Meizu Miniplayer Rocks

Five years ago this month, Apple released the first iPod, touching off what would become am international sensation. While some people are celebrating by purchasing an iPod from Apple, I did something a little bit different.

I had been itching to get a music player for quite a while. It originally started as a desire to get something I could listen to podcasts on while I work out, but I kept putting it off. I was intensely drawn to the iPod Nano, but I have always felt they lacked some easy-to-add but fundamental features; and I have always been turned off by Apple’s deeply embedded DRM. Also, I was filled with dread at the thought of installing iTunes in order to transfer songs. With the recent release of the shinier, sexier Nanos, however, I felt my will caving.

And then this Gizmodo post on the Meizu Miniplayer came across my feeds. A player that makes the iPod Nano look like a turd? That’s a pretty strong claim. But still…I read on.

It turns out that Meizu is making a real Nano-killer here. For the same price as a 4 GB Nano, one can purchase a 4 GB. Let’s compare:

Feature	Nano	Miniplayer
Storage	4 GB	4 Gb
Screen	1.5″	2.4″
Weight	1.41 oz.	1.94 oz.
FM Tuner	No	Yes
Movies	No	Yes
Photos	Yes	Yes
Formats	AAC,MP3,AIF,WAV	MP3,WMA,OGG,WAV
Touch Interface	Yes	Yes
Built-in Microphone	No	Yes
Games	No	Yes

The Meizu Miniplayer really does hit all the high points. It charges via USB, and when you plug it in, it looks just like an ordinary removable hard drive in Explorer. You can copy, move, and rename files just like any other disk, and the player picks it all up. No over-encroaching Apple software taking over my computer!

It has a touch-interface similar to the Nano, and reports from around the web are that it produces a better sound quality than the Nano. To boot, it has an FM Tuner and plays movies. That’s a lot of uumph for the same price and in the same form factor as the Apple’s offering.

It hasn’t seen much action yet, but I promise to update with anything new I learn.