iRIVER S-10

Posted by T3 Online on Mon 26 Feb 2007

Titchy MP3

Small, so they say, is beautiful. Obviously, by "they", we mean tiny people. In any case, this 1GB iRiver S-10 is super dinky, and looks like it's been left in your jeans pocket during a hot wash.

Instead of a classic touch-sensitive display, there are rocker switches around the edges of the 1.15-inch screen, so it works as a joypad for menu-shagging. Pressing the middle of it, for some reason, takes you back a step. You select menu items by pressing the right edge.

Despite that and the lack of control labels, the interface is soon mastered. The only other buttons are a power switch and two volume controls.

Sonically it's a mixed bag. There's a decent amount of bass for your buck, but distortion throws darts in the eyes of your listening pleasure, and the supplied headphones are dire. The eight-hour battery life is no great shakes, either.

This titchy device isn't going to sate everyone's musical hunger - especially if you have demanding ears, bestially large hands, or an inability to remember to regularly recharge your player. For its tiny size, however, it's undeniably impressive.