iRiver iFP-1090 (256MB)

Whether it is our chocolate fetish or something else altogether, the iFP-1090 makes for an intriguing conversation piece with its odd Toblerone-like form factor. And like its pseudo-Swiss connection to the chocolate maker in terms of design, the iFP-1090's range of features -- from a built-in camera to voice recording -- seem to suggest a link to the Swiss army knife, too.

Design
Measuring 91 x 34 x 34mm and weighing 63g, the iFP-1090 could be termed as pocket-able. But iRiver had to figure out a way to accommodate the camera lens in the body of the player, so its resulting thicker girth and triangular ends will make an unsightly protrusion from most pockets. Though with that being said, the iFP-1090 will still appeal to those who are looking for a player that deviates from the standard candy bar designs.

Playback controls are performed mainly through a clickable, quad-directional joystick on the right of the screen which when depressed, lead to player configurations like playback mode and display settings. There are additional buttons on the side of the player, and each one is tied to two separate controls depending on how long the button is depressed. For example, a short tap on the camera button in FM radio mode begins recording, while a longer press activates the mode switch. Yes, it does sound like a layout minefield, especially when you take into consideration that you have to remember what each button does in different modes.

Furthermore, it is difficult to control the iFP-1090 beyond basic playback with just one hand. Lefties will be dismayed to know that, with the joystick on the far right of the player along with the orientation of the LCD display, it is definitely biased towards right-handers.

The camera on the iFP-1090 is hidden in a slot on the top of the player. For a better capture angle, the camera can be pulled out like a periscope and swivelled around for self-portraits. However, for those spur-of-the-moment shots, you should not rely on the iFP-1090 as there is no dedicated button to switch on the camera mode.

The mini LCD screen is certainly brilliant, to say the least. The user interface is colourful with a neat layout that will not have you squinting your eyes. We were impressed that iRiver managed to squeeze quite a fair bit of information onto the 1.2-inch display such as battery status, time elapsed, detailed track info and even equaliser visualisation, not to mention that it worked very well as a viewfinder for the onboard camera.

Features
On connectivity, the iFP-1090 comes only with USB 1.1 and 256MB worth of memory. That's a little slow, but for the small amount of flash memory, we doubt that is going to make much difference. But if you are used to transferring songs every day, you may want to look someplace else.

Besides FM radio and FM/voice/line-in recording, the iFP-1090 supports a list of audio codecs like MP3, WMA and ASF, as well as JPEGs for the camera. Though there is no expandability, the lithium-ion battery is detachable, so buying a replacement or a backup battery from iRiver is not going to be a problem.

Cameras are becoming so ubiquitous that it was only inevitable that one would be introduced in an MP3 player. Yet, if you are hoping to print something larger than a "Neoprint", you will have better luck trying out a camera with a bigger than 0.3-megapixel CMOS sensor. The camera option does, however, have 3x digital zoom and a few photo-enhancing effects like Sepia which will satisfy the infrequent shutterbug.

And like standard iRiver offerings, the iFP-1090 has five equaliser presets plus an additional user-adjustable 5-band equaliser. Other frills include an alarm function as well as a programmable radio recording function for those days when you want to record a favoured late-night radio talkshow but just can't afford to stay up for it.

Performance
We hit a transfer speed of 0.64MB per second using 240MB worth of assorted MP3 files. On battery life, the iFP-1090 managed a very credible 24 hours and 15 minutes in our battery test, though it still fell short of iRiver's claim of 35 hours.

In our sonic feedback, we tested the iFP-1090 using the Etymotic ER-4P MicroPro Earphones. The player did a fine rendition of Louis Armstrong's La Vie en Rose with good details in articulating the singer's coarse voice and giving support to the trumpets in the background. With Coralie Clement's Samba de Mon Coeur Que Bat, we were satisfied that we could hardly detect any sibilance in the singer's vocals.

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