# Nationite S:Flo2 Review - A cheap but awesome sounding chinese PMP



## Sid_hooda (May 16, 2011)

This is a slightly edited version of my review that i posted on Chip and TE and i thought to post it here as well.

This is my first review and since this player is relatively unknown here. I'm sort of a semi-audiophile (so i'll go into the details a bit  ) and this is my first "Decent" audio related purchase so my opinion might vary from yours but you are free to correct me/give you own opinions and ask questions. Plus my P&S cam is very old so the photos might be a bit poor. 

Now, the S:Flo2 is a DAP (Digital Audio Player) by Nationite (Its a rebadget T51 by sa chinese company called Teclast) and is sold on MP4Nation's website and come in 2GB, 8GB and 16GB variants priced at $120, $130 and $160 respectively. I purchased it from eBay for 6.1k (the 2GB version) shipped. 

*The player and its features*
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*Packaging*
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The S:Flo2 came in a small black cardboard box which slides out and opens up to reveal the player on one side and the accessories on the other side (inside the box).The size of the package is similar to what my ipod came in. It comes with a pair of cheap earbuds, a wall charger, a USB cable and a manual (which isn't of much use).
I recommend purchasing a separate wall charger like a BlackBerry one since the quality of the given charger is dub-par. Mine burnt within 1 hour of using it. 


*Build and Design*
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The build quality of the S:Flo2 is pretty decent according to me but definitely nowhere near the build of the HTC Desire or the iPhone 3GS/4G (Think Samsung Galaxy 3). The rear of the player is made up of a textured metal which is a bit slippery and is much-much more scratch resistant than the back of an iphone/ipod which gives you a good feel. The front is made up of scratch proof glass (which isn't as scratch proof as Gorilla glass so you need to take more care) and one physical button is present (like an iphone but having a red led in the center).
It feels comfortable to hold due to the slightly curved back and its size is almost the same as of my ipod 30GB 5.5G but a little bit longer. I have dropped it a couple of times and i haven't seen any visible dents/damage to the player.
The rest of the connectivity ports have already been described above. 

My testing setup consists of the S:Flo2 paired with the Audio Technica M50S headphones plugged into the LO (Line Out) with the EQ on -9 across all frequencies. 
*img718.imageshack.us/img718/7706/dscn3085.th.jpg

Before using the S:Flo2, it was charged for 8 hours and the firmware was updated to v2.20 (now at v2.30). I did face a few issues initially but after upgrading the firmware, getting a new charger and USB cable, formatting both the memory card and inbuilt memory from the computer and the device itself, the S:Flo2 now works almost flawlessly. 

*UI*
The UI in the S:Flo2 is a basic UI and it does not have a lot of features and cannot be customized much. Moving from an iPod touch or any decent audio player (Cell phones included), it will be a step down. In v2.20 the player would sometime crash after copying songs and would have to be reset but after v2.30, the stability of the OS has been good and i have not experienced a single lock-up. The UI is a bit slow but smooth nonetheless and supports themes (But to install themes, the firmware has to be re-installed). The scrolling is pretty clunky and scrolling for a song can take some time if you have lots of them since kinetic scrolling is not there; making folders does alleviate the problem to some extent but it does irritate a lot. All this is compared the to UI of the ipod touch/Cowon J3 and all-in-all the UI is okay and better than most chinese/local players.

No new playlists can be created but you can add songs to "Favourites" which was not a big issue for me after i had sorted my songs into folders. The EQ has 8 presets including a user customizable one called "User", 6 usual presets like Rock, Pop, Classical, etc. and "PlayFX" preset having 3 modes (3D, Bass, LEQ) which is worthless since it deteriorates the SQ and sounds crap. Custom EQ presets cannot be created. The ID3 tag recognition is also a bite weird since it recognizes the tags of some FLAC and mostly all MP3 files but doesnt for some. So while scrolling for songs, they will not be sorted by their names but by their file names or by their date of addition (can be changed from settings). The seek bar in the video and audio player is also not that accurate and for accurate results, the nest and previous buttons should be used. Shuffle songs, A-B repeat, repeat songs are all displayed on the front screen and they van be changed by tapping on them which is a nice addition. 

A basic video player and photo viewer are also provided which should satisfy most people. 480p videos and DVD rips can be directly copied and watched since the S:Flo2 has a decent processor and movies with 5.1 audio also run properly though the audio output is only 2 channels which is enough for me. 

Whenever the S:flo2 is connected to a computer for charging or for copying songs, the player needs to update the library one needs to refresh the library manually before playing any songs since it cannot update the library while playing songs and so the playback will be halted if you try to change the song by album/artist/title. While playing any song, if the previous song button is pressed the player will play the previous song and not restart the long like most players which require 2 presses to play the previous song; and if shuffle is activated , pressing the previous song button will not play the last played song but will rather shuffle the songs again. These 2 minor annoyances are a bit irritating but you get used to them later.

*Screen and Touch Quality*
The S:Flo2 has a 320x480 resolution 3.5" MVA capacitive screen with 16 million colours which is comparable to the screen of the N81/82/95, etc but nowhere near the AMOLED/IPS ones. Like most screens, its viewing angles arent good but its blacks are dark enough for a cheap player and had good brightness with its only drawback being the colours arent as vibrant but they're not dull too ( The colours are slightly on the cooler side). The screen has 5 brightness levels - 1x, 2x, 3x, 4x and 5x with 2x being used by me most of the time and its sunlight legibility is crap (You can use it but forget watching videos)

The touch is alright but nowhere as accurate and sensitive as the iPod Touch but comparable to the phones like the Samsung Corby since a little bit of pressure is needed , compared to the ipod touch, for the touch to be registered. Sometimes, the touch does not get registered in the main menu but that has to do with the UI, not the screen. 

