Mp3 Player, RUIZU X02 Ultra Slim Music Player with FM Radio, Voice Recorder, Video Play, Text Reading, 80 Hours Playback and Expandable Up to 128 GB (White)

Hi, this is going to be my personal review of the Ruizu X02. I’m going to begin my review by stating the things I immediately disliked before I move on to the things I like.So first of all, as another reviewer stated, this is a very weird device and the reason is due to the UI. Instead of having dedicated buttons for specific functions, most of the “would-be” normal functions are hidden. The buttons that serve as the main functions are as followed:Rewind (|<<) – Also serves to move left, move up, or to go to the previous track.Fast Forward (>>|) – Also serves to move right or move downPlay/Pause ((>||) – Also serves to put the player into sleep mode when pressed and held. Pressing and holding the button will wake the unit back up, which then allows you to resume where you left off.Menu (M) – Displays hidden menu options. Press and hold to also serve as the Screen Lock function. Only functions to move up in the Main Menu.Volume (VOL) – Must press and hold for volume screen to appear, which one then must use “Rewind” or “Fast Forward” buttons to adjust the volume. Also serves to back out of a directory when browsing. Only functions to move down in the Main Menu.What makes the function of these buttons so un-intuitive is that they don’t function exactly in the way you would expect them to and they take a little bit of tinkering to get adjusted to, especially if you are coming from DAPs that have more straight forward functionality.For instance, when you are browsing through any directory in the player except for the main menu itself, instead of pressing what you would think would function as the “Up” and “Down” buttons (which in this case would be the “M” to serve as “UP” and “VOL” to serve as “Down”) you instead have to browse by pressing the “Rewind” or “Fast Forward” buttons. Then you have to press the “VOL” to back out of the current directory that you are in. If you have backed out of a directory and want to return back to the song that was playing, you would have to press the “M” button and that would bring up the option to return to the song that is “Now Playing”. Again, the only time the buttons function as you would expect is when you are in the Main Menu.It’s a pretty weird setup that could’ve easily been remedied if they had added the appropriate buttons. ALL of the buttons are on the front of the unit. There are none on the sides or top. The only physical switch is the power switch, which is located on the bottom.Another personal gripe is that when you press the Rewind button to start over a track, it will instead instantly go to the previous track instead of simply starting over the current track from the beginning. This is quickly remedied by quickly pressing the Fast Forward button to return to the track, but it is still an annoying inconvenience. I experienced the same thing with my Ruizu X52 and AGPTEK B03 DAPs. It must be a common design flaw among these cheap brands.Another gripe I noticed is that when a track starts there will be a very brief fade-in instead of starting at regular volume.My final gripe is that I noticed when a song is playing, if the encoded information is too long it will not display the full information, despite the fact that it will slowly scroll across the screen.Despite the rather strange UI and a few gripes, it is otherwise a good player. I haven’t so far had any issues with random shuffling of tracks like I did with my previous Ruizu X52 (with the “Shuffling” feature turned off, mind you).The micro SD card works properly and I had zero issues with it being detected by my PC, nor had I had any problems loading files onto it. Mind you, I haven’t yet attempted to load any songs onto the actual player itself.The sound quality and volume is decent (also unlike my previous Ruizu X52, which only had a max volume of 30 and was pretty low by comparison).As advertised and as stated by other reviewers, it has EXCELLENT battery life. I personally don’t care to use the other functions such as Video, Photos, Recordings, or Ebook as that is not what I intended to have the player for. I use it as a bare bones DAP and for that it works.In all honesty though, due to the overall cons I wouldn’t see myself using this as the “go-to” DAP in my collection. I would only use this if I’m at work or doing any other activity and need a cheap backup player, while reserving a better designed player for more enjoyable listening experiences.UPDATE: I have been using this player almost daily. It took some getting used to the weird UI but overall it's been decent. However, I am updating to add, yet, another flaw that I just discovered.I have come to notice that at times when a song is playing it will randomly start to "crackle" and drag. It has done it on at least two occasions so far and I've only had the player maybe a good week and a half. My Ruizu X52 was notorious for doing the same exact thing at times, often getting so bad that the only way to fix it would be to turn off the player and restart it, which ruins the listening experience - Again, I think this may be a common issue with these Ruizu DAPs.I will update again if I continue to find any more issues with this player.

