iriver e50 appears, charms us with its good looks

It seems like it was ages ago that we heard rumors of an aluminum iriver E100... then at the end of November, the E100 Season 2 appeared and the plastic was still in abundance. The E50 (supposedly pictured above) is, however, another tale entirely. The slim, brushed aluminum encased PMP -- which will come in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB models -- boasts a 1.8-inch color LCD, an FM tuner, and gets a rumored 52-hours of audio life. We don't have full specs yet, but the players will apparently appear in January with the 4GB costing about €69 (or about $90).

[Thanks, Greg]

[Kris120890 @ Dec 10th 2008 3:10PM]

I'm on the market for a cheap but quality MP3 player. This may do nicely. Hope it gets a UK release.

[Matt @ Dec 10th 2008 3:12PM]

Mmm, first iriver I'd be interested in since the days of the original clix / U10.
52 hours battery life, and at that price, wow. If this sells in the UK then iriver have won my heart back.

As past an owner of the "real" irivers (H120 and H320) I was a bit disappointed when iriver bought out the H10 and from then on went all poofy (although I did get myself a Clix). They were finally starting to make gains in the US and UK markets with the Clix then decided to pull all their efforts back to Korea and make stupid Mickey Mouse "mplayer" things.

Please iriver, let this be the first step back to goodness.

[Jorvay @ Dec 10th 2008 3:56PM]

Funny you mention the H120/320. Something about this player reminds me so much of those devices. Always loved those players.

[Smileypanda @ Dec 10th 2008 7:55PM]

The clix was a lovely little thing...
A heart of gold it had. Shame it wasn't UMS...

[Valicore @ Dec 11th 2008 12:46AM]

Man, I loved my H140 and H340... they were fricken' awesome, I still like them actually. My H140 had optical out, something still hella hard to find, and that was a billion years ago.

[AlekZander @ Dec 10th 2008 3:16PM]

Brushed metal? Really?

[GregH @ Dec 10th 2008 3:18PM]

Really!

[musback @ Dec 10th 2008 3:33PM]

looks great, finger print resistant, tough and scratch free .... I hope...
so why not? Imo A lot more handy than all the glossy -put me in a 30$ sock or leather case everytime u use me- competition PMPs out there

[Thomas @ Dec 10th 2008 3:20PM]

Looking to replace my iPod Touch which is good for everything but music, but 8gb isn't enough...

[wrabbit @ Dec 10th 2008 3:23PM]

If the screen didn't have those fat margins of dead plastic around it'd be perfect.

[pavlindrom @ Dec 10th 2008 3:26PM]

Nothing's perfect on this planet. Nothing.

[Oli D @ Dec 10th 2008 3:45PM]

peanut butte comes close though

[sbrown @ Dec 10th 2008 3:46PM]

^ That comment was perfect.

[Patriks7 @ Dec 10th 2008 3:49PM]

"Nothing's perfect on this planet. Nothing."

Oh, I bet Engadget would argue that a certain fruit is perfect..

[holycow @ Dec 10th 2008 3:50PM]

No, not really. He misspelled 'butter'.

[Oli D @ Dec 10th 2008 3:51PM]

Malus Domestica

[KRIS_C_123 @ Dec 10th 2008 6:12PM]

potato is not a fruit

[GregH @ Dec 10th 2008 3:31PM]

I like that it supports FLAC - maybe it's time to iRiver a shot...

[Ahmed @ Dec 10th 2008 4:41PM]

How much flac do you expect to put on a (maximum) 8GB player? Battery life must be lower if you're playing flac due to the decoding power necessary for flac.

[GregH @ Dec 10th 2008 9:51PM]

@Ahmed - That's a valid point, but I like the direct iRiver is going.

[tekdroid @ Dec 11th 2008 8:11AM]

Ahmed @ Dec 10th 2008 4:41PM
How much flac do you expect to put on a (maximum) 8GB player?
------------
Approximately 8GB worth :) ... or 21-26ish full albums.
Battery life will likely be lower playing FLACs; they nearly always rate battery life on low-bitrate mp3 (and low brightness).

[anonymouspimp @ Dec 10th 2008 3:32PM]

Funny, this doesn't look much different than some of the products Engadget rips apart on a weekly basis...

But my opinion of iRiver in general is a terrible one. The company is a disaster from top to bottom. I will never buy another iRiver player again. Personally, I am a Cowon or Archos kind of guy. :)

BUT, props on the battery life! (and lol @ the menu icons)

[YpoCaramel @ Dec 10th 2008 4:21PM]

Hey mate, why don't you tell us why you dislike iRiver?

[Relyt @ Dec 10th 2008 4:41PM]

Yeah, whats so bad about iriver?

