Review "HYFAI" MP3/MP4 "Nano" clone from ebay

[NG]

Actual device:



Mock-ups used in auctions:



Note: even tho some ebay sellers say mac compatible it is not. It WILL operate as a flash drive and you can drag n drop MP3s etc on to it but to convert the video files that can be played back on the unit you will need to use that Windows emulator.

Notice how the actual "wheel" looks raised in the mock up. This is not the case with the actual unit. If anything it is slightly indented.

I put Hyfai in quotes since this seems to be the name assigned to the device from a Toronto reseller (looks pretty legit. Good feedback. Sells a number of them. Excluding the name of the ebay store from this review since 1) I didn't buy it from them and 2) to prove impartiality).

There is no name on the device, box or manual. Of course no warrenty unless the seller you purchuse it from offers one.

Once you have a good device you're set.

The upside:

MP3/WMA playback with ID3 tags.

FM radio with FM recording (not listed in manual or ebay auctions. When in the FM screen hit the menu key and you'll find the record option at the bottom)

Decent AMV video playback by comparison to other ones I've used. Note in the image below that it does not rotate the image to use the full 1.5" display so the top and bottom have bars. Anything less than high quality settings produced images that I found unwatchable. On highest settings it was viewable fine. Almost like watching a TV with an antenna getting in a station pretty good but not perfect. It did tend to lose frames in high motion video. Conan/Letterman/Leno slow motion programs are idea for video playback. Video playback is acceptable all things considered however do not expect Archos etc quality playback.

Game feature: Some numbers game that was useless. If you press up it'll actually cause a fatal error and reset the device. This was the only bug I've found.

Photo viewer: decent. Not stealer but alright.

Ebook: It'll actually read .txt files! Too bad it can't write to them to make a low end pda.

Also records voice in wav format.

Manual on/off switch on top for hard reset if needed (never needed it).

Uses freeware programs (included on cd) like Media Player Classic along with the amv conversion program to convert divx files into amv video for playback. Will convert a variety of formats. I've tried divx and real media. Both worked great. I couldn't get vcd standard mpg working however. Just freezes the program.

A beta homebrew firmware is out there for the unit (txt writing and timer record FM radio would be awesome). Will post details when I track down the site.

Same small size and lightweight like the real Ipod Nano.

The downside:

Uses a 2.5mm headphone jack to be used with included headphones.

Had to tweak the setting in the program slightly to get proper playback of video files.

The usb plug on the wall charge is slightly off centre as is the jack for the headphones. Both are firm and work perfectly however.

Some ebay sellers have been modding the units to display twice as much space so when the person tries to load that much on or reformat the device it resets making reading feedback remarks and even contacting previous buyers important. Mine is fine - using about 246 mb out of a
possible 256.

It DOES scratch just like the real Ipods just as easily.

Be careful of sellers who say their in your country but actually ship from overseas. Expensive as hell shipping/insurance and there's no point since I'm in Canada and I could find more than one reputable dealer.

Ratings: A+ for what it is. Once they improve the video quality I would seriously consider getting a 1GB model (or if I find another pretty good deal)


Photos:

The included acc's (excluding the manual, usb cable and install cd)




Shiney silver headphones with a white base. Very Jetson-ish. It's a good thing I kinda like them since with the 2.5 mm jack I'm stuck with them lol.

The actual wall charger is really neat since it used the usb cable as the cord for it. Very portable. The actual tongs for the plug retract into the device. Be careful of auctions that may include a charger that will not work in your area. Ebay feed backs I've read have been burned by this.

Unit on with the FM feature:


Unit on with the amv video feature playing a live action video:

[Intruder_xo]

Hello there,

I just read your review for the MP4 Nano "HYFAI" and I was interested to know a bit more about it. Like how is the battery life on it (for example by just playing mp3), it seems some seller say sometime it can last up to 12 hours but from reading other forums it seems it doesnt.

