Review: Sumvision Yumi Pro 2GB portable media player

The Yumi Pro is a replacement for the Sumvision Opus Pro, the model taken off the market recently after a dispute with Apple over the chrome-backed casing.

Unfortunately the Yumi Pro is twice as thick and doesn’t look nearly as good. It has a 1.8in full colour screen though, and is still packed with just about every conceivable feature.

As well as support for mp3, Wma, Wav and ASF you’ll find an AMV video player, photo viewer, document reader, voice recorder and FM radio.

There’s a speaker on the back, a game of Russian Block (basically Tetris) and the option to play back lyrics with your tunes. You even get two headphone sockets so friends can listen in at the same time.

In changing the design of the case and subsequently the layout of the controls Sumvision has created a baffling navigation system. The mini joystick-style central Play button isn’t, in fact, a joystick.

In the absence of any logical method you’re left using a process of elimination to work out which of the three control buttons (Play, Menu and Volume) does what in each of the menu categories.

Sound quality is reasonable and the ASF converter supplied does a surprisingly good job of converting video files. Usability is poor though, and the device is bloated with features, which doesn’t help.

However, you should get used to the layout in time and if quantity is more important to you than quality you’ll probably be very pleased.

The important thing to remember here is that you’re getting 2GB of storage for about £50, which means all these features are available for about £15 more than an equivalent-sized Flash drive.

In this respect it’s a great value product and would suit those on a budget, but most will prefer to spend a little more and end up with a better looking and easier to use device.

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