It's almost impossible to track the sheer number of music player brands that come out of China. Some of them are blatant knock-offs with designs that look exactly like Apple's devices, while others actually have some originality like the players from Meizu. The SmartQ T5-II is one such out of the mainland which isn't just there to ride on the popularity of other brands. We managed to get our hands on a unit and here are our thoughts.

Upside

As mentioned, the T5-II isn't a clone of some other more well-known MP3 player. That doesn't mean its design stinks. In fact, though simple, the button layout of the T5-II is intuitive, with a directional pad on the left which looks like it belongs on a Nintendo console (more on that later) and three buttons on the right of the screen for getting in and out of menus. Dedicated volume controls are found on the top, while a hold switch and all the connectors reside on the right side.

A full SD card goes into the T5-II for storage.

The T5-II has no internal memory. Instead, you need to stick an SD card into it for storage. It supports SD and SDHC cards, which are generally inexpensive. According to the company's Web site, cards up to 4GB in capacity are supported. We went ahead and stuck in an 8GB microSDHC card with an adapter, and that worked as well. From online enthusiast forums, we learned that some users have even gotten it to work with a 16GB SDHC.

The interface was pretty intuitive, too. Main menu items are all laid out in a vertical format. There are no icons, but text is instead used to indicate which item does what. These include Music, Video, Photo, eBook and Extras, among others. Playing music was pretty straightforward, with menu items like Now Playing, Library and File Browser, so it was easy to jump right in. There's no need to install any software on your computer to upload files. Plug in the T5-II using a USB cable and the SD card will appear as a removable drive. From there, all you have to do is copy your music in. It doesn't even matter whether you put them in directories as the player is capable of scanning for all music files and using the metadata to organize them.

We plugged in the provided earbuds for a quick listen. The main gripe we have with them is the comfort level. They simply don't fit well and the edges are too sharp. Users getting the T5-II should ditch these earbuds upon opening the box. Using our own headphones, music quality was good. With the equalizer at default settings, it sounded as good as players from established brands like Creative and Apple. We felt that it favored the upper mid range and the bass was emphasized without being muddy. Your mileage may vary, but suffice to say, it will satisfy the vast majority of listeners. The range of EQ settings also gives much room for tweaking.

For those who care, the T5-II uses the Wolfson WM8987 audio chip, one that's found also in players from Teclast and Meizu, two brands well-regarded for audio quality. Wolfson chips are also found in many iPod music players, though those chips may not necessarily be the exact same model found in SmartQ's device.

Aside from your usual music and video playback features, the T5-II also has extras like console emulators. Four of these are available, which means you can play NES, SNES, Neo-Geo and GBA games on your player. Take note that it may not be perfectly legal to be in possession of the game ROMs as these may be copyrighted by their respective developers. We do have to say that the design of the T5-II makes it perfect as a game emulator, thanks to the Game Boy-like directional pad and uncluttered button layout on the right of the screen.

Other features of this do-it-all player include voice recording, FM radio and an eBook reader.

Downside

It takes a bit of know-how to actually get the T5-II working. For example, only an SD card with the firmware copied into its root directory will work with the player. For those who do not read Chinese, it may be difficult to navigate and find the correct file to download from the SmartQ site.

Though it is sharp and bright, the screen has a resolution of only 320 x 480 pixels. We would have preferred a higher-resolution display since the device's processor is actually able to handle quite a bit of video crunching.

One thing that really irked us was that the T5-II doesn't charge when plugged in to a computer while transferring files. To charge, you'll need to use the AC adapter, which was quite a chore.

Outlook

If you are looking for an MP3 player from one of the "underdog" companies, the SmartQ T5-II is a good choice. We would rank it right up there along with offerings from Meizu and Teclast, though players from those two brands all have prettier designs. Though widely available in China, this player is not so easy to find in Asia Pacific. There is a Singapore distributor selling it for S$250 (add S$40 for a bundled 4GB SDHC), but for those living in other countries you'll need find an online retailer that will ship to your location.