Kubik Evo 8GB MP3 Player with Radio and Expandable MicroSD/SDHC Slot - Black

Fast delivery and well packaged. I'm using this as my stress relief from traffic riding on my motorbike..Loud enough to drown out traffic and wind noise even with the standered earphones. Sounds great, easy to use and set up(read the manual it really does help). The charge takes approx 2 hours but will last for days ie: I have only charged mine once after 5 days of riding 1.30 hours daily. I also inserted a micro card but really didn't need to as 8gb of internal memory is more than enough..So I have hours and hours of music which, once set to "shuffle" means I only hear the same song, maybe, once every 2 days, (to continue play from the last point..Pause the song, and turn the Kubik off using standby NOT the off switch(read the manual), it will not use any power at all on standby, then when you want to continue the song turn the Kubik on and go to "music" go to "break point"..Easy IF you read the manual) ..It has so many settings and tweeks(you must check out the equilser) you really need to read the manual to get the best out of the Kubik..Once you have set your personal listening preference up it sounds absolutely fantastically clear and, if it's our thing, loads of bass. It's not overly complicated to use once the manual has been read and loading songs from our PC to the Kubik is a doddle. The radio has different options for manual or seek tuning and saving, good, clear reception on most stations too(you need to extend the earphone cable for tuning to get the best station location). The Video and photo viewer are capable but I wouldn't want to watch a film or stare at the screen for long as it's a little small for that but photo viewing is not bad at all(comes pre installed with a couple of vids and a few photo examples). The actual reading, going through the menus and setting up is just fine on the small screen. As you'd expect from a digital player this does not jump or skip at all when being throw around(not literally) so would be perfect for joggers and you keep fit fanatics! I would also suggest buying the Kubik Evo case just to keep the pocket dust and coin scratches to a minimum, it can be found on Amazon for a good price. Fully recommend this Kubik Evo player, I can't fault it.. Ps..READ THE MANUAL you won't regret it!!

I bought this purely as a budget MP3 player, so can't comment on the other facilities on the player, such as photo, film etc. The player is very small and light, and is plastic (it is the type of plastic that 'feels' plastic if you know what I mean) and the buttons do seem a bit flimsy. Having said that I have been using it for a while now and nothing has gone wrong with it, and I have dropped it a few times without any damage. The operating system and the buttons you have to press are not intuative. However within a few days of using it I don't have any problems with that now. Some of the settings are awkward to get into first time, and you have to think carefully what you are doing. But once you learn where the different settings are and how they work this again is not a problem. The size of the buttons are pleasing though, if you have rather large thumbs and fingers like I do then you will have come accross the 'tiny button' syndrome that applies to so many gadgets nowadays, but thankfully not to this one. The memory is large enough for me to have nearly all of my MP3 songs on (without having to re-play a song for a good few months!) which is excellent. It has also played every song without problem, even though some are different formats. Loading them onto the player from my laptop was a simple 'drag and drop' operation and very easy. The battery life is quite good as well. I only really use it in the car or when out and it lasts 3 or 4 days of on-and-off use. Although I think I may have to get a mains charger rather than just the USB charger that came with it. I must say though that I would not like to veiw video or pictures on such a small screen. Now for the important bit. The sound quality is very good for a player at this price, and puts other much more expensive ones to shame. The headphones are adequate but do need replacing if you want to get serious. However I have had to replace them on more expensive ones as well so won't complain about that. My daughter was quite happy with the sound quality through the supplied headphones. I have tuned in the radio function, but as it is AM/FM the reception in my part of the world is not great. All in all a very good budget MP3 player, a few minor inconvieniences (like the button sequences etc) but overall very good. As I said at the start I bought this as a budget 'don't worry about it' MP3 player. So if it gets broken or lost I'm not too bothered about it. Thankfully it lives up to this task perfectly. I would have no problem recommending it as a budget MP3 player.

I occasionally provide PA equipment and background music for fetes, parties etc. With a 'compact' PA, I used to use my tablet to hold a selection of 'appropriate' music in a compact format until an over zealous 'helper' trod on it while I was packing up (still waiting for new screen!) I didn't want anything expensive or to use my iPod in case of more damage and chose this little gem as an affordable alternative. I loaded the player with various playlists from my laptop without any fuss, I already had a 32Gb micro SD card loaded with various music and it recognised this with no problems although I've not tested it to see if it 'sees' all the 32Gb yet. The unit comes with a USB lead which I plugged into my mobile phone charger and it charged fine. Before reading the instruction manual I experimented with the player and it was pretty easy to get my head around. Reading the manual helped me find some of its other features! The sound through the headphones is pretty impressive with none of the characteristic crackling mentioned by other reviewers. The screen is clear enough and the backlight is fine (& adjustable). Last Sunday I used it with the PA and it was fine, nice and unobtrusive and it worked a full 12 hours at a local 'Festa' (I live in Portugal). I bought the leather case with the player and am very pleased with this although time will tell how effective the magnetic clasp will be. This week I've used it while working and I'm impressed, it's not iPod build quality but at this price who cares? One thing worth mentioning is that neither the player or the case have the facility to attach a 'lanyard' or clip so it needs to be in a pocket, ideally one without a load of other stuff (coins, nails, screws etc like mine!). You'll see from my other reviews that I update periodically and I'll update for this in the next 6 months or so.

