iRiver Spinn review

The Spinn takes its name from the novel rotating knob at its top. You simply spin it to navigate menus or to scroll through your music, and press down to select.

It sounds simple, but a player needs more controls than that. So there’s also a “back” button and a lock switch at the top, plus volume and power controls on the left-hand side. It’s a fiddly arrangement, and hard to use one-handed. In testing, we frequently found it easier to prod our way through the Spinn’s tasteful menu system using the capacitive touchscreen instead.

It’s a nice screen, too: an active matrix OLED measuring 3.3in across the diagonal. With a native resolution of 480 x 272, the Spinn delivers sharp and pleasingly vibrant video in all the usual formats. And although the bundled earbuds are uncomfortable, audio quality is good.

There’s an FM radio and a voice recorder with a built-in microphone, plus support for Flash Lite games and Bluetooth headphones, making this a well-rounded device. But the spinny knob is an acquired taste, and we’re not fans of the proprietary USB cable. Plus, if you have a huge media collection the 8GB capacity will feel rather cramped.

Author: Darien Graham-Smith