Review on 🎵 SMPL Retro Green Music Player with One-Touch Controls, Audiobooks + MP3, High-Quality Sound, Durable Wooden Enclosure, 4GB USB Included with 40 Nostalgic Hits, Live Technical Support by Carl Morgan

UPDATE: She is no longer with me, but at least my grandmother liked my last gift to her. I'm very glad I bought it for her and that she had time to enjoy it. First review: I bought this through AZStore before realizing it was listed here. So you won't see it in my story but I assure you that I bought and installed it. That's what I've noticed so far. Dementia. She REALLY has macular degeneration and an absolute lack of technology. Whether the border is psychological is debatable, since she doesn't see very well and her hands are shaking. Despite physical exertion, she also loves music. I'm not interested in sending her a heavy pack of CDs. She gets confused about what kind of disc/k fits what kind of player and regularly confuses audio CDs with DVDs. After trying a few "simple" things like portable DVD players that can play any disc it has, I was close to giving up. But she still wants music and I still want her to have it. It's almost impossible to find an MP3 player with great pressure and comfortable buttons. The tablet requires fine motor skills and good vision – it doesn't have either. So it took me some time to find this product. The simplicity of the device is as advertised. Although I saw it as an alternative, I liked the description of the combined radio and player more than a simple music player without a radio. First, a standard USB drive works great in this model, just as I hoped. You may be wondering how big a drive is compatible. As far as I can tell, 32GB will work. This means I can reload a new selection by simply swapping out the flash drive without worrying too much about selecting the drive type. However, there are limitations. You are reasonable. You just have to be aware of them. Here's one of them: A 128GB drive is clearly NOT suitable. It could have been the make and model of flash drive I was testing. But objectively it probably doesn't matter anyway. I had this 128GB drive pre-installed and decided to give it a try. It didn't play. I really didn't expect that. Switching back to a lower capacity drive solved the problem. Just so you know, don't bother overspending a flash drive on this thing. More doesn't mean better and doesn't get anywhere. But if it has to be - then the 32 GB disc will actually be recognized by the device and can be played. But there are a few more details to consider. Considering that 8GB gives enough space for about 30 whole operas in MP3 files at 256kbps, I think 8GB is enough for most purposes. Almost any standard 8GB USB stick will do. Just make sure it's a regular FAT32 file system. Don't format it on Mac. Don't use Microsoft's newfangled eXFat. When in doubt, either just use the manufacturer-supplied disc and leave the format unchanged, or buy a brand new flash drive. They're cheap these days, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Almost all flash drives come pre-formatted in Fat32. Also, the player will play the files in the exact order that your computer considers "alphabetical." This is good for performing operas, as they tend to make more sense when played according to the libretto's narrative. But that means you have to be careful how you name each file. If you're not worried about figuring out what your computer thinks is "right" then giving each file a number with leading zeros will work: like this: 001.mp3002.mp3003.mp3 and so on. . . .999.mp3 This ensures that the order of things is unique. It will also make it harder to figure out what the song is. So you can also do something like this: 000-william-tell-overture.mp3001-nessun-dorma.mpe002-la-vie-bohemme.mp3 And those first three digits are enough to predict the order they come in. Just try to keep it simple. Many, many devices have major problems with long file or directory names. This isn't the limit of this device -- it's the limit almost everyone inherited from Microsoft in the mid-'90s. Not everything is a Mac or Linux system. Short, simple and to the point is best. In any case, this applies to almost everything that is on the market. You may not notice this as most media players have playlist management layers or similar means to solve this problem. This device does not have a screen, buttons or interface for it. The filename is all you have. Reasonably, the filename is actually the only control you need. The product is advertised as supporting up to 1000 files. I haven't tested what happens when this limit is exceeded. After a quick test, it looks like it'll probably still play what it can until it's pushed to the limit. I thought of trying it wider, but that would be extremely boring. So I don't know what happens when you reload an oversized USB stick, plug it in and either press the button 1000 times or wait two days or more for the 1000 file limit to be exceeded. I would suggest that worrying about this limit is inappropriate. However, I can tell you that this device is not locked or unduly possessed. It works with different brands of USB sticks of different sizes. Only excessively large drives present a compatibility problem. And in any case, these discs contain too many songs for a three-button device to properly manage. The 18 uploaded operas, where each "song" is a file, will be translated into about 550 files. That way I could do about 30 operas or so without going over the 1000 file limit. My goal was to give my grandmother an Opera Box. Considering I've currently been uploading music to this device non-stop for about two days, this should do the trick. What I am trying to say is that the limitations of this device