The Toshiba Gigabeat U Series is a value-priced 2GB MP3 player which, despite good pricing and solid sound, is marred by a number of issues which prevent it from drawing a solid rating.

The Gigabeat U is available in silver or black body colors. The player itself is somewhat thick for such a small player, sporting a rectangular shape and unremarkable design. External controls include a power/hold slider and four-way directional buttons. The four-way control we found made it easy to navigate the player's on-screen menus.

The U Series player also includes a 1.1-inch OLED display. Being that one of the features is the ability to display photos, we found the overall viewing experience to be average at best. Photos being shown were very small and somewhat grainy, making it hard to see finer details in certain images. We were also disappointed you couldn't listen to music while looking at photos.

We were happy with the sound quality of the music as it captured quite nicely highs and lows of various genres, especially backed by the multi-choice equalizer. The included earbuds put out a good sound as well, but as is the case commonly they were uncomfortable to wear after a short period of time.

As mentioned earlier, we found the four-way directional buttons helped make navigation of options on-screen easier. The on-screen menus are also well laid out. We liked the mix of information displayed for each playing song, though when you flip on an option to display cover music art, it makes the tiny screen too crowded.

In further tests of the U Series' features we found things we liked and didn't like. The FM radio works well, including the presets you can create. Battery life, advertised at up to 20 hours, did in fact go that long. The recording features, be it FM or line in, also worked as well as one would expect.

The Toshiba Gigabeat U Series, which can hold a maximum 480 songs, struggles to find its footing in a market saturated with similar products. It unfortunately has lacks much more than its price and sound to make it stand out in the pack.

Pros: Good price, rich sound, long battery life
Cons: included earbuds, small display

Warranty
1 year, limited