Aigo F820

The player seems to have a generic flaw in the firmware. I copy-pasted three folders on to the drive and tried to access the files from the player. Mysteriously, the files vanished and only a random folder remained. I then formatted the drive and copy-pasted some new music folders, but had the same problem. I even tried this with two out-of-the-box players, just to be sure, but the problem persisted.

The odd thing is that sometimes only one folder remained, but it was never the same one. The player simply picked the music it liked, I guess. The files also disappear from the drive itself, in case you’re wondering, and are not hidden.

The FM radio was definitely one of the better ones I’ve tested in this segment. I was able to get better than decent reception; in fact it was pretty darn good, especially on commutes. The player also has an FM radio recorder and a separate voice recorder. It even has an e-book reader that’s not easy to read because of the display size. I wonder why small DAPs with tiny screens come with e-book readers in the first place; it’s a tremendous strain on your eyes.

The player is able to churn out about 16 hours of nonstop playback, which is brilliant for a device in this category. It can be charged through the PC via USB.

The Bottomline
The Aigo F820 is priced Rs 2, 750 for 2GB, which is too high, all things considered. There are plenty of options at that price that perform better, especially since you’re guaranteed that the files you load on to the drive will not just vanish! This is the biggest issue with the player.

What's the use of a player that looks good, sounds good and comes with superb FM radio reception but can’t seem to hold your files? If you already own the player and don’t face a problem, that's great, but in case you’re considering buying it, do request a thorough demo.