RCA S2501 Jet Stream

RCA's new S2501 Jet Stream is geared toward gym goers and offers a wireless listening experience, but it doesn't use Blue tooth to achieve it.

The new technology, from Kleer, operates between 2,400 MHz and 2,480 MHz and sounds much better than Bluetooth 2.0 audio (which, frankly, isn't hard to do), but the ear buds that come with the Jet Stream, while providing decent range, are uncomfortable and don't fit securely in your ears, spoiling the audio quality.

Throw in a tiny 1GB of storage, a dismal interface, and limited video and photo viewing capabilities, and you've got a player that disappoints in the gym and everywhere else.

In an attempt to woo the workout crowd, the Jet Stream features a built in pedometer, a stopwatch, and a water resistant body. In fact, the device looks more like a sports timepiece than a portable media player. The water resistant rubber and plastic exterior houses a tiny 1 inch display and an iPod esque control panel.

The buttons on the panel, unlike those of an iPod, are often very hard to press in all the way. The lower panel of the player has flip open rubber covers hiding a mini USB connector and the headphone jack. Up top there's a menu and a wireless on-off button. Both wired and wireless earphones are included.

The quality of the former is predictably subpar, but the quality of the latter is more troubling, in that they could deliver decent sound if the fit were better. The end result is ear buds that sound good only when you press them firmly into your ears but otherwise lack any real low end. This seriously compromises the wireless experience.

(Admittedly, though, sound quality might be less of an issue in the gym than in other listening situations.) Plus, the wireless ear buds look a bit goofy with their optional ear clip stabilizers and a connecting, behind the neck cable