iRiver Lplayer 8GB MP3 player

The Lplayer wasn't quite as reliable at reading ID3 tags as we would have liked, either. Our copy of Aimee Mann's album Bachelor No. 2 vanished into the pit of “unknown” artist and album when copied onto the Lplayer, but when the same folder was copied onto a Sansa Clip we had to hand, all was well. Oddly enough, when the music was accessed through the Directory menu, the Lplayer did manage to work out the name of the artist and the title of the album. Ho hum.

At 41g, the Lplayer is among the lighter players on the market

The supplied earphones are best discarded, being neither particularly comfortable nor especially musically competent. iRiver quotes a battery life of 12 hours for audio, 3.5 for video. We came up short on both counts getting just over nine hours 30 minutes for audio and two hours 45 for video, which is acceptable, but nothing more.

The Lplayer is available in 2, 4 or 8GB versions and comes in pink, chocolate, white or black. Although we can't honestly see anyone being tempted by the chocolate or pink variants.

Verdict

Small, neat and clever, the Lplayer is one of the better mini MP3 players we have come across simply because it combines a small and tidy form-factor with a reasonably sized screen and pretty good sound.