T60

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Sporting a prism shaped design and all the basic features you'd expect out of a modern music player, the iRiver T60 is a fairly solid portable music player. The interface is a little fiddly and the design isn't as easy to fit in your pocket as some MP3 players, but it has good quality audio and is quite small, making it an appealing option for users looking for something light and portable.

Pros

  • Great sound quality, nice loop functions, equaliser included

Cons

  • Fiddly controls, poor quality screen

Bottom Line

Another product in the entry-level MP3 player space, the iRiver T60 has a few control and interface issues. However, its impressive audio quality and relatively robust features list go a long way to make up for that.

Would you buy this?

  • Price

    $ 109.95 (AUD)

As with many small, entry-level MP3 players, the T60's interface is a little lacking. The 65,000-colour LCD screen is tiny and quite narrow, so it can't display much track information at once. You wind up having to linger on each file for several seconds while the screen scrolls across before you can even see the title. This can quickly become irritating if you're looking for a specific song, especially as there are no real sorting functions by album, artist etc.

The controls can also be a little fiddly. The majority of the work is done by a tiny thumbstick on the face of the unit, which controls not only volume and track skip but can also be pressed inwards to access the menu and music directory. It is a nice concept but it can be quite sensitive and you'll often find yourself doing things like increasing the volume when you intend to go to the main menu. The buttons also do multiple things, such as the A-B button, which also gives access to the EQ settings. This takes a little getting used to but is relatively simple once you understand how it works.

A fairly hefty list of features is on offer, especially considering the player's size. There is an FM tuner which has good reception, as well as a voice recorder that does a fairly admirable job in terms of audio quality. An image viewer is also included, although it is pretty much useless given the size and low quality of the LCD display. Everything looks extremely pixelated and we can't see this function getting more than perfunctory use.

To alter the sound, you can use one of the host of pre-set equaliser options or tweak it manually using the included five-band EQ. There is also a bunch of cool loop and shuffle modes that let you do things like loop a specific portion of your favourite track over and over.

However, for most people tweaking won't really be necessary, and the T60 produces excellent quality sound. We tested using a high quality pair of in-ear monitors and were impressed by the results. The mid-range is rich and extremely detailed, and the bass is deep without being overpowering at all. Audiophiles should be more than satisfied with this unit.

It supports the standard MP3 and WMA files, as well as ASF and OGG. The lack of AAC support is a little disappointing. Files can be dragged and dropped or uploaded using Windows Media Player or the iRiver software.

The design of this unit is a little bizarre. It has a triangular, prism-shaped body that is a little too thick to comfortably slip into a pocket. However, it does have a small loop that will support a lanyard, which will probably be your best bet with this player. One other noteworthy feature is that the T60 operates off a single AAA battery, which is fairly nifty since it means you'll rarely run out of power on the road.

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