Digital Trends

iRiver H10

February 10th, 2005 | by Ian Bell

Performance

The H10 comes with a USB 2.0 compatible interface and we found transfer speeds to be fast and reliable with no problems. Transfer rates were a tad faster than the Zen Micro we reviewed a while ago, taking about 3-4 seconds to transfer a 4MB song where the Zen Micro averaged about 8 seconds. We have heard reports that the latest Zen Micro firmware update increases the transfer rates.

The H10 can playback MP3's recorded at a bit rate of 32Kbps ~ 320Kbps and WMA audio recorded at 32Kbps ~ 192Kbps bit rate. The H10 is also able to read tags generated in the following formats: ID3 V1, ID3 V2 2.0, ID3 V2 3.0, and ID3 V2 4.0. While a song is being played, it will show the song title and information and the format the song is encoded in, but it does not tell you what the bit rate is.

The ear buds that come with the H10 are the Sennheiser MX400. They are above average quality, but do not sound nearly as good as the ear buds that come with the Zen Micro or iPod mini. The H10 player itself features a 90dB SNR (signal to noise ratio) according to iRiver. The Zen Micro has a 98dB SNR which could account for why it sounds better. The Sennheiser MX400 ear buds fit comfortably and should appeal to the typical user. Audiophiles will of course want to use their own head phones.

iRiver includes 30 different equalizer settings on the H10, that's more than we have seen on any other player. There seems to be a different EQ setting for every conceivable genre. We were able to noticeably hear changes in the music when changing the EQ settings, but distortion got really bad when changing to a setting that have a lot of bass. Changing our ear buds helped a little bit, but the 18mW of power to each channel just isn't enough. Worth noting, some of MSI's digital audio players feature a massive 30mW of power to each channel — in a flash based player!

iRiver rates the battery life of the H10 at 12hours, and from what we can tell that seems to be pretty accurate. Using the standard settings we were able to squeeze out a little over 11 hours of battery life in between charges. The battery is removable so you can always plug in a fresh one on those long trips or replace it if it goes dead.

The battery is replaceable on the H10

The 1.5-inch color screen looks absolutely fantastic on the H10 and does not cause the battery to drain quickly. JPG images looked good on the H10, but you cannot output images to an external display, so keep that in mind. We loved how the iPod Photo shows album art from the song that is playing, and that would have been a great feature to include on the H10, but iRiver decided to keep it out. Hopefully the upcoming Zen Micro color will have the ability to output images to an external display. You will have to decide if paying $30 more for the H10's color screen is worth the money.

Conclusion

The H10 digital audio player is definitely a step in the right direction, and is a very strong first offering of this kind from iRiver. We did not experience any real problems throughout the review process. The H10 did not lock up on us, battery life is above average and it works seamlessly with Windows Media Player 10. The overall usability of the H10 is second to none. That's also one of its shortfalls.

We love the color screen, but have to question its usefulness since it doesn't show album art and the player does not output stored images to a TV. We also love how it interfaces with Windows Media Player 10, but other than Napster To Go and maybe MSN Music, those are the only services iRiver actually acknowledges the player works with. And lastly, while the ear buds fit comfortably, they just do not sound as good as those that come with the Apple iPod or Creative Labs Zen Micro. We also wish the H10 had more power output per channel to help eliminate the massive distortion we encountered when playing anything with bass. As it stands though, the H10 is a great player that you should consider.

Pros:

-          Menu is easy to navigate

-          Touch pad works well and is not too sensitive

-          Seamlessly works with WMP10

-          Great battery life

-          Good looking

Cons:

-          Only works with Windows XP SP1 or higher

-          Only supports WMP 10

-          Terrible distortion when playing anything with bass

-          Proprietary USB cable

-          Cannot output images to a TV or monitor

-          Color screen doesn't show album art like iPod photo