Customer Ratings & Reviews

Archos has been known for the high end Multimedia products, About a year ago, they started to make these low cost Multimedia players that beat the bank literary. I have had all different kinds of Multimedia Players. Usually I have 2 at my disposal. One being a more high end unit that does much more than just Music, and a small one that does music only that can take a little bit of a beating. I have always liked Archos products for the feature per price. When (for whatever reason) I was considering replacing my music only player I narrowed it down to two. The Sansa Clip+ and the Archos Key here. Now the Archos does lack some things but makes up for it in the features that it does have. 1st of all for the good. It is small. No bigger or if not the same size as a Flash drive. Essentially that is what this is. The USB dongle retracts which is a nice touch and it is expandable via micro SD card slot up to 32GB. Now you can not use the internal Memory and Micro SD card at the same time but that is OK. It plays only 3 formats .WAV, .MP3, and .WMA all unprotected files. That means no playlist support. But there is a browse by folder so you can play just the music in a folder. But that is it. If there is a random or repeat option I have not found it. At 1st controls are a little weird to use but not bad, Like to adjust volume, you have to press a button 1st then adjust. No big deal. Instructions are scarce but if you are smart, you can figure things out without help. Since this essentially a Flash drive, you can upload any kind of file to be viewed on anything that can read content on a flash drive. This will replace any other Flash drive you have and it is plug and play. Use it to transfer files between computers, even OS's. As is, it just plugs in and off you go in all versions of Windows, Mac OSX, and even all disto's of Linux. Music upload is easy to and you can keep everything organized in folders. Other features to note. Voice Recording (Built in Mic). I have not played with this feature but like all other Archos's, I am sure it works fine. FM Radio with presets. Same deal. I have not played with it but I am sure it is fine. FM Radio recording. Again I have not tried to record an FM Radio broadcast but I am sure it works well. You can record as long as your memory can hold and voice/FM Radio save as an MP3. Now this does have an FM Transmitter. It is a manual one so you have to find a clear station and pair it with a radio manually. No big deal. Now when enabled you can't change a song, so make sure that you on a folder that you want to hear. It works but there is a little static. I guess it depends on your radio. I have not played allot with these FM transmitters so I have no idea how this one sounds compared to a decent stand alone model that could cost as much as $20 more. I know the headphones are the transmitter and not sure if that weird piece on the headphones towards the bottom has something to do with it. I am replacing these headphones anyway (more on that latter) so we shall see. Also note that the volume on this device doesn't go past 32. Archos is good at keeping to internationally accepted standards so you ear drum does not blow. But for those who like it loud make sure you have a loud headset or if you are using the FM transmitter, turn the volume up if need be. The headphones that come with this player sound OK, but personally they hurt my ears. Just basic nothing special not allot of bass sounding default headphones that come with most cheap players. But it does have that weird dongle on it which I have no idea what it is. I plan to buy a pair of Klipsch Image S4's and I'll test loudness, clarity and how the FM transmitter still works an d take it from there. At least they won't hurt my ears when I wear them. These are the worst fitting default ear-buds that came with a MP3 player but not the worst sounding. Conclusion: Minus the lack of playlist support, the fact that it only supports 3 music unprotected file formats, and that the volume stops at 32, doesn't outweigh the good for the price. FM transmitters alone are usually $20 more than I played for this player with it built in as an example. We'll see how long it lasts, if the battery charged will last long enough time wise between charges. The screen is excellent and as busy as it may look displays all the information you need well. If Archos took the same care in this product as they did toward any other product they make and it lasts as long as result then we have a winner. Otherwise, if they let this product fall to side because of lack of sales or whatever, then that sucks. Archos do to no marketing and lack of revenue doesn't even sell this product on their website directly any more. Lack of interest means nothing to me. If you want a low cost Music Player Digital, and feature wise you see here for the price outweigh what it is missing, go get it. For those who hate buying online or want to see the actual box 1st as an alternative for the price look at a Sansa SanDisk Clip+. Anything by Apple for even close to the price point doesn't even compare to these two players value wise.

When I received this mp3 player, it seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. I wanted a player that I could connect to my AUX plug in my car, but upon doing so, the volume was so low that I had to turn the volume on my radio all the way up. I also had the same problem with my house stereo. I bought a new AUX cord to see if that was the problem, but no. Then, after only 6 days of using it, the bottom half of the screen stopped working so there was no way to navigate or even see what song you're on. Now it's starting to not be recognized by my computer, so I can't add anymore songs to it. The FM transmitter is also very poor, The only way to use it is holding the player in your hand, or by plugging in an AUX cord which acts like an antenna. I would not recommend this mp3 player for anyone!