I've owned my Casio Wrist Audio Player (32 MB) for almost a year and a half now and I still use it on a very regular basis. Like every other MP3 product out there, it has its pros and cons. The WAP is small and portable (it being a watch and all..;), offers pretty good sound quality, and ease of use. On the other hand, its control panel design and WAP software could definitely use some work.

Like many other reviewers, one of the first things that drew my attention to the Casio WAP was that it's a watch as well as an MP3 player. The fact that I don't have to carry something in my hand or pocket is a definite plus in my book, and I like knowing that my MP3 player isn't going to fall out of my pocket while I'm jogging on a treadmill or riding a bike. Although it is a watch, it's definitely not your average watch's size. With the detachable earbud piece, the WAP is still slightly larger than a men's Casio G-Shock watch (So, if you think G-Shocks are huge, you may want to be a little wary of this one).

I personally find the WAP very easy to use. There are only 6 buttons on the face of the watch: Play, Reverse, Forward, Increase Volume, Decrease Volume, and Mode. To skip through a track, just hold down the Reverse or Forward button (just like on any CD player). Pressing the Mode button lets you access other menus like Shuffle, Loop, Loop 1, and the Equalizer. Holding down the Mode button for a couple of seconds while an MP3 is playing also switches the watch display from track info to the current clock time. One of the biggest issues I have with the WAP is how close the buttons are to each other. Sure, I understand that the WAP is a watch, and that there might not be a lot of space to work with, but still, because of this flaw, people with long fingernails or larger hands will most likely struggle a bit trying to press the buttons.

The software that comes with the watch also isn't the greatest, but it works. I'm not sure how other MP3 players' software compares to this, but the WAP software was a little more selective as to which MP3s it'll allow the user to upload than I initially expected. MP3s can't be over 128kbs and if there's a problem with an MP3's ID3 tag, the software won't let you upload that file onto the watch. Also, if you try to upload an MP3 with an extremely long filename, the WAP software will crash and that MP3 won't be uploaded (an error message will appear on the WAP's display as well). The only way to get around this, I've found, is to format the WAP memory and to just manually rename the long filename to something shorter.

All in all, I've been pretty happy with how Casio's WAP has worked for me. I don't mind that the battery life is approximately 4 hours and that it takes 4 hours to charge. MP3 upload times don't bother me much either--it takes about one minute (or less) to upload a 5 minute MP3 at 128 kbs for me. The sound quality is pretty nice as well. For some, the volume may not go up high enough (this applies more to headphone users as opposed to earbud users). What would make the WAP complete for me is a 64 MB memory and a redesign of the control panel buttons. :)

Recommended: Yes