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The smallest and the cheapest mp3/flac audio player - ONN Q6 Review

This is a review of ONN Q6 audio player. http://www.dx.com/p/onn-q6-mini-1-5-screen-mp3-player-w-fm-clip-silver-4gb-172334#.U_d8RmO5Q08

After my recent review of E11k, I'm on a constant mission to find different hardware audio sources to pair up with that headphone amplifier. Though I'm using a higher quality DAPs and smartphone to listen to music, I used to have Sansa Clip+ in the past until it recently broke. It was an OK sounding mp3 player which benefited from pair up with an amp, and when I was looking for a budget replacement I came across a series of ONN audio players including a small Q6 clip-on model for around $21 plus change. That picked my review interest, and here is what I found.

Arrived in a small clear top box, to me it resembled a smartwatch (like Sony LiveView) since all you can see was a framed 1.5" screen. Inside of the box they included a pair of earbuds and usb to mini-usb charging cable. I didn't even bother testing earbuds since I have a very extensive collection of IEMs already. First impression out of the box was how small this player turned out to be. Q6 felt very solid in my hand, with a quality plastic shell and a metal clip in the back. Left side had mini-usb connector, unfortunately not a common micro-usb but the same as Clip+. At the top, it has a power button which also used to turn the screen on when it times out and has functionality of Play/Pause - a very convenient location for a playback control. On the right side, there is 3.5mm headphone jack and 4 small control buttons for volume, menu, and multifunction up/down. The player itself is about 19g in weight and has 250 mAh battery with a playback of 5hr, probably longer at reduced volume with screen off.

Once you turn the power on, you are greeted by a bright 1.5" screen with 128x160 resolution. Unfortunately, the default language setting was Chinese so I had to poke around to get to Setup to change it. Luckily, its really easy to find your way around. The main display menu has large colorful icons that self explanatory. You have selection of Music (supports mp3, flac, wav, ape, wma, and ogg), Movie (it plays avi clips), Record (wav files from internal mic), Play (recorded clips), Radio, Pictures (jpg, bmp, gif), Setup (universal icon for that), Text (txt files), Games (it actually comes with a video game), and File Browser. Language was a 3rd selection down in Setup menu, and once I switched to English, it was very easy to navigate through all sub-menus.

Controls are very intuitive, and as I already mentioned Play/Pause button at the top is very convenient. The main playback display has a nice layout with a play time, scrolling time bar, song name, file format, EQ setting, volume level, and even dynamic EQ bar for the currently playing song. Status bar at the top has playback mode indicating repeat/replay and battery status. With up/down buttons, you can switch between songs or press'n'hold to fast forward. They are also used for volume adjustment. I do have to mention that due to a small size of the player itself, buttons are very small as well. I probably have average size fingers and didn't find any problem operating these. But I can see how some people with sausage fingers might find it a bit small for their liking :)

When it comes to a sound, I found it to be relatively clear, with a decent extension down to sub-bass and all the way up to upper treble. The sound signature is warm and smooth, not too much coloration or distortion, and surprisingly not muddy or veiled. It actually sounds the same, if not even better than Clip+. It paired up very nicely with external amp, and actually worked well with E11k in high gain - sound became more detailed, crispier, and wider. It also has a built in EQ for sound tuning.

Overall, I was very impressed with it's build and sound quality, considering such a small footprint and budget price. Of course, this is not an audiophile quality DAP, but I don't think you will be able to find anything smaller and with a better sound quality for $21 shipped. Definitely something to consider if you want a portable mp3 players on the go without sacrificing too much of sound quality (relative to it's price range).

Here are the pictures.