AGPTEK MP3 Player

As an audiobook lover I’ve bought 4 clip on versions of the AGPTEK MP3 Players and 1 of their Nano look a likes in the past month searching for a replacement for my aging Sansa Clip+. They all had their pros (Bluetooth ability) and cons (learning curve). The two that best suit my audiobook listening purposes have independent volume buttons and a dedicated sliding On/Off button. The A26TB has a smaller screen with less detail but much better navigation in Bluetooth and a useable silicone cover while the G05S has a bigger screen with more detail but only Play/Pause ability using Bluetooth and a silicone cap that covers the entire front.I like the sliding on/off buttons because when the player is On I can easily play and pause my book as I listen using the center Play/Pause button. And if I want to set up Auto Resume for later listening all I do is press the center Play/Pause button until a 1 2 3 counter appears – when it hits 3 let off and the unit will shut down but not off. Now pressing the center Play/Pause button (twice if the screen is off - three times if the player is asleep) will restart your book at the same place. If after the player shuts down you slide the control to Off to save power until you’re ready to listen again when you slide it back to On it will restart at the place you paused.There are also 10 dedicated bookmarks available (reminiscent of my old Creative Zen) per MP3 audiobook file. If you want to switch between different audiobooks (or books and music) you’ll need the bookmarking ability.To bookmark the position you want to return to press Menu (the top button with the lines on it) while your audiobook is open, scroll to Bookmarks, Click on Add bookmark, then scroll to one of the numbered spots for each book (or chapter) and press the middle button to add the bookmark to the number chosen; it fills in the hh:mm:ss / Hour:Minutes:Seconds of you current position in the audiobook. Then you'll be taken back to Now Playing. To return to a bookmark open your audiobook, press Menu, scroll to Bookmarks and choose Go To Bookmark this time, then choose the bookmarked time you want to return to. If your audiobook has multiple files or chapters you have to be in the file/chapter you set the bookmark in to see them.Speaking of file order … Track order tags are not read by these players. If the filename does not have a number at the beginning (01, 02, 03, etc.), track order will default to alphabetical order which can make your audiobook listening a disaster – so make sure to number your files or better yet join them all together into one long audiobook file for ease of playing and bookmarking.The Pros compared to the Sansa Clip+ are better/louder volume, Bluetooth, Play by Folder and the drill down folder ability ie: Audiobook folder inside of which I put Individual Author Folders inside of which I put Series Folders inside of which I put each Title in a series.To wrap it up on the audiobook front none of the AGPTEK players are as intuitive or easy to use as the Sansa Clip+ but with a little effort learning to navigate the menu they offer everything an audiobook listener could want IMO. Just use trial and error (pushing all the options multiple times to see what happens) until you become fluid with the system.The only question left for my new AGPTEK players is their longevity but at under $30.00 I don’t feel I’m risking much with these slick little players.In case the AGPTEK developers are curious (and want to emulate!) why so many consider the Sansa Clip+ the ultimate audiobook player here are the basic reasons. There is a default Audiobook folder that #1 keeps any file placed within it out of the Music shuffle. And #2 (most importantly) the Audiobook folder automatically provides auto resume to every audiobook placed within the folder. Actually any file (audiobook, podcast or music) placed within the Audiobook folder will auto resume where it left off … every time you click on a book/file you’ve previously listened to within the Audiobook folder you are given 2 options: “Resume” or “Start from Beginning” – so easy! #3 is the Sansa Clip+s compatibility with Audible DRM books - but that IMO is an Audible/Amazon issue in thinking everyone wants to listen to audiobooks on a phone or tablet thus not keeping up/providing the ability for the new generation of dedicated MP3 players to play their DRM books. Again IMO … not being compatible with the new MP3 players is shortsighted on Audible/Amazons part as it encourages development of the various software now available to convert Audible books to MP3 files so they can be listened to on these new players.

Bought this little player for a friend who wanted to take it on fishing trips in Alaska. His daughter bought him a Blue tooth speaker for Christmas and he wanted to stream music to it.I found it pretty easy to work with, I just plugged it into my Mac and copied Mp3 files into it. It has a limited amount of buttons and as noted by previous reviewers the buttons sometimes make a clicking noise that does not sound promising. Having said that they do work and it is worth noting that the device is much smaller physically than I had anticipated (not much bigger than a gummed eraser).In my opinion the sound quality is reasonable to good after all we are dealing with Mp3. Probably not the best question for these old ears, having said that it will depend a lot on the device you are streaming to.I could have been more generous with the stars however there are a few issues worth noting.Probably the biggest issue was the fact that I was not able to Pair this device with a Blue Tooth Speaker that I had. Thinking that the device may have been defective I elected to try another device and it Paired up. The miniature instruction booklet that comes with the device does not, in my opinion, do a very good job of explaining that task. It may be a matter of Blue Tooth compatibility since there are a number of different versions.Sometimes getting through the menu settings from one function to another is a bit annoying and troublesome since it is not particularly intuitive. When I wanted to play music I found that I had to toggle down to the next selection before it would begin to play (what is up with that?).It does have a FM Radio that does work and you can save preset stations. I found it to be lacking in sensitivity however ,in all fairness, I did not have the headphones plugged in and these devices sometimes utilize them as an antenna.As far as the range goes this little guy will never set any records for Blue Tooth transmission. I found that it worked reliably well out to a range of about 15 to 20 feet line of sight.At this point it is way to early to address battery life and durability however if anything comes up I will amend this review. It does charge through a USB cable that is supplied with it.Not a bad little device considering the price point and the fact that it is a very compact. It comes with a little latex case ,a clip and ear buds.

I found this to be a great little player.The Bluetooth connected flawlessly, and worked for quite some distance (20-30 feet or more) even around obstructions, with no drop out. The sound quality is decent, and there are 6 preset and one customizable equalizer settings for your personal preferences. I have over 900 songs in my player and I still have room for more (of the 8GB available), but you can add up to 64GB. Not sure I'd want to do this, as the search feature is a bit slow, even with only 900 songs. It is extremely small, you hardly notice it, and it is very durable and robust. I've dropped it several times, and being so small and well built, it just keeps on playing. The silicone case is a nice extra, it helps protect it. However, it is annoying that they didn't include a opening for charging, as you need to take the case off every time you need to charge it. All in all I found it to be an excellent value for the money. If you are looking for a player that will deliver decent sound quality, in a super small sized reliable player, with a generous storage capacity (that is expandable), and with relatively easy to navigation commands that won't break the budget, this will fill the bill. On the other hand, if you are looking for flawless sound reproduction, endless features and apps (that you probably won't use anyway), infinite storage capacity, look elsewhere, this ain't it.