5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Portable Audio Player Rivals iPods
Reviewed in the United States on 19 April 2019
After hours of wading through product choices, customer reviews, features and considerations of my needs in comparison with the available options, the Soulcker Portable Audio Player by Reeko was the most outstanding option I could find on the whole of Amazon for its price, its features, and esteemed reviews of customers.
I am very, very pleased with this purchase decision. Honestly, it has been a while since I have been this satisfied with any purchase. Kudos to the makers of Soulcker! This is a really fantastic portable audio player. No kidding.
I've owned at least 4 iPods, a generic portable player from overseas, and several other portable audio players over the last 20 years, but this one really bangs away at my own song, so-to-speak. It starts by being an excellent value for the price. It continues with features that really satisfy. It sounds incredible, and I dare say the sound quality meets or exceeds that of iPods. And, one thing my iPods never had was their own built in speakers. I did not expect this player's speaker to be as loud as it is, but I was surprised to hear it playing outside my home's kitchen door while it was indoors on a countertop and I was standing at the closed doorway into the kitchen. Mind you, it's not going to wake your neighbors playing tunes from its own built-in speaker, but I was pleasantly surprised by my ready ability to hear it while it was playing indoors, and I was standing outdoors, with the door closed between the two of us. Wow!
The battery life on this player has impressed me. It easily went about 50 hours. Sweet! I am so thrilled with this item, that I am glad to share my vote and offer an overall rating of 5 stars.
Oh, now, wait, it isn't perfect, but the things which I might otherwise consider as flaws are miniscule issues that probably just require me to get used to because this is a bit different from the old players I've owned. For example, one must press the power button to get the screen to wake while the device is still playing audio. To advance from the current playing song, when the screen is asleep, one must press the power button to wake the screen and then the forward button to advance the songs. One other less pleasing attribute is having to select the microSD card folder, since songs contained therein are not recognized as being in the players complete library. That is, those songs are treated as being somewhat different than song stored on the device, making it necessary to think of the device as having two libraries: one on the device itself and the other in a directory of folders containing the files on the microSD card. It's not ideal, as say one library incorporating songs from the device's built in memory along with those stored on the microSD card (not included, of course) but it's just as acceptable. Maybe the manufacturer can find a workaround for this in future productions.
The arm band is well-constructed from neoprene, and it offers a hook and loop type closure in the form of a strap that incorporates a buckle. Let me establish here, however, if you have a bicep that is anything larger than the girth of an average wrist, do not expect to wear the armband around your biceps. My meager upper arm measures only 17 inches in circumference, but this arm band doesn't get close to fitting at all. It does, however, fit wrapped around my lower arm at the forearm level. Speaking of this, unless you plan to place the player with the screen side face down and facing your arm's skin, you will find that the volume of the speaker, even at the topmost setting is almost silenced by its placement with screen facing you and rear facing speaker directed to your forearm's flesh because the speaker is placed so that it directs sound from the back of the player. No worries, though, I won't be doing any jogging or running, so this is not that a deal breaker. Also, it can be cumbersome to actually press the power button when the player is inside the armband. Again, not a big issue for me, if only because my use does not necessitate the armband.
I connected this to my Soundfreaq Bluetooth speaker system in my home without incident. I was surprised that even from 25 feet of open space, the player transmitted to the speaker without interruption, static, or other undesired problems. I also connected to the sound system in a late model Lexus RX250, and found that the quality of the sound was still outstanding, and I still had full control to advance songs from the sound system's command center onboard the vehicle (pressing forward on the device was unnecessary since I could use the vehicle's control buttons to do so).
Please be aware that the seller's use of "etc." in the item's description under supported file types playable with this player should not be considered as meaning "all typical audio format files are supported." In fact, this would be quite incorrect. So far, I have played FLAC and mp3 files without incident, but those that are m4a files I transferred to the device do not play, and instead, will show a message on-screen each time that reads "File type is not supported." Again, I can live with this minor issue--I'll just convert the m4a files into mp3 files and be done with it. Problem resolved.
I also loaded pictures onto the device by copying the files directly into the directory under photos. You can play these as a slide show if you'd like, and you can even set the number of seconds to display each photo before one photo fades into the next. Sweet!
I think it may only show the clock time using the 24 hour (military) format (i.e., :20:00, for example), but I have not gotten around to trying to figure this one out just yet.
I have not tried the ebook reader application. Probably never will.
Regarding the FM Radio app on this player, you will find that you must use a pair of (presumably) wired headphones in order to get radio stations in your immediacy since this acts as the player's radio antenna. Otherwise, you won't receive any broadcasting radio waves to play on your player or its built-in speaker. Again, not at all a deal breaker.
The weight is heavier than I would have expected of most portable audio players, but it is not at all burdensome. I suspect that this is largely due to metal housing and a battery that really impresses me with its longevity between charges.
The screen's image quality is remarkably high, and I have nothing to complain about regarding photos I've added as these appear thereupon.
I may continue to add to this review as I continue to explore all the features on this device. If I discover anything that is not aligned with my expectations or anything that particularly knocks my socks off, I will come back and add it into my review at a future point.
Really, though, this is an unbelievable value for the money. I could not be more pleased with this purchase, and I would gladly recommend this player to anyone who's in the market for a device of this type, particularly if their needs are like mine: an affordable player, quality sound, easy to use interface, built-in bluetooth and built-in speaker, color screen, metal housing, full color display, and standard other features like photos.
As far as I am concerned, this is the BEST PORTABLE AUDIO PLAYER I could find under $50. I am delighted with it and more so than I have been with any product I've bought in the electronics department in the last year or so. Sure, it has some things that could be improved, but this thing delivers where it counts the most.
I recommend this as a suitable gift, a suitable player for general, everyday use, and for outstanding quality sound. Feature rich, this one really bangs my drum! Awesome!
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