I've had this player for a couple of weeks now and have had plenty of time to fully test the unit. I'm not really a person who walks around with headphones in ears listening to something, but it is always handy to have an MP3 player for those moments of boredom e.g. on the train etc. I've always used my PDA for MP3's in the past but when I saw a cheap device (£35) that would allow my phone to play MP3 and double as a handfree kit, I had to get one.


The Ericsson MP3 Handsfree is one of the smallest on the market and the first designed for use with your Ericsson mobile phone. Includes 32mb MMC and MMC card reader.


What you get for your money

Included in the kit is the MP3 slot on device; a handsfree kit/headphones which are just a good quality pair of headphones with the usual microphone attached further down the cable; a 32MB MMC card (which can also be used with pocket pc's); a parallel port MMC card reader with connection converters for older motherboards; and finally the CD-ROM containing MP3 software.

Plug 'n' Play Operation

The MP3 player simply slots tightly into the inserts on the bottom of the phone and immediately the phone screen displays a message asking "PLAY NOW?", pressing the yes button (answer key) sets the MP3 playing and the MP3 filename is displayed on the screen, unfortunately ID3 tags are not compatible with the device so the filename only is displayed in the playlist (no major problem there). If you respond by pressing the no key (hangup key) then the message dissapears and the screen returns to its original state. To then initiate the MP3 player the user simply scrolls through the menus to the Extras menu, and then selects the Accessories option which will show the MP3 Handsfree player as an accessory, the user selects this and a number of MP3 player options are displayed.

Play Play Play

You are given a few different playing options (which is always nice), these being; Play All; Random Play; and Select Track, all fairly self explanitory.

Equalizer

Built into the device is a simple, yet very effective, bass and treble equalizer.

When Connected

The phone allow a number of automatic actions to occur when the MP3 player is connected. The phone can ask you what to do; Play All Mp3's; Random Play all Mp3's; or remain Idle not making any action.

Sizes

The MP3 Handsfree unit adds approximately 4.3cm on to the total length of the phone, but adds no thickness to the unit.

Headphone Quality

The headphones are fairly high quality offering good treble and bass reponse, and aren't that uncomfortable in the ear also. Only one problem though, don't think about using your own headphones because the MP3 player only has a mini-jack phono input on it, so unless you buy an extra bulky plug converter you will have to stick with the Ericsson headphone, oh well at least they are good.

Review Summary


Pros

- This device is probably the cheapest MP3 player about.
- Good quality headphones
- Doubles as a handsfree kit.
- 32MB MMC card and reader can be used with other devices (such as a pocket pc).

Cons

- If you do not have an Ericsson phone that this unit is compatible with you cannot use it.
- Only compatible with the Ericsson headphones provided.
- Too much pressure on the connection between the phone and the MP3 player will cause it to pop out of place.

Comments

This device is a well constructed high quality product for an extremely reasonable price. If you want to further expand the capabilities of your Ericsson mobile phone then this is definately a handy device to have. If you can get one as cheap as I did then you cannot grumble. (I got mine in March 2002 from Expansys product name: Ericsson MP3 Handsfree HPM-10.


Alex Perry

www.MiniGadget.com


This review was reprinted with the kind permission of Alex Perry.