After my severe disappointment with the "SanDisk Sansa Clip+ 8GB MP3 Player" (see my review of it) I needed another player that could handle FLAC files and have a MicroSD slot, so I chose this one. Note: This review has been written a couple of hours after receiving the item, so it's first impressions only. I'll monitor its performance over the coming months and alter the review accordingly. Sound quality is nice and volume is good for my needs (using my own headphone setup). Minus-points: The on-off switch appears to be rather tacky, and the music-playing controls are a bit weird. The 32 Gb SD card I used with the (now binned) Sansa works perfectly with the Kubik, giving a total of 40 Gb. Nice. Overall, a fine machine. I'll see how used to the controls I get, and I'll be interested to see what the battery's like, and if there are any difficulties with playback on any of the tunes I load into it. ~~~~~~ A couple of weeks on: I've found the controls very hard to get used to. I simply can't do much with it while the device is, say, in a deep pocket under an overcoat or anywhere else where I can't actually see what I'm doing. I also haven't quite got a couple of things to work yet - (1) Making a playlist. Following the instructions simply results in a "do you want to delete this file"-style dialogue.... (2) How to resume a song after switch-off. I've followed tips from this site (Save settings by using the play/ pause / standby button to switch off and not the on and off button) to no avail. No comments on how long the battery lasts yet, and I still think the on-off switch is tacky. I'm going to take a star off (from 4 to 3). I'll keep updating the review as I use the player. ~~~~~~ A week or so on: The "playlist" situation is sorted, as is the "resume" problems I was having. Or not quite. Seems like there are problems with files situated on the MicroSD card, with repercussions on use of the breakpoint feature, etc. Also having problems (common, I gather) with getting files to sort correctly. I'm going to give up on using this machine as my main music player. I need something which can be operated by touch (like my old Creative Muvo; even the Sansa - when it worked - didn't need to be looked at so much during operation). Something which doesn't have the controls and operating-system from Hell. Conclusion: I think this is probably a fine player if used on a short-term, casual basis. Like walking the dog, for instance. But I need something that can be attached to a protective helmet and can be controlled through simple, single key-presses and feature easy playlist creation to last a whole working day. This machine has none of those things. Stars changed to reflect the situation. And I have to say - "not recommended".

So to put this device into perspective it's important to bear in mind that it costs only a few times the price of the microSD card you're likely to insert. The sound quality is ok and it does what it says on the box. But... (there's always a but).. I'm tarnished by having used some excellent players in the past. So if you compare it with a Walkman or an iPod you'll be bitterly disappointed. This device is inferior in all departments, but it's amazingly cheap. Things I don't like about it are: The pause and resume doesn't work if you power down the player. So as I'm using it to listen to a language course I find it frustrating that I have to navigate through the memory to get to my lesson's audio files and can't just pick up where I left off; The shuffle feature cannot be altered on flight like it can on the Sony and Apple players so you have to go into the menu again to decide what you want to shuffle; The body is plastic and feels cheap, but as it is cheap that's probably an unfair criticism, and finally, unlike more extensive players there isn't a wheel or disk controller so all the navigation is done using a few buttons which takes a while to adjust to a some of the functions see doubled up due to the limited number of buttons. What I do like is that it is very small and the display is basic so it doesn't drain the battery with graphics. Also you need to choose whether to use the internal storage or the micro for the audio you want to play. This means that if you keep your podcasts, or in my case, language audio files on one and music on the other you don't end up with the spoken audio being included in you music when you shuffle your songs....and of course the price.

