The iubi blue boasts a whopping 4.3" screen that has a resolution of 480 x 272 which is the same as our current favourite the Archos AV500.  This model the 2500 has a 30gb hard disk which should be good to hold a fair few hours of video or several thousand hours of audio tracks in MP3 format. Measuring 80 x 131 x 19mm and weighing 260 grams the iubi like most PMP's is not a small device but compared to a portable DVD player it is ideal for catching a movie or TV programme while travelling. The screen is a key factor in choosing a PMP and the iubi 2500's screen is a corker, images are crisp and bright and the colours are well reproduced, even fast action shows well with minimal smearing or artefacts during playback caused by the screen technology. The only let down is that the aspect ratio of the screen is a native 4:3 and not wide screen (16:9) which leaves portions of the screen unused when playing wide screen media.

Getting media onto the PMP is a much easier task than with some players we have tested, the main connection is  USB 2.0 socket which allows the device to connect to a host machine and have media files pushed to it in a wide variety of formats. The iubi has native support of MPEG 1, 2, 4 Divx 3.X, Divx 4.X, Divx 5.X, Svid, WMV9, H.264, AVI, OGM without the need to transcode and for some older windows media formats and real there is transcode software included on the driver CD which runs on your PC.

We tested with WM9 and H.264 files primarily and found that the iubi blue coped very well and played all but one file without issue, the quality of encoding and bit rates were varied and when using good files the 2500 PMP really shone as a quality device easily looking as good as the Archos. The viewing angle is a little narrow and proved to be less than ideal to show more than 2 people a video at the same time, but on the positive side this has to be the first PMP with a useable speaker built in that kicks out an OK volume. You'd probably still opt to use headphones in order to get a better quality sound but at least the speaker is audible unlike some players.

Sound via a set of headphones is a very good quality both on video clip sound tracks and also when playing the MP3, WAV and Ogg Vorbis audio files. The player supports the ID3 tag standard so that your catalogued music collection display correctly allowing you to navigate by artist, album and track name.

There is the capability to directly record to the unit using the MPEG-4 encoder via the video input, like man y devices we have reviewed this proves to be of limited use unless you are going to plug it up to your TV and work it like a 80's video recorder, far better to push files via USB.

Perhaps our only real gripe is the illogical layout of some of the controls where the menu key has been placed at the centre of the control pad exactly where you'd expect the ok or select button to be. The result is that instead of navigating simply and then selecting you often end up back in the menu system by mistake, perhaps the Korean logic is beyond us but this does need fixing if the iubi blue is to sell well.

The fact that the word "Blue" makes it into the name is because this is a Bluetooth equipped device using the later V 1.2 standard which enables the audio from the device to be shared with a set of Bluetooth enabled headphones (not included) . In our tests we managed to easily pair the headphones and start listening to the audio from a movie without needing to be cabled to the PMP, however the audio lost some its punch and was a bit crackly in places. We have to question the value of wireless headphones for a device with such a small screen as the moment you move further away (more than cabled headphones would allow) you can't see the picture properly!

Battery life is impressive and here the iubi Blue 2500 teaches the other PMP's a trick, the lithium Ion battery provides a quoted 8 hours of video replay and our tests managed just over 7 hours meaning we could watch 3 movies more than enough for a long haul flight making it a very useable device.

There are plenty of extras as you'd expect from a Korean device, including a photo viewer, USB host functionally allowing you to plug in USB sticks and keys, direct encoding and audio effects and equalizer. However what impresses so much is the ability of a well priced (read cheap) PMP to deliver a basic AV experience similar to a far more expensive device.

Some corners have been cut and the main place these are visible is the aesthetics of the device,  it isn't exactly attractive. covered in swathes of anonymous black plastic this is not a quality housing like those found on an Archos player, plus it attracts finger prints like a crime scene. Handling the player on a daily basis makes you worry about the build quality and longevity, although we saw no reason why the player would stop functioning, this is just a downside of an economy player.

However look at the basic functionality, large screen, high resolution and compatibility of files types combined with a long battery life and the £249 for a 30gb PMP is excellent value for money and vies for top slot against the AV500.

Published - 25/09/2006

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