This could be the most informative review you'll find on the Ruizu X02, 8 Gb internal memory. I give it the stars based on a comparison with other players at this price that serve this function. Maybe I'm giving 4 instead of 5 so you'll read it, since so many 5 star reviews seem so meaningless and fake. And I've not had it long enough to give an honest statement on durability. (I skip the extremes and read only the 2, 3 or 4 star reviews since they tend to be more informative. I'll use 4, even though my negatives below are really quite minor.)I don't understand the reviews and questions by people who want a device that is simpler and less expensive than their phone, then are amazed that a player at this price doesn't do the same things as their phone or old iPod that died after a couple years. This isn't a phone. Its not an iPod. It does the job. If I get several, and each one I buy lasts 12 months, collectively they outlasted an iPod and still cost signficantly less.I want a small, simple device to play through headphones while I exercise or lay about or drive my 2 or 4 wheel motor vehicles. I want an inexpensive player so I would not risk losing or damaging a more valuable device like my phone. And it does the job. No matter how good the headphone, I'll snag the cord on a chair or the cat will grab it, breaking the wires and needing another pair. Other pairs are easy to find, they don't cost much, and expensive ones don't last longer. For now, the ones that came with X02 are okay. They do the job.I listen to podcasts, and sometimes selected music. Plug the Ruizu X02 cable and move mp3 files from the computer into files on the player, then turn it on and play the files. It does the job. I don't have a countless collection of music files that play for more hours than I would probably play in a lifetime that I'd want to stuff on the mp3 player at the same time to play in confusing lists or scrambled that I'd never know what is playing. I play what I want, and when my preferences change, I delete the old and put on new files. For me it does the job.I'd not use the X02 for videos, or pictures or even ebooks. If the screen was the same size as the entire front of the device, I'd have to use a magnifying glass to see any details or get more than a couple words per screen. The screen is a good size to see what is playing or what files you are opening, so for that it does the job.The negative is exactly what buttons do which job is uncertain. Apparently, there are different versions of Ruizu players with the same model numbers, and I've seen different sellers with minor variations all implying they made the players. And yet, the same brands and model numbers have slight differences. You can see this in the reviews by verified buyers. Even the sellers don't always know exactly how the buttons work on the variety of phones that all say Ruizu x02. If you aren't willing to spend a little time pressing and/or holding different sequences of buttons to see what happens, you might give up. For example, to restart the player later on where you left off, you need to go to sleep mode instead of turning it off. The directions and other users say press and hold the button in the center of the dial to sleep. I do it and mine goes to "easy" mode. I like easy mode when I'm using it, but easy isn't sleep. I see this in the answered questions on Amazon. I asked online, and the seller says press and hold the center button. That didn't help. I experiment. I learned. I now press and hold the volume button at the bottom of the outer dial. When the volume slider shows, I press and hold the center button and it goes to sleep. In easy mode, I just mash the top or bottom of the outer ring and the volume slider appears, then press and hold the center button. It took a bit of time, but I finally found the sleep mode. And the player does the job.I listen to the podcasts during morning exercise, the drive in to the office, and the drive home, I might play some music later while reading, then load in a new collection of podcasts before going to bed. For what I need, it does the job. And by having this item, I don't do things with my phone that might cause me to damage or lose it.One thing the X02 lacks that I'd like in something this small is a hole through the same edge with the headphone plug, a clean hole that comes out nearby in the back. A hole like that is common in many other players, and I would thread in a lanyard that I could carry around my neck for the times my shirt doesn't have a pocket. And even when my shirt has a pocket, on a lanyard it won't fall out and yank on the headphone plug in a way that kills the player. Well, no big deal. Not all mp3 players have it. If that becomes important to me, I have superglue gel and a jump ring, a method I used before. For now, I use a 1930s hidden carry derringer shoulder holster that my nephew played with when he wanted to pretend he was a secret agent. If you don't have one, a cheap grouch bag or neck-carry sunglass case would work, too.Later tonight, I'll load in more podcasts.

sound quality is extremally poor. So could not enjoy. some time you dont get FM. Wishing to return the same. Disappointing. They must not sell this item.

