Introduction
The Insignia brand name is Best Buy’s range of electronics which includes TVs, home theater, DVD/VCR products and MP3 players. The Insignia Kix 1GB is Best Buy’s offering to the budget MP3 player market.
It comes attractively packaged with 3 differently colored end caps and a basic feature set. Find out by reading this full review if the Insignia Kix 1GB delivers on quality as well as looks.
Pros:
- Good value for money.
- Colored end caps enable stylizing.
- Intuitive menu system.
Cons:
- Menu system is slow to respond.
- Test unit developed slight screen burn-in.
Insignia Kix 1GB – Before You Buy
System Requirements:
- Windows 2000/ME/XP or later / Mac OS 9 or later.
- USB Port.
- CD-ROM drive.
Style & Design: There’s no doubting that the inclusion of interchangeable colored end caps (pink, green, and blue) will attract the fashion conscience consumer. The design and style of the Insignia Kix will probably mostly appeal to women, and children of either gender. The reason for this analogy is that the Kix has fashion sense in the form of a sleek design and vibrant colored end caps.
Package Contents:
- Insignia Kix 1GB player.
- Earphones.
- Foam earphone covers.
- USB extension cable.
- Three end caps (pink, green, and blue).
- Quick start guide.
- CD containing software and user guide (PDF).
- Warranty card and a free audiobook download card for Audible.com.
The package contents are excellent for a budget MP3 player at this price point ($49.99 at time of writing). The inclusion of a USB extension cable, foam earphone covers and the three end caps makes the Insignia Kix very good value for money.
Insignia Kix 1GB – Getting Started
Choosing Your End Cap: If pink is your color, then you'll be glad to know that this color is fitted at the factory ready to go. Fitting the green or blue is easy to do - the end caps flip through an almost 180 degree angle and are easily interchangeable.
Charging The Battery: The big advantage of the Kix is that it comes with a built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery, thus saving you the headache of buying replacement batteries. The unit is charged using the extension cable or directly via the USB port of your computer. On the test, the battery was fully charged in 100 minutes. Incidentally, the reported battery life is an excellent 30 hours which makes the unit highly efficient.
Earphones and Foam Covers: The earphones simply plug into the headphone socket on the player and also function as the aerial for the FM radio. The included foam earphone covers can be fitted or left off; I found that fitting them gave a better bass response.
The Software CD (PC Only): Mac owners don’t need any software to use the Kix – only the full user manual will be of interest. The main application on the CD is the Rhapsody 4.0 software which enables the purchasing of music via the Best Buy Digital Music Store. The software also enables the ripping / burning of CDs and transferring to the Kix. It was easy to setup on the test and performed without any glitches. Anyone who requires a good music library manager will find the software on the CD useful.
Insignia Kix 1GB – Device Features
Controls: The power button and the control pad are situated on the face of the Kix MP3 player and respond well but could be further away from each other. On the odd occasion, pressing the control pad to the left resulted in pressing the power button at the same time. The other control features on the unit are the volume and hold buttons. The hold button is particularly useful to lock all the controls - preventing accidental pressing of buttons while in a pocket etc.
Menu System: The menu system is very intuitive and logically laid out. Playing a music track will display a basic but nicely laid out screen that shows the album, title and artist. Other useful information includes, playing time, battery level, playlist number, repeat icons and a progress bar. Exploring deeper into the menu system will reveal music library options, Rhapsody channels, FM radio and various other settings. The only fault to the menu is its speed. Every time you select an option there is a small delay before you see the result. This makes navigation slow and annoying at times.
Screen Display: The Insignia Kix sports a 1 inch color OLED that displays text and graphics that are bright and clear. There is the facility to set the level of brightness and screen display time which can increase battery life. During testing, it was noticed that even with the lowest level of brightness and the shortest display time configured, the screen developed very slight burn-in. That said, it can only be seen while the Insignia logo is displayed during power up and doesn’t impede viewing of the menu display.
FM Radio: An FM radio is always a useful bonus feature on an MP3 player. The radio worked well during testing and the reception was good. There are 20 presets enabling you to store all your favorite radio stations.
File Formats: The Insignia Kix is PlaysForSure compatible and can play WMA, WMDRM (DRM protected WMA), Audible, and MP3 formats.
Sound Quality: The quality is good but to get optimum sound quality you will have to tweak the audio settings. At default settings, the bass lacks punch and the high-end frequencies don't shine through enough. Using the custom equalizer alongside the enhance audio feature, I was able to improve the bass response and add depth by tweaking the high-end frequencies (3 Khz, 10 Khz). The result is a very respectable sound output from a budget MP3 player.
Conclusion
Is it Worth Buying?
The main downside to the Kix is the slow menu system. There is only a small delay between key presses but it is noticeable. On the upside, the style and design of the Kix gives it good visual appeal, and when coupled with the colored end caps, makes it stand out from the usual budget crowd. The Insignia Kix 1GB does a good job of playing audio and if you’re on a budget looking for just the basics then it is well worth considering.