Also I found Crhub Computer Store are selling those in Canada and they are in Toronto, is this the store you were mentionning? (from what ive seen they are the only one on eBay selling those in Canada)

Thanks
Sincerly
Fred

[SingSing]

Good and practical info for folks don't like to pay from APPLE and MS.
Yet Shame on another Chinese knock off.

Here's the site : http://yuehuada.cn.alibaba.com/

[NG]

Hello there,

I just read your review for the MP4 Nano "HYFAI" and I was interested to know a bit more about it. Like how is the battery life on it (for example by just playing mp3), it seems some seller say sometime it can last up to 12 hours but from reading other forums it seems it doesnt.

Also I found Crhub Computer Store are selling those in Canada and they are in Toronto, is this the store you were mentionning? (from what ive seen they are the only one on eBay selling those in Canada)

Thanks
Sincerly
Fred

Hmmm....I dunno if I wanna say where without Balrick's (site owners) permission. I will say this - everything people need to know is on the auction page.

The feedback page for ebay can be set to display up to 200 feedbacks per page giving a good sampling of how good stores are.

Often overseas sellers will have the item location in N.America or Europe but in the sea of text about the product it says "Ships directly from China" buried in the middle. A quick scroll to the bottom to see if the shipping/insurance charges reveal where they actually are.

If both those match up you should be set no matter where you get it.

I can't give an exact time on the battery life but I will say that with moderate use I've never *had* to charge it. Just decided I might as well. Battery life seems quite good however I'll try to get around to doing a more precise test.

I've had another person mail me asking on a like topic of how much video content the device holds - for those interested I believe it was just over 1.5 hours with a 256 model with a couple of albums in wma format. I'm also planning on doing a more precise test for this.

I also have not been able to track down that site with the beta firmware so if anybody has better luck with google keywords it'd rock if you could post it - I actually was in the middle of a chat there before i lost the link with the guy who brewed up the firmware.

I've also done some more playing with it and, like the FM recording, even tho it doesn't say so on the device it will play WMA's. I tried OGG but it was a no-go.

[NG]

Good and practical info for folks don't like to pay from APPLE and MS.
Yet Shame on another Chinese knock off.

Here's the site : http://yuehuada.cn.alibaba.com/

For me it's much more than not wanting to pay for Apple/MS. After all the 1gb version of this is only a few bucks less than the new 1 GB real Nano and you get real tech support/warrenty from Apple with that instead of having to deal with an ebay store.

The big thing for me is that this is the smallest PVP around that's decent and has an FM radio that can record. For me this kicks the Ipod Nano's ass. Apple could have already had my money if they had video support in the Nano's. And the fact that these folks have included a FM radio in this things proves that it's inclusion wouldn't increase the size of the Nano and that the FM add-on Apple is selling for like $50 is just a money grab.

Regarding the knock off thing - I know what you mean. It's actually a shame they sold themselves so short. They've made one hell of a device for what it is. If they just dropped the fake clickwheel in favour of just having buttons in it's place they could sell this in the store and make a real competition to the Nano. Oh - and they'll have to get rid of the 4 mp3's/AMV's that are pirated tracks from bands like Aqua as "sample" files.

[Intruder_xo]

Hmmm....I dunno if I wanna say where without Balrick's (site owners) permission. I will say this - everything people need to know is on the auction page.

The feedback page for ebay can be set to display up to 200 feedbacks per page giving a good sampling of how good stores are.

Often overseas sellers will have the item location in N.America or Europe but in the sea of text about the product it says "Ships directly from China" buried in the middle. A quick scroll to the bottom to see if the shipping/insurance charges reveal where they actually are.

If both those match up you should be set no matter where you get it.

Well I finally win the auction from Crhub last night for the NANO 512mb version and reading everything it really come from Toronto (Scarborough to be more precise) hey even need to pay GST . The seller seem to have good communication and good feedback (just a few exception of people complaining about shipping or that they didnt receive their items). Will see if everything will go well sometime in a few weeks.