MP3 stopped working after a couple of weeks. Have tried to get a replacement or refund from Amazon for months without avail. Not even a response. Very disappointing.

[UPDATE: The EQ off is actually a pre-out, a line level signal and thus has no punch for music when connected directly. Attaching an amp with EQ off makes this a splendid player. The internal DAC is superior to the onboard sound of PCs. This player just lacks a proper internal amp. When EQ is turned on, the weak internal amp turns on and it is OK for voice based files, still lacks enough power for good music experience.I connected this player with EQ off to the line in of my PC (thus using the inbuilt PC amp) and was surprised the same files sounded better through the player than the PC's own sound. Hence the internal DAC is superior IMO to the onboard Realtek DAC (and I'm sure most smartphone DACs). I connected the player with EQ off to the computer speakers (has built in amp) and it sounded better than both the PC connected to speakers as well as smartphones connected to speakers. Hence the reason why this player sounds thin and less enjoyable via headphones compared to smartphones or MP3 players is the internal amp. YOU THUS NEED AN EXTERNAL AMP to get the best out of this player and use EQ off for best results. My original review was written when I couldn't understand the weird nature of this player. I've gotten better results with the Topping NX1s amp (instead of Brainwavz Ap001) using bassy headphones with its bassboost off OR bass light headphones with its bassboost on. Original review is below].This is the weirdest music player I've ever heard. At first, I felt like throwing it in the bin, utter waste of money. Even a basic feature phone will give much better sound for music at this price. But then I gave it a chance and want to warn others what to expect. I'm loving it at the moment but it might be garbage for you.If you just play music straight off, and compare it to any decent phone or mp3 player, it will be way too bright, way too much treble, tiny bass (no sub bass) and harsh on the ears. If you have a warm bassy headphone, it will be somewhat okayish to not go crazy but with an analytical flat earphone, you will want to destroy the player, it is painful to listen.Yes that's how bad I felt about it. But then I found the EQ. Oh boy, the EQ on custom with all flat and EQ off are totally different. EQ saves this device. But still you need to play around with the sliders to get somewhat enjoyable sound as even with EQ, the bass is light, the music is thin (lacks body), it lacks power but can go loud but so much better that with EQ off (it's a crime to leave it off). In EQ mode, this thing is pretty decent for vocals and podcasts. The DAC in this device is actually pretty nice. There are lots of details, a good soundstage, excellent instrument seperation and the bass/mids/treble never veils or interferes with each other. I believe they screwed the amp section or the amp used internally is horribly weak and does not amplify the bass frequencies especially sub bass well. Mids and highs are nice with the EQ set to your liking.Before I gave up on this device for general music pleasure, I happended to see my old Brainwavz Ap001 portable amp and my Fiio cable lying around unused. It's a very warm bassy amp that I hardly use. I connected the player to it via the fiio cable. And oh boy, played around with the EQ to make the sound proper to my ears and voila, it works very very well. I can now enjoy music on this device. YOU NEED AN AMP to make this shine as the internal amp is just to weak. I guess putting a nice DAC at this price point would involve cutting out on something else. I cannot recommend this potentially nice player to anyone without a portable headphone amp and without meddling with the EQ, both are needed to make it work. Now I have my money's worth but it would have been a different story if I had no amp with me.The battery life looks good and playlist management is possible via separating music in folders (easy drag and drop for folder play) or via a bit of a geeky approach on the computer which can be found online involving creation of .m3u files from your favourite PC media player and then editing it in a text editor to make it work. Navigation is fine once you get used to it. The screen is like an old feature phone, nothing great but quite irrelevant since it's never going to be looked at for long. All in all I'm a satisfied customer but I can easily see why some curse this player and some praise it like it's the best cheap bucks spent.

The quality of the player is amazing and functions are also smooth. Only the quality of earphones is not up to the mark. After a week of use the right earphone stopped working and there was a lot of disturbance in sound output

This is my 2nd MP3 player, same, different brand. Very nice size, battery lasts a long time. I use mine every day when I run. Easy to stash in a case and clip to my pocket. Nice sound, easy to use.