are not severe enough to prevent someone with limited control over their body from using it. The next topic to discuss is sound quality. This is a mono unit with a single front speaker. It's surprisingly loud - not "deafening like at a rock concert" but "I hear it from a far hall". The sound is well balanced and surprisingly rich and lively. I confess that I cynically expected disappointment. Instead, this thing gives me hope. I really have to stress this - this thing sounds surprisingly GOOD. Now for the little quibbles. The plastic flap of the memory card/AD adapter rattles a little when the volume is high enough. This is solved by adding a small piece of styrofoam or placing a cleaning cloth in the compartment. Or you could hold back or just not play that loud. As you would expect, there is foam on the back. Some of the resonant drum hits in the orchestral recordings I tested were stronger than the foam could handle. I think some songs just shake him up a bit more than expected. Doesn't matter if. Very easy to fix. With just a little cloth, the rattling disappears completely. Now for some less than perfect details. Yes, it seems you still have a mono signal when you plug in your headphones. I'm not sure what the logic behind this was, but I also doubt it could make much of a difference. My grandmother is used to mono radios and can't hear as well as she used to. Stereo separation is currently out anyway. However, I was initially surprised. Furthermore, it seems to me that this is a well thought out move on their part and not laziness or an oversight. This may be due to the fact that, according to the description on the manufacturer's website, the amplifier is a modern class D circuit, which is actually a very good thing. This means it takes far less energy to create more volume. Batteries last longer and power consumption is surprisingly low compared to standard amplifier circuits. That is a good thing. The generation of a fully monophonic signal was probably done to further simplify the amplifier circuit. This would mean a class D amplifier circuit for one speaker, not just two. That in turn means half the complexity and perhaps twice the efficiency. The result, if I'm correct, will be fewer battery changes for those who don't plug this thing into the mains. It's hard to fault that. I don't have empirical lab results to prove any of this, but I can tell you that this little one has a lot of sound for something of this size. I'm heavily inclined to the idea that they knew what they were doing when they built it. Every technical solution is a compromise. The designers probably did something sensible here. I just want to make sure all expectations are met. This is by no means a stereo device and there is no delusion in that. And it probably won't make a difference to your elderly loved one anyway. But better energy savings can make a big difference. Maybe I should check it out and see. Or maybe it would be easier to just plug it in and just move on. I do not know. Who cares if it works? What worries me is that the headphones make quite a lot of noise when in use. This may very well be an issue where I live as the wiring in my house is noisy. My guitar also picks up quite a bit of noise in this house unless I'm using a battery powered amp. It could just be my house, that's what I mean. From what I understand, the long cable acted as an antenna for my headphones. It would be difficult to fix if this was the case. It's also possible that a cleaner signal is the result of battery performance. I can do more experiments later to narrow things down. But I must stress that the hiss is almost certainly imperceptible to those whose hearing is not perfect. Also, I must emphasize that THE BUILT-IN SPEAKER IS NOT OBSERVABLE AT ALL. If so used, then this is a totally moot point. And besides, it kind of tells me it's not the device itself and has something to do with my interfering earbud. ". So if you think this is hooked up to a less-than-perfect piece of wiring, I would suggest batteries. Some electronic devices are more sensitive to this type of interference than others for a variety of reasons. That doesn't mean it's the case is a lack of quality "If that were the case then my guitar and amp would be considered scrap, which is absolutely not the case. Finally, there are interface limitations. But in considering this, we must consider the limitations of our loved ones. Sorry to say it bluntly, but there's a reason this device was ever made. The downside to the way this device is controlled is that I can't give her a box to let her decide, shall we say, just listen to Tosca and put it down immediately. She will have to press "Next" or "Previous" until she gets what she wants. It seems tiring. But it's probably the best she can do under all circumstances. She will still be limited for motor, sensory and cognitive reasons. At least she can use it at all. All my previous attempts to give her some control over her media have failed. However, I think a three button arrangement here would be within the limits of her body and mind. So, I know - given that there really isn't an easy way to get a thing to skip to a specific track without patiently counting key presses, this seems like a minor issue. Note, however, that to select certain tasks you may need to read small text on a tiny glowing screen and hold your hand tight enough to hit a tiny object. My grandmother can't do that. If you can, she may not need this product yet. I've tried everything else. I'm pretty sure this is our best choice. Let's see what happens when she opens her gift and tastes it. I can fix that later to let you know how much she loves her Christmas present. But I think it's worth it and beautifully made.