[anonymouspimp @ Dec 10th 2008 4:41PM]

heh, sorry, I guess I could have done that...

well, their build quality (and subsequently the sound quality of their players) seemed to drop significantly over the years. (I used to actually really like iRiver!) I wouldn't classify myself as an audiophile, but I do appreciate sound quality (i don't use mp3 if I can avoid it).

I am not the only one that noticed this tho... they used to be all over the place... but you start putting out crappy products and people stop buying them ... and you are off the shelves. Granted, I don't know for sure, but I think they started cutting corners to lower prices to try and keep their market share up... which really is a poor business model... and never works. Especially not in a cut-throat industry like this. I'd rather pay twice as much for a quality product.

It was also silly when they showed up at CES, announced a whole slew of players and released maybe one or two of them over the next TWO YEARS.

[JWC @ Dec 10th 2008 3:34PM]

Looks good. I'm not a big fan of touch buttons tho, I like click-buttons, like on the Sansa players.

[UnixSystemsEngineer @ Dec 10th 2008 5:09PM]

Does it have touch buttons? I only see one button, and the screen doesn't look like a touchscreen. I was trying to figure out how it's controlled, but the original article is short on details.

[Smileypanda @ Dec 10th 2008 7:58PM]

My guess would be D click, like the U10.

[Oli D @ Dec 10th 2008 3:37PM]

Likes: Brushed metal
Long battery life
Dislikes: Crummy Interface
Salmon

[NickLott @ Dec 10th 2008 3:51PM]

Evidently Valve Software has entered the portable music playing market with with this thing. I think it's just them sticking it Microsoft again here as they do with with Steam over Games for Windows Live.

[cesium @ Dec 10th 2008 3:58PM]

What?

[Phoenix @ Dec 10th 2008 3:59PM]

Erm... what?

[Matt @ Dec 10th 2008 4:04PM]

Hmmmmmm

*reads again*

Hmmmmmm

Nope, still don't understand

[Decoy @ Dec 10th 2008 4:06PM]

Heh I get it - the interface colours and fonts?

[Nick @ Dec 10th 2008 4:10PM]

A joke about the similarities to the visual aesthetic to this device and everything Valve Software puts out, most notable, Steam. I should have been clearer about that as I'm commenting in a tech blog. I fail.

[nick @ Dec 10th 2008 4:06PM]

i don't understand what mp3 player manufacturers are thinking these days. this one would look great as a paperweight, but how the heck does a brushed black metal interface communicate an inviting experience with device? this thing resembles the big black monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey... you know, the big thing that the humans were scared of. hate apple, or love apple, but you have to respect that they understand how to build a device that invites interaction. iriver, take notes for once.

[holycow @ Dec 10th 2008 4:10PM]

iriver has a lot of 'inviting' devices!
iriver SPINN is absolutely stunning! http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/04/iriver-spinn-ui-caught-on-video-kills-without-words/
and not to forget the iriver CLIX. And i believe some people find their mickey mouse players attractive as well.

[ilh @ Dec 10th 2008 6:03PM]

I don't particularly call scratched to hell surfaces like chrome or glossy plastic on iPods inviting. My Gigabeat F20 was (was as it got stolen) a brilliant player with its brushed metal. It survived a hefty car crash without a seat belt (it was on the dashboard so went flying everywhere) coming out without a scratch...would love to see an iPod doing the same when they get scratches just from being in your pocket.

[Tohe @ Dec 10th 2008 4:07PM]

It is gorgeous, I want to hug it and never let go.

[Decoy @ Dec 10th 2008 4:09PM]

It looks like a naked Zune.

[Relyt @ Dec 10th 2008 4:42PM]

What?

[Simon P @ Dec 10th 2008 5:24PM]

not sure it looks like a Zune.....but I have a Samsung T10 from Appalachia in my pocket that's getting all frisky looking at that thing.

[scott @ Dec 10th 2008 4:17PM]

i'm loving this design..it's very "modern/art deco."

[levelnext @ Dec 10th 2008 4:21PM]

Nice design.

[Keith @ Dec 10th 2008 4:24PM]

I prefer their H300 design (I had the 20GB H320). It could do so much! Played virtually every audio format, played video (way before it become overly popular to do so on an mp3 player), could record audio at an excellent bit rate (300+ if I remember correctly) from line-in or built in mic, multiple connections. I loved that thing. It was stolen three years ago, I still mourn the loss.

[iKurt @ Dec 10th 2008 4:56PM]

Why does it look like a Zune?

[Mobius_1 @ Dec 10th 2008 5:16PM]

We already know it looks better than iPods, don't have to remind us.

[Pradster @ Dec 10th 2008 5:30PM]

I was going to say the same thing! It looks like a zune without the touchpad and the buttons up front!

[BOGRASH @ Dec 10th 2008 8:34PM]

gapless?

[cwj @ Dec 11th 2008 12:03AM]

GIVE ME microSD OR GIVE ME....

Actually, you know what, just give me microSD. Or SD if you have room for it.

Thanks.