iriver B30: Ultra-slick media player stays in the closet

By Donald Bell on 05 June 2009, 12:00pm

iriver may not have the same brand recognition as iPod or Walkman, but the Korean company has consistently cranked out portable media players with slick modern designs and impressive graphical interfaces.

The iriver B30 is its latest effort, with a 71mm (2.8-inch) screen, microSD memory expansion, accelerometer control and a suite of features that includes music, video, photo, games and a text reader. The B30 also sports a DMB television tuner, which should mean we can pick up DAB radio on it if it ever comes to the UK -- price and availability here haven't been announced.

Thanks to this video of someone expertly manoeuvring the iriver B30 in the pitch-black darkness of a broom cupboard, we can appreciate the finer nuances of the product's interface. It looks pretty slick, bearing a resemblance to the magazine-style aesthetic we found on the iriver P7.

iPod competitors take note -- it is possible to make a refined, stylish interface without cloning Apple or rehashing outdated motifs. Kudos to iriver.