Does anyone have any experience using the Speedo Aquabeat mp3 player?
December 3, 2010 4:12 PM Subscribe
Does anyone have any experience using the Speedo Aquabeat mp3 player? And is it actually any good?
With Christmas coming up I was thinking of asking for a waterproof mp3 player, and as far as I can tell the Speedo Aquabeat is the best one out there. I swim nearly every day and having music to stave off boredom seems like a great prospect. However, online reviews of the Aquabeat seem to be largely split between high praise and hyperbolic criticism. So has anyone here had experience with this player? And if so how did you find it? I'm not expecting that many answers to this as I haven't met many people who have even heard of the player, but any impartial views would be great.
All I'd expect from a waterproof mp3 player is passable sound quality and functional design. I won't be using it for anything other than swimming so I don't need the sound to be amazing or the software to be great either.
Lastly, most of the negative comments I've read for the player seem to be based around poor headphone design. This isn't an issue for me as I can easily buy better waterproof headphones to suit my needs.
With Christmas coming up I was thinking of asking for a waterproof mp3 player, and as far as I can tell the Speedo Aquabeat is the best one out there. I swim nearly every day and having music to stave off boredom seems like a great prospect. However, online reviews of the Aquabeat seem to be largely split between high praise and hyperbolic criticism. So has anyone here had experience with this player? And if so how did you find it? I'm not expecting that many answers to this as I haven't met many people who have even heard of the player, but any impartial views would be great.
All I'd expect from a waterproof mp3 player is passable sound quality and functional design. I won't be using it for anything other than swimming so I don't need the sound to be amazing or the software to be great either.
Lastly, most of the negative comments I've read for the player seem to be based around poor headphone design. This isn't an issue for me as I can easily buy better waterproof headphones to suit my needs.
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They seem to have gone through a process of redesigning it, so I would look carefully at the dates of reviews and take more recent ones more seriously. I believe at one stage they were selling them without the cone shaped ear buds, which are definitely much better at staying put in my ears than the round ones. It seems to me that the earphone fit issue is quite a personal one based on ear shape and other factors. I've found that I need to be careful to get it fitted right the first time, otherwise I'll be fiddling with it all though my swim, but after a few goes I got the knack and now rarely have any trouble. The controls are extremely easy to operate even while swimming along, and the playlist software is simple and works.
It think the reason the reviews are extreme is that if you can get it working for you, it really is the greatest thing since sliced bread (and I assume if you can't it must be pretty frustrating). I enjoyed swimming before I got it, but now I never want to get out of the pool, and generally only leave because I really need to be somewhere else (or the pool is shutting). Because of this, I've been swimming much greater distances and far more regularly than I was before I got it. I really can't recommend it highly enough.
posted by *becca* at 11:59 AM on December 5, 2010