Sure, we know that whenever we hear the word “aluminum” we’re supposed to go all weak in the knees, but iriver hasn’t really astounded us with this materials-tweaked rehash of the E100. Still, the OLED screen on the upcoming E200 has been bumped to 2.8-inches, so that’s kind of nice, and while the capacitive touch buttons aren’t a big win over the original rocker, at least the chassis seems thinner now. Check out the read link for some purported press shots that manage to be quite a bit more flattering.

[Via PMP Today]

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

iriver E200 lands in the wild, might not have been worth the wait originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 05 Jul 2009 04:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nextel phones are notoriously ugly. The company has never worried much about appearances since they were mainly intended for the construction site. They were instead more concerned about a phone that was almost mil-spec in its toughness. The good news (at least for Nextel subscribers) is that they are starting to move away from this brick phone style design, and more towards a sleeker, sexier look.

The Stature really isn’t anything terribly new. Motorola took the design of their incredibly popular RAZR2, and added the necessary electronics to use the i9 network. So while the Stature is by no means a small phone, it is thin enough to fit conveniently in your jeans pocket.

The phone feels like a quality device. The back is rubberized and resists fingerprints, but still provides a firm surface to hold onto. It opens smoothly and feels very solid when you hold it up to your ear.

The left side of the phone is a little busy, with the GC/DC mute button, the volume control, and the PTT button all being at the top. The bottom has the micro-USB port for charging and data transfers, however I was unable to get the phone to charge via a micro-USB cable. Instead, I had to use the standard wall charger. While this wasn’t a major issue, it could be a problem in some situations. One thing this phone does lack is a standard 1/8 inch plug. If you’re planning on using the phone as an MP3 player, you’ll have to get a USB adapter or a Bluetooth device to do so.

The right side has a menu button, and a sliding lock switch which locks all the buttons on the outside of the phone. The menu button brings up one of the phone’s more interesting features, the front screen menu. The front bezel of the Stature has several touch buttons surrounding the screen. These buttons light up depending on what function you are using at a given time. The phone provides a slight vibration when you push a button, providing a slight feedback which is actually pretty nice. The front screen is quite versatile, and provides a clear display regardless of whether you are listening to music, taking pictures, or just scrolling through your contact list to call someone.

Battery life is weak, frankly. Standby time is roughly 24-36 hours, and talktime is listed on the Sprint site as around 3 hours. This means you’ll have to charge the phone regularly.

One of my favorite features of the phone is the sound quality. The sound on this phone is, in a word, incredible. I’ve used many phones, and this phone has the clearest sound of any phone I’ve ever heard. If you’re concerned about sound quality, that alone is a reason to buy this phone.

Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks with this phone. In addition to the obvious issues with battery life, because this is a Nextel phone, the network is really slow. Like painfully, agonizingly slow. Most Nextel users aren’t all about the internet browsing on their phone anyway, so you’ll have to decide for yourself how critical this issue is for you.

As far as cost goes, you’re looking at $399 from Sprint without a contract, $199 with a contract, and $299 if you want to buy it from Boost Mobile.

Bottom line, if you’re a Nextel user looking for a new phone, I’d say buy this one. The sound quality, style, and size more than make up for the poor battery life.

Let’s talk about why this isn’t a real next-generation Zune. I can think of seven reasons right off the top of my head, having used one for about a year now and knowing a little about the way things work. Can you spot all of them?

Okay, now check your answers against the list I’ve put together.

1. The Zune team is too aware of interface problems like the controls taking up a tiny portion of the bottom of the device. The thing would fall out of your hand again and again as you tried to grip the feeble sliver that makes up the Zune pad and buttons.
2. On that note, they wouldn’t do touch buttons because you grip the Zune across said buttons when you’re using the touchpad.
3. Zune moved to a non-chromed touchpad with the last generation of Zunes. Would they go back on that so quickly?
4. The art style is way off; the Zune art team likes white backgrounds, directed chaos, and a completely different palette.
5. The reflection. Zune doesn’t really do those kind of fade-out reflections. That’s something that every other hardware maker likes to do, especially Apple, whose stark presentation style lends itself to reflections.
6. This would be super-easy to Photoshop: lengthen a regular Zune, retouch the diagonal highlight (that’s the hard part), and make the buttons look like touch buttons. Boom.
7. It’s GOD damn ugly.

Seriously. If they come out with this dog? I’ll listen to an Insane Clown Posse album start to finish. Yeah, don’t think I’m joking.