*Battery Life*
The battery needs to be charged for 8 hours and completely emptied thrice to condition it after which the battery life improves. With My M50 connected to the LO (Line Out) and the volume of the HO (Headphone out) reduced to 0, with 1x brightness levels and using the screen occasionally for changing songs, the battery lasts near 6.5 to 7 hours. With my M9 earphones and barely changing songs and such, the battery life jumps to 8 hours. After conditioning the battery and using a BlackBerry wall charger, charging takes near 4.25 hours. When watching video with 2x brightness levels and listening through the HO, the S:Flo2 lasts for about 3 to 3.25 hours.

There is a bug in the player (or maybe it happens only with me), whenever i suddenly turn of the charger/pull the charger out of the socket, the player locks-up and has to be reset (not a big issue, hardly takes 15 secs) but it works fine if the cable is removed from the mini-USB port on the S:Flo2 first.

*Sound Quality*
Now, the main attraction of the S:Flo2, its sound quality. 
Note : The "User" EQ preset was selected with all frequencies at -9 since the "Normal" preset exhibited some sound distortion at higher volumes. Audio files were FLAC/MP3 V0. 

The sound that the S:Flo2 pumps out is awesome. Its very clear with no distortion whatsoever, no frequency is emphasized, instrument separation and soundstage are the best i have heard and the bass is full and precise unlike most players which either have a lean or a bloated bass. It sounds great with both my M9's and my M50 and sound has absolutely no background noise. The S:Flo2 will easily reveal the flaws in poorly encoded MP3's and the sound is very transparent so if you have poorly encoded 128kbps MP3, they will sound bad when heard through decent headphones. 
The Line out further improves the SQ since the sound becomes more neutral (The Headphone Out (HO) sound ever so lightly warmer compared to it) and the low's improve along with the clarity. Since i have only heard a few PMP/DAC's and this is my first decent setup, i can only compare with a few other sources. Compared to it, my iPod 5.5G sounds more congested and the instrument separation suffers along with the bass; the sound is very slightly tinny unlike the full sound of the S:Flo2. My N81 sounds nowhere close to the S:Flo2 with its rolled of bass and muffled highs. When listening through the LO (Line-out) of the S:Flo2 after listening to both the above players, i can hear certain details and sounds that were lacking in the above players and sound is more, um, enveloping. I have listened to the iPod Touch 3G but i dont have it to compare it with the Sflo but i did notice the lack of instrument separation, a little less clarity, lesser soundstage and a more warm sound compared to the Flo2 

The driving power of the Amp in it is very good and it easily drives my 38ohm M50's, My 32ohm HD415's and the 50ohm HD555's. Adding a cheap amplifier like the Fiio E5 did not make any difference except it boosted the bass a bit due to the bass boost feature. Even after EQ'ing a lot, the sound does not get distorted. 
Some people have heard slight electro magnetic distortion with sensitive earphones when the screen is turned on but i was not able to hear anything, though i did hear faint clicking noises whenever i changed the EQ (Nothing big, barely noticeable)

TL ; DR version - This will sound better than any phone or PMP you have ever listened to (except for the expensive HiFi man ones)

*Conclusion*
For anyone looking to get the best sound quality in a budget this player will not disappointed. However if you need lots of apps, need an awesome UI an cannot live without all the frills, look toward the iPod Touch/Cowon J3. A 3.5" screen, 2GB in built memory, awesome sound, a dedicated line-out and memory card slot for 6-6.5k is definitely a steal. This is meant for people who just want the best sound quality at a good price and can live with a weird UI.

Pros: 
Awesome Sound
Dedicated Line-Out
3.5" screen
Price
Built in amplifier is quite powerful
Decent build quality for the price

Cons:
UI is a bit slow/not up to the mark
Lacks quite a few features found in almost every other PMP
Battery life is pretty short
Importing and warranty it can be a bit of hassle
Iffy OSX/Linux compatibility

Glossary

Cold - Sound with an emphasis on treble to the point where it affects the vocal range.
Imaging - The placement of instruments within the soundstage
Soundstage - The field in which the music is playing, in terms of depth and width. A headphone with no soundstage will sound as if everything is inside your head. It's very uncomfortable and dull when watching live performances or movies with no soundstage.
Warm - Sound with a de-emphasis on treble.
Rolled-off bass - The bass doesn't not extend as low (You only feel a 'thud' instead of a 'brrrr')
Bloated bass - Bass which is over accentuated (over emphasized) and interferes with other frequencies


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## Krow (May 19, 2011)

I like this review. 

Bad UI and battery life is the only reason I am avoiding this. As for importing, one can always order from Pristine Note.

Could you please elaborate on the Linux/Mac compatibility issues?


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## Sid_hooda (May 19, 2011)

File copy is possible in OSX/Linux but you cannot update its firmware in either. You need Windows for that. But IIRC all new S:Flo2's are shipped with V2.3 (latest FW).

It does what its supposed to (at a great price too) and its SQ is just epic, i knew it would have issues but now i've gotten used to it and doesn't trouble me anymore. Just dont expect it to have "features" 

EDIT : It'll be available on MP4nation only after 2 months. You can order from HouseofDAP but i dont know if they do international shipping


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