I can't give an exact time on the battery life but I will say that with moderate use I've never *had* to charge it. Just decided I might as well. Battery life seems quite good however I'll try to get around to doing a more precise test.

Well for what its worth the seller told me I should get around 5 hours while playing MP3. Will see if it love up to it and if I can get more. I think making a more precise test would be good, since it will give a better idea on how good the device is. So your moderate use is to listen to it on the way to work or something? (which I intend to do a 45 mins trip to go and another 45 mins to come back)

I've had another person mail me asking on a like topic of how much video content the device holds - for those interested I believe it was just over 1.5 hours with a 256 model with a couple of albums in wma format. I'm also planning on doing a more precise test for this.

Well I think thats reasonable, I know the AMV format is compressing alot compare to MTV which is simply a uncompress raw format. And I did a conversion of a small clips which take about 1mb for 30 secs. So around 2mb/minute what it should be.

I also have not been able to track down that site with the beta firmware so if anybody has better luck with google keywords it'd rock if you could post it - I actually was in the middle of a chat there before i lost the link with the guy who brewed up the firmware.

I know they are one available at http://scrub50187.com/ I dunno if its the one your talking about. But use it at your own risk, it might be compatible since its base on a nano that look like the one youve got. The guy who sent the original was ASIAN_GUY in MovieCodec which you can find in this thread http://www.moviecodec.com/topics/7595p96.html#msg285143

I've also done some more playing with it and, like the FM recording, even tho it doesn't say so on the device it will play WMA's. I tried OGG but it was a no-go.

Yah something the docs arent up to date, or maybe it got lost in translation . I could ask my wife to translate for me if it still have the original chinese texte (shes chinese). Yah OGG isnt that popular, most of the player out there dont support it, they should since have no those royalties to pay afaik.

[NG]

Well I finally win the auction from Crhub last night for the NANO 512mb version and reading everything it really come from Toronto (Scarborough to be more precise) hey even need to pay GST . The seller seem to have good communication and good feedback (just a few exception of people complaining about shipping or that they didnt receive their items). Will see if everything will go well sometime in a few weeks.

Nice stuff. I suspect you'll be quite pleased . Re: GST. Yeah - that's one of the reasons I steared torwards the seller in my city with the 256 mb units esp since I'm in Ont so it'd be both taxes and the guy I got it from was just selling it for the auction end price. Iirc your stores feedback was above 99%. With that high feedback I'm betting those who left neg might be trigger happy.

Well for what its worth the seller told me I should get around 5 hours while playing MP3. Will see if it love up to it and if I can get more. I think making a more precise test would be good, since it will give a better idea on how good the device is. So your moderate use is to listen to it on the way to work or something? (which I intend to do a 45 mins trip to go and another 45 mins to come back)

I have a RCA 2780 Jukebox so if I know I'll have that kind of time to kill I'm still using that one and the Nano for just always carrying around incase I have 10 mins to kill here or there (I've tossed it full of short subject stuff). I have been playing with it around the house and left it on video by accident for about an hour or so and found that the charge only went down by about a 1/3 or so which makes the 5 hours MP3 sound very realistic.

Well I think thats reasonable, I know the AMV format is compressing alot compare to MTV which is simply a uncompress raw format. And I did a conversion of a small clips which take about 1mb for 30 secs. So around 2mb/minute what it should be.

Argreed. I didn't know the difference between amv and mtv when I got this but am glad I got a amv playback unit. For what it's worth I couldn't even get a MTV working on this unit. The video folder wouldn't recognize it and the MP3 section only gave me the audiotrack if I recall correctly. Doesn't really matter since amv seems to be superior overall.

I know they are one available at http://scrub50187.com/ I dunno if its the one your talking about. But use it at your own risk, it might be compatible since its base on a nano that look like the one youve got. The guy who sent the original was ASIAN_GUY in MovieCodec which you can find in this thread http://www.moviecodec.com/topics/7595p96.html#msg285143

There we go Thanks - now I can actually reply to scrubs lol.

