MPIO FL400 Quartz (2GB)

By Jasmine France, CNET.com
Oct 24, 2006

Wearable electronics are nothing new, and with the as-yet-unobtainable iPod Shuffle shrinking even smaller and incorporating a built-in bag/belt clip, they're probably not going away anytime soon. MPIO's most recent wearable MP3 player, the FL400, takes a different tack, opting for a pendant-style design meant to be worn around the neck.

Unfortunately, other than its tiny design, there's no compelling reason to buy the FL400: At US$109 for the 1GB version (US$129 for 2GB), it's not particularly cheap, and it doesn't bring anything new to the table.

Design
The itty-bitty (46 x 28 x 13.5mm; 25.5g) black and silver FL400 isn't remarkable in design, but it's stylish enough--I like the way the metal wraps around the edge of the player and provides the controls. There are dedicated volume keys, a menu button, and standard playback controls (FF, RW, play/pause/power).

A tiny monochrome screen occupies a rectangle on the front of the player; the light text on the dark background could stand to be brighter and sharper (those with poor eyesight are out of luck).

The poor display quality isn't helped by the FL400's clunky interface. The physical navigation is fairly straightforward: Click Menu to get to the folder list or hold it to get to the top menu; use the track shuttle keys to scroll through menu options; and so on.

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