Latte Communications Neon M3 MP3/WMA/AVI/MPEG Player
Written: Aug 18 '07 (Updated Aug 18 '07)
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Pros: Features, performance, price, memory expandability, charging flexibility, excellent screen
Cons: Controls take getting used to
The Bottom Line: The Latte Neon M3 is a very feature-rich product and a very good value. The memory expandability, charging flexibility, features and performance at a good price...
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| dkozin's Full Review: Latte Communications Neon M3 MP3/WMA/AVI/MPEG Play... |
I have used and owned quite a few MP3 players from the mediocre Philips HDD077 to excellent iPods of different generations, including Nano models. Despite the fact that I like iPod Nano, it has its shortcomings, including the lack of memory expandability, lack of WMA support, audio recording or radio and its high price. The iPod uses a proprietary connector so you cannot charge it from just any USB-to-mini-USB cable or a cell phone charger.
I got the Latte Neon M3 2GB MP3/WMA/AVI/MPEG player from Latte Communications (a Silicon Valley, California-based company) and was immediately pleasantly surprised with its features and functionality. The M3 is not perfect, but it is surprisingly good where it counts.
What is Latte Neon M3?
The M3 is portable MP3/WMA/Video player and photo viewer, FM radio, voice recorder, portable drive and an E-book reader. The M3 sports a 2.4-inch TFT QVGA true-color display (320x240).
The M3 comes with either 2 or 4 GB of built-in memory (depending on the model, MSRP $125 and $149 respectively) and can be extended using micro-SD cards (T-flash). The player comes with headphones, USB cable, worldwide AC charger, software and manuals.
It as a built-in microphone for voice recording (WAV format) and a built-in speaker that is activated when the headphones are detached. The music can be copied to the player directly over USB with no need to install any software.
The player plays MP3 at 64-320 Kbps and WMA at 64-384 Kbps with frequency response of 20-20,000 Hz at under 0.06% distortion. It supports English and Spanish menus.
Price-wise, the Neon M3 undercuts the iPod Nano, but this is just a part of the story.
Advantages Over iPod Nano
Once I opened the package, I discovered that the Neon M3 comes with a standard USB-to-mini-USB cable and a worldwide-voltage AC charger that has a mini-USB jack. This is a big plus comparing to iPods, for which you have to get a wall/travel charger separately.
In fact, I successfully use an AC charger of my Motorola RAZR V3 cell phone to charge the Neon (both use mini-USB jack and supply 5V 500 mA DC current.
The music transfer to the player does not require special software: you just connect it using the supplied USB cable and copy MP3/WMA/JPEG/etc. files over. iPods require iTunes software.
The Neon M3 also has expandable memory using micro-SD cards. Try that with your Nano! The M3 also plays WMA, which is a file format iPods do not like.
The M3 has an FM radio, voice recording with a built-in microphone. It also has a built-in speaker, can play MPEG-4 AVI (requires conversion using included software) and lets you view JPEG photos.
The Neon M3 supports text reading, games and has a flexible equalizer.
The sound quality is excellent (more on it later), the M3 can play extremely loud; the display is very clear and its radio has very good reception and stores up to 30 stations.
Sound
The first question I had was how does the M3 sound. I discovered that even with the supplied headphones it sounds very good. The sound is detailed, has well-defined mids and treble and the instrument separation is very good (I use the highest bit rate possible).
The supplied headphones are very good for their size and are can give iPod¡¯s headphones a run for their money. I also used my Koss KSC-75 and Sennheiser HD202 headphones and discovered that the player provides good amount of bass and overall sound is as good as I have heard from an MP3 player.
Furthermore, unlike mediocre Philips HDD077, which could not play loud enough with aftermarket headphones, and even iPod Nano that plays just loud enough for medium-grade aftermarket headphones, the M3 can play extremely loud. I used its volume at up to 11-15 even with my aftermarket headphones (the music was loud enough then) and it can go up to 40.
The radio reception is very good and the sound is very good also. The radio station/frequency display is very legible.
Display
The 2.4-inch TFT screen is very sharp, colorful and is informative. The icons are good-looking, the audio playback features a spectrum analyzer.
The photos look very good (surprisingly for its resolution) and the screen seems just huge comparing to the one on the iPod Nano.
Battery
The battery lasts around 8 hours, depending on the screen usage, volume and functions used. I normally use it for about 4-5 hours in a row and see no sign of battery depletion, so the battery life is suitable for me. And the fact that it uses a mini-USB DC port lets me recharge it anywhere I charge my call phone or Garmin GPS navigation system or have access to a computer with a USB jack.
What Is The Catch?
As you can see, there is a lot to like here. But there are features that will take some getting used to. Unlike most MP3 players (iPods included), the M3 has a horizontal layout, meaning it is operated horizontally with the screen on the left and the control buttons on the right.
The controls are sensitive and work well, but they are confusing at times. You use the ¡°double-down arrow¡± button at the bottom to skip to the next song and the ¡°double-up arrow¡± to go to the previous one. I think it should be the opposite.
Also, it takes getting used to figure out which button does what. The Apple iPod controls are overall more intuitive, but they can be frustrating at times too. My Nano sometimes refuses to shut down until I wait several seconds before pushing and holding its main/central button.
Photos should be resized to lower resolution first before you copy them to the M3. I tried full-size 6MP images and they still worked, but took 10 seconds to appear fully (they start appearing immediately from the top of the screen). And while the photo is being rendered, you cannot exit or skip to the next photo. But once you downsize them to the 320x240 resolution that the player uses, they appear rather quickly, so it is not a big deal.
The video playback requires you to convert the video first using the supplied software. But after that, it is fluid and frankly amazing.
Conclusion
The Latte Neon M3 is a very feature-rich product and a very good value. The memory expandability, charging flexibility, features and performance at a good price make it a very good buy.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 125
Recommended for: Athletes - Lightweight and Portable, Perfect for the Gym
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Epinions.com ID:
dkozin
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 in Electronics |
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Location: California
Reviews written: 838
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About Me:
I love to push buttons on electronic (audio and video) equipment. It makes me happy.
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