'm no industrial designer, but...
I would be far off to say this player does not take more than a little 'inspiration' from the best of the iPods. But who doesn't? Its a mindblowing success for chrissakes!
From copy to original
These are indeed new and strange times when users (like me) prefer the alleged 'copy' rather than the original. But the truth is, and we're witnessing this all over, that China is going though the same process Japan did in the 80's; only faster: Fake it till you make it.
When someone is able to not only emulate the iPod, but heavily optimize it and even add a few modest innovations (but still innovations, such as the slide/tap/button bar), AND sell it for almost half the price (in Europe at least) then you better start preparing for a new agenda. The copy becomes original.
(More about this high-brow stuff on my dead serious blog soon. Please don't spam this blog with hatred and worldly utterances about my intellect etc., should you somehow disagree with anything or everything I've said in this piece).
Bottom line
Would you buy advanced media players from a company that can hardly can make a decent website (sorry, Meizu, but you really should get some help with this)? In this case I really think you should consider doing so. Do I like the Meizu M3? I already bought it.
// Martin Ferro-Thomsen, Copenhagen, May 10, 2007
PS: Sorry for possibly lousy proofreading on this piece, but It's not exactly Proust and I think you'll get the picture anyway.
PPS: I haven't tested the battery time. It seems more than decent, and Meizu promises over 20 hours.
Bonus: A few useful Meizu M3 tips:
If the screen freezes (happens to all good media players once in a while) you simply press and hold the play button for10 seconds, and it resets without deleting anything.
Pressing and holding the 'Skip' button will change the skipping direction.
Touching and holding the bar in the top and bottom will do fast scroll in list mode.