I know what you mean about the firmware. I won't be touching it until others report sucess with my identical unit or if I get a 1 gig version in the future and I make this one my tester unit.

One thing I couldn't find was what this firmware improves. Txt writing? Timer FM recording? Increased quality for FM recording? New games (dare I hope tetris lol)? Better playback? Right now I can't really see why an upgrade would be necessary.

Yah something the docs arent up to date, or maybe it got lost in translation . I could ask my wife to translate for me if it still have the original chinese texte (shes chinese).

Thanks. That'd rock. Even just a skimming of the Chinese manual would be cool to see if it mentions any formats we don't know about. I'm not sure where to find a Chinese manual however. Perhaps the wholesalers link above has one. I tried going through it but got lost very quickly not understanding a word of Chinese lol.

Yah OGG isnt that popular, most of the player out there dont support it, they should since have no those royalties to pay afaik.

That's why I tried OGG instead of any other wacky formats since I assumed they'd include it b/c it was free however since they've ripped off Apple's design and included pirated music as sample files I'm betting that they're not paying codec royalities anyway for MP3/WMA. Including it in more legit devices does make sense tho - infact if I was put in charge of making a "honest" device of this thing I'd consider dropping both mp3 and wma and just have free audio playback formats like OGG to keep costs down.

One more new feature about this. I popped back in the install CD for it last night and saw a feature to install software on the PC which enables this thing to be used as a Telephone directory. Not sure if I'll ever use it but hey it's still kinda neat lol.

Also, and props to scrubs for this from the site above, after you install the video conversion software if you open up the amvtransform.ini file with notpad you can increase the framerate used to encode much high than the GUI for the program allows. I've upped it to full 29.97 and found only a small increse in size.That's part of the reason it's been tough for me to pinpoint the exact running time this supports since I've got the high setting videos mixed with my modified "ulta high" files along with a wackload of jpgs, fm recordings and wma's.

[starcentral]

Hello folks and NG, I too recently purchased the 512MB Ipod knock off and put a detailed review of it on my site www.hy-way.com if anyone is interested in reading it.

As mentioned in my write up I was originally looking for just an MP3 player to throw some audio books and music onto for some travelling I knew I would be doing... for the money this device is going to do a whole lot more then just play MP3s for me!

On mine I fit a full length feature movie 70 minutes (151MB) at the highest quality setting, 15 hours of MP3 Audio Books (209MB), 90 minutes of 160 to 190kbps MP3s (95MB) and a couple of photos to help give my digital player some identity.

Probably the coolest thing I've done with my player is convert a bunch of Spongebob cartoons to AMV for my daughter to watch on the airplane to pass time, she thinks it's the coolest thing... and so do I.

The use of the buttons still really annoy the hell out of me. I find I can only get them to do what I want HALF the time. It could just be me - NG any similar experience?

[directore]

For no seller initiated review of Chinese iPod nano clones check this out.
http://mysite.verizon.net/directore/iwin.htm

[starcentral]

I hope you weren't referring to my post, if you actually took the time to read through my site you would see they are not available for sale there, its just a review. Hopefully you read before you leap. I certainly wouldn't appreciate such an your accusation.

Since obviously you had ill dealings on ebay with your purchase you should try sorting it out with ebay. I know sometimes after the sale is complete it is difficult to do so and its not like issuing a negative feedback to the seller is going to make much difference when guys like this have sometimes dozens of sales per day.

The message for anyone making purchases on ebay is buyer beware! If it somewhat seems to suggest a brand name or trademark there is something wrong going on. If the price is substantially lower than what you'd expect to pay, then there has got to be a reason. Try contacting the seller before you bid on an auction no matter how soon the auction closes and eager you are to win that item you think might be the "last one". There will be more, selling for less so take your time and don't feel pressured. If the seller does not answer your questions then simply don't buy from him. If you won't reply during the sale he likely won't after the sale.

I've used ebay for ages now and even now myself am going through some disputes right now regarding back order items and subsequent shipping charges I shouldn't have to pay... the saga continues on my end.