For this price amazing pice of kit. Originaly I wanted to buy some of the sony walkman edition because of the sound quality, but they are ridiculously expensive and they don't have sd card slot. This little and really light fella is playing music very well you just have to have proper earphones and you will be satisfied. Earphones that comes with it are rubbish they are not good even for skype calls :D but who cares? Nowadays everybody has one good earphones in da house. With good earphones this player is absolutely perfect. Cons: - Little bit slow when browsing music libary - it is not prestigious brand (but who cares I want to listen my favourite music not to look cool) - little bit unusual controles (but I got used to it veeeery quickly) - manual could say more about those shorcuts like how to lock the device (I just set display setting and backlight time for 15 sec and after this time it locks authomaticly so all buttons don't work, but only play/puse can bring you back. If you want to lock all keys, just hold "M" button with the play/pause button and the same time. To anlock pres this combination again. Also when you want to play music where you finished last time just press "vol" button while your music is playing and than press and hold "play/pause" button to turn it off. Then the device is on just go to MUSIC-BREAKPOINT PLAYER- press "m" button and there you are! Pros: - veery light - atractive design (I love big central button, which when you hold will take you to main menu, when pressed once it is as "ok" button) - veeeeeery long battery life - Have all I need- good quality sound (only with good earphones), plays where I finished next time, can lock all keys, so you dont accidentally press random buttons (you just need to discover shortcuts that can do it), has on off button when you are not using device for longer time so you can save battery juice. I don't know how long it can last cos I bought it just recently, but for the money I payed I couln't be more happy. TO SUM IT UP, WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW !!! -to lock the device (I just set display setting and backlight time for 15 sec and after this time it locks authomaticly so all buttons don't work, but only play/puse can bring you back. If you want to lock all keys, just hold "M" button with the play/pause button and the same time. To unlock press this combination again. -when you want to play music where you finished last time just press "vol" button while your music is playing and than press and hold "play/pause" button to turn it off. Then when you will turn on the device just go to MUSIC then to BREAKPOINT PLAYER- press "m" button and there you are! Hope my review helped. Enjoy!!!

When my cherished Creative Zen Micro started to look like it was getting to the end of it's life I thought that i'd try to find another player which had all the features that was used to. After some searching on the net I found the Kubik Evo, which seemed like the ideal replacement. It has the display that I like, showing all the details of the track playing, and you can expand or reduce the amount of information as you want. Like the Creative It also has a recording microphone and FM radio with preset channels. One thing that I particularly wanted was the function to start playing again at the same point that the player is switched off, as I do listen to a lot of podcasts, and I don't want to be scrolling through trying to find where I was up to. The Kubik does have a breakpoint function, which you have to activate once the player has been switched on, but that's no hassle. However, I have found that when you use this function it seems to over-ride the setting to 'Play Folder Once', and will set the album on a continuous loop. I've tried to fix this in Settings but it doesn't seem to be possible. Some people have mentioned that you can't lock the player, but actually you can, although as you need to press the buttons quite firmly to activate them then it's not likely that you would accidentally press one while it's in your pocket, so I've never needed to use the lock. It's plug and play for uploading music, and is very easy to use. Soundwise it is up there with the Creative, and one thing in which it excels it the battery life. I often used it for three to four hours a day and it was still fully charged a week later. However, when the battery does start to deteriorate you won't be able to replace it as it is sealed into the unit. For the price it is an excellent player - slightly smaller than I thought from the picture, which made it look about the size of an i-phone - and very light. The only real downside is that for some functions you need to press 2 or 3 buttons in a certain order to use them, and so if you want to adjust the volume, for instance, and you don't press the volume button firmly enough you can find yourself skipping through the tracks of the album instead. However, it didn't take as long as I thought it would, after reading the instructions, to master the controls, and I soon got the hang of them. Overall I would recommend the Kubik as a versatile little player at a very reasonable price.

So I wanted an MP3 with a little more room than the 2GB stick I was using. So I saw this one, 8GB for £30 is not bad, and if has a big screen too, that should make browsing easier, right? No. What I wanted was an experience a bit like my old MP3 but with more space. I will not go into its advantages, because as far as I'm concerned, the only advantage is the extra 6GB. But there are quite a few annoying little factors about this MP3. 1. The interface and button layout is fiddly, confusing and outright annoying. The buttons make barely any sense, it doesn't have an independent volume control button, you need to press the volume button (which also acts as 'back' in the menu screens) and then press 'Next (or Forward)' and 'Previous' to change it, if you're not careful you could skip a track you're in the middle of listening to. The menu's are fiddly as well. When you reach the bottom of the screen, and go further down, instead of showing a brand new page, the page goes down enough to only show the next option. I want A,B,C,D -> E,F,G,H. What I get is A,B,C,D -> B,C,D,E. If I want to listen to something near the middle of the list, I need to endlessly click down every single time and wait for the new screen to load every time. Also: when you go into an artist sub-menu, why can't you choose an album from that, but simply get all the tracks? And then the process of switching the gadget on/off is needlessly complex, with an external switch *as well* as a hold-play-button-for-three-seconds mechanic. 2. Playback also has a few issues. If you want to listen through an album, uninterupted, think again. One track does not flow seamlessly into the nest, there is a short moment of silence after every track, I never understand why they can never fix that. Another thoroughly annoying feature is the way each song begins, very quietly, and then crescendoes back to the normal volume within the first second. What is the point of having that in there? Also, once the device switches off, you'd imagine you could go back after switching it on again and resuming where you left off. Nope. You have to hade through its clunky menu interface again. 3. Physical quality. It's very cheap plastic. The picture makes it seem all modern and high-quality, it isn't. It looks and feels like something you'd get from a McDonalds Happy Meal. In summary, this is for you if you want decent storage space cheaply and don't care about anything else. Because everything else is sub-par.