Here we are with part two of the tests and comparisons, this time looking at the different user interfaces, ease of navigation and their respective pros and cons.

To recap, the players we’re looking at are:

The 2GB touchscreen Nationite One Series OS-81
The 8GB touchscreen Onda VX series VX777LE
The 4GB Onda VX series VX555HD
and the mystery player…

See how usable they are after the jump.

-User Interface-

Nationite One Series OS-81

Graphically this is a very simple looking interface but everything you need is clearly displayed on the main screen making it an easy player to get around.
As it’s touchscreen it’s as simple and pointing to the section you want.
The screen transition is satisfying smooth with each new one sliding in from the right.

Once in a section, ‘Music’, for example, the interface remains simple with a standard 4 tabs along the bottom of the screen: scroll up, scroll down, directory and back.

Overall OS-81 has a straight-forward, no frills, easy and functional UI.

Onda VX series VX777LE

The VX777LE home page is far more graphically striking and colourful but contains all the same basic sections as the OS-81.
Graphically it is pretty much faultless with its bold colours and sharp images.
The screen transition is not quite as smooth as that of the OS-81 but still works well.
The ‘Video’, ‘Photo’, ‘Explorer’ and Ebook’ tabs all go to the same directory screen (pictured below).

This page, like the front page, is easily navigable by touchscreen and the file are displayed as large icons, making it really simple to use.
Other sections such as ‘Radio’ and ‘Record’ have their own dedicated graphic screens which too are nice, bold and impressive.

The VX777LE interface is really nice and a pleasure to use.

Onda VX Series VX555HD

(please excuse the lines on the image, they’re not visible to the eye)

Stepping away from the touchscreens now we come to the VX555HD.

The interface on this player is linear and text-based.
On the main page there is a graphic to the right for each section but once browsing within them it is all text selection.
This is fine and the text is thin yet clear thanks to the high quality screen.

Once the simple button system is worked out then there is little trouble getting around the player.
The top left volume buttons scroll up and down and the  button to the right hand side of the screen serves as enter/select.
In addition the play button plays files and rewind skips back to the previous screen.

In essence though everything you need to get to is easily obtainable through the seven options on the home page and overall the interface is a simple, straightforward text based browser that is customary of a large number of players.

The Mystery Player!

Surfacing when the mention of 3 inch players came up was this no-name touchscreen PMP which wanted a slice of the action.

It’s a simple, colourful 8-tab interface that rotates at all angles due to gravity sensor.

While it may be bright in its appearance it doesn’t live up to the pin-sharp bold interface of the VX777LE which takes it for looks.
The touchscreen sensitivity is good, the selected section has no transition graphic or lag but instead instantly changes to it and, most surprisingly, whenever a selection is made the player violently vibrates!

This force feedback kind of feels like you’re wrestling with it to get every option done which is kind of satisfying in a strange way.
Once I’d buzzed through the menus I’d deduced that whichever way up it is there are always four standard tabs along the bottom: trashcan or select (depending on what’s displayed), back, forward and return.

The verdict

While all the players are effective in their navigation, personally the slick, modern and striking interface of the VX777LE took it for me.

-File Arrangement and Navigation-

For this test we’ll look at music files, how they’re sorted and how easily they’re found and played.

Nationite One Series OS-81

Once inside the ‘Music’ tab it’s a simple list of options that allow for track selection and they’re broken down into sensible sections through scrollable pages.

Page 1
Current Play
All Files
Artist
Title

Page 2
Album
My Favorites
Directory
Record File

Page 3
Update Media File

The player seems to make use of ID3 tags and sorts things sensibly meaning for music navigation the OS-81 doesn’t let down.

Onda VX series VX777LE

Just like the main screen when browsing through music you’re presented with large, colourful and easy to use folder icons.
There are more options on this player for file sorting and selection and the menu makes full use of the touchscreen facility with its push scroll capabilities (again similar to the iPhone).

The options available are:

Current Play
All Music
Artist
Album
Genre
My Favourites
Record
Directory List
Media Lib update

Again the player makes full use of the ID3 tags and has the bonus addition of sorting via genre and the large, bright and bold interface.

Onda VX Series VX555HD

Possibly the trickiest to navigate so far, the VX555HD has the regular CC1600 music file system which though good and useable isn’t as straightforward as that of previous players.

The music section display options are:

Playing
Search Music
All Songs
Folder Once
Play Mode
Background Play
Update Jukebox

Whilst ’search music’ may sound like the easiest option, what you actually get is this, an inital or numerical search tool which without touchscreen is a little tricky to negotiate the first few times around.

Instead the less practical option of playing ‘Folder Once’ and just selecting the desired album folder to play through is the most straightforward method of music selection.

The Mystery Player!

Who knows what this buzzy monster’ll do with music?
As it turns out, besides vibrating furiously with every tap the music interface is actually pretty solid with a good use of ID3 tagging and a simple and effective touchscreen menu system which was a delight to get back to after the alphabetic search fumbling of the VX555HD.

The Verdict

In terms of sorting options, clarity and ease of use, for music filing and selection the VX777LE takes the prize with its extra couple of sort options, good touchscreen scrolling and big, bright menu.

Coming in part 3, audio tests, video tests and some TV-Out fun.