Hope this helps anyone else who might be reading this!

[directore]

Do me a favor please, you appear to have a similar player. I'm unable to get this piece of .... to switch folders. I suspect that this particur firmware/player requires some special folder structure.
Simply having two folders on root level called say MUSIC1 MUSIC2 with mp3 files in them doesn't work to me. The player will no accept "local folder" command.

Tell me please exactly what your directory structure on a working player of this type is. Thanks.

Eternally grateful.

[starcentral]

I am able to browse any folder that I create on the device and play songs from it. Your firmware must be older and therefore creating the problem.

[directore]

Not for me. If you have this pc of "you know what" (the one shown on the right)

http://mysite.verizon.net/directore/nano1hcopy.jpg

tell me what exactly you see on LOCAL FOLDER screen (musac mode) . I see this

http://mysite.verizon.net/directore/PICT1005.jpg

(if I hit M, I see new screen with forward slash only, hitting M again takes me back to folder selection and with more Ms cycles between folder and slash screen indefinitely)

My FW is original 3.5.35 dated 2005/12/22 which I assume is the latest. Is that not true?

Model# is SC85024C.

[directore]

well the unit actually looks like this:

[directore]

and the musac interface on this unit is this:

[garman]

I found this unit on another website. I can't find any info on this product. Is it the same unit rebadged.



here is some information from the site:

Features:

* 1.5 inch 65536 real color OLED screen, cool design with full metal
* Support to download and play series media format (AMV format)
* Supported format: MP3 , WMA , WAV , ASF and MPV
* Digital record
* Electronic album , support JPG format photo
* E-book function, support txt file
* 5 international Language Supported: English , Simple Chinese, Traditional Chinese, German, French, Spamish, Italian, Dutch Polish, Portuguese, Swedish and Japanese
* Support ID3 lyric display in pace with song
* 6 kinds of EQ sound effect: Normal, Jazz, Disc, Pop and Classic
* Support ID3 display in pace with the lyric
* Flash disk storage function
* Operating System later than Windows 98 doesn't require driver installation
* Upgradable Firmware


Specification:

* Memory Capacity: 1GB
* Battery : Li-ion battery
* LCD: 1.5'' 128 x 96 pixel
* Size: 89 x 40 x 7 mm
* Weight : 42g (body)
* S/N ratio: >=85 Db
* Output power of earphone: 10mW (32 Ohm)
* With Built-In Speaker
* Frequency: 20Hz – 20KHz
* Recording sampling frequency: 8KHz
* Language: English, Simple Chinese, Traditional Chinese
* Support track compression rate: 8kps – 320 kps
* System Support: Windows 98/98 SE/ME/2K/XP, Mac OS 10, Linux 2.4.2

[braids]

Is there an issue with the folder structure for this unit? I have been reading various post throughout the internet about that you can't have subfolders (ex. RnB/Prince/Purple Rain) nor can you have personallized folder names (ex. Purple Rain) just MUSIC_1 and MUSIC_2? I would like to get one of these but the file structure would be a problem for me.

[garman]

Is there an issue with the folder structure for this unit? I have been reading various post throughout the internet about that you can't have subfolders (ex. RnB/Prince/Purple Rain) nor can you have personallized folder names (ex. Purple Rain) just MUSIC_1 and MUSIC_2? I would like to get one of these but the file structure would be a problem for me.

Here check out this forum:
http://forum.s1mp3.org/

I have have thumbed through this site. It scared me away from this unit. Anyway you may find the answers you are looking for. Just go to the forum that says "MP4 s1mp3" and I think general discussions may be the right place. Cheers -garman

[NG]

Boo!

Hey everyone. Just getting things back in order after getting into a car accident and rehab from whiplash etc so my apologies for not replying sooner.

I'm not going to wade into the discussion on the impartiality of reviews etc however I will say this - I don't know how someone can watch 70 minutes stright on this thing lol

As I tried to make clear this device has *alot* of flaws but also alot of strong points considering how much their selling them for.

I specifically ordered the cheapest one I could find on ebay (a 256 model for $50 all in Canadian - about $43 USD ) because I assumed it wouldn't be perfect - and it is far from perfect - however it does have alot of strong points - the biggest being it's the smallest video player I've seen with a screen that isn't 1/2 of an inch (and they also use the crappy AMV video format).

I have a full RCA 2780 A/V jukebox with a 3.5 inch screen if I think I'll be watching a real amount of video when I'm out but to toss this in my pocket when walking a couple blocks with a bunch of 5-10 minute short subject stuff for video is great (fits about 90 mins at the high setting) and then just to be able to flip over to FM is nice.

Sure the actual bitrate is low but it's perfect to grab news program on CBC Radio One or NPR when I have to stop listening.

Am I glad I didn't order the 1 gb of this device for $130 or so CDN all in - certainly! Do I love the 256 mb one I got for $50 - for sure

They are making improvments - the large picture above appears to be a revised version that looks thicker and has a speaker in the back. If this (or the new 2 gb versions) also playback the uncompressed MTV video format as well as the AMV then I would consider grabbing a 2 gb - but all the sellers of this device seem to copy eachothers text on ebay so I'm not sure of a way to tell for sure.

Hopefully the next revision will increase the screen size so you have to flip it around and it's a 16x9 widescreen with MTV to handle the extra picture quality that would be needed. If that happens I could seriosuly see getting a 2gb version if nothing else this small comes around the bend.

[NG]

I found this unit on another website. I can't find any info on this product. Is it the same unit rebadged.

Nope - this is a new entry. There used to be (we think) 3 different versions of the unit (for example - as you can see in the pics above) my menus look completely different than the ones posted by other users. However except for possible MTV video playback on some units in addition to AMV or instead of AMV they are all identical.

This one is a new design. Looks to be about twice as thick but has a mono speaker in the back. Personally I would have made the screen bigger instead but that's just me...

[NG]

For no seller initiated review of Chinese iPod nano clones check this out.
http://mysite.verizon.net/directore/iwin.htm

He does make a good point about the MAC thing. I've updated my review above.

[Dogberto]

Hi guys - as a newcomer to this debate, I would like to ask - how do you use the folder system on these things? If I want a certain album or track, I have to scroll through all the contents which doesnt seem right! Selecting anything from the menu system jsut doesnt seem to do anything, either I'm missing something or I've got a faulty one - fat chance I'll be able to swap it! Anyone else had these problems? If so, what did you do?

[aliasjanedoe]

I just got one of these and the click wheel doesn't work. I have to push a button about 20 times to get it to work, and sometimes it never works. Any ideas for how to fix this, or am I just out $100?

[Des]

Lots of info on these units here:
http://forum.s1mp3.org/

and tools and other goodies can be found here:
http://www.scrub50187.com/MP4.html

and while you're there the Chuck Norris page offers quite a few laughs.

--dES

[superfishnz]

You can also check out: www.MyMPxPlayer.org as well. They have a lot of information on this player as well as provide support, firmware and themes download as well.

Hope that helps.

[mp4guy]

can anyone help me fix my hyfai mp4 earphones in which one of them no sound comes out or can anybody tell me where to get new ones plz.somebody plz reply to this A.S.A.P

[SingSing]

What size is the plug ?

If it is a normal mini stereo, you can get it at Target/Walmart. If it is smaller, then it is most likely a sony style, get it at Bestbuy.

[SingSing]

Earphone with miniplug is normally 3.5mm. Cellphone like Nokia and Sony uses 2.5mm. Bestbuy and cellphone stores are good places to look for replacement earphone.

[tdb]

I have a questions about the HYFAI. I purchased one purely for music. I've downloaded a few folders of music. My problem is I can't seem to chose a specific folder. It keeps going back to the last song I listed to. The only way I seem to be able to get to another folder is by toggling through with the forward or previous button.

Any suggestion, maybe I'm just missing something.

HELP.

[NG]

I don't think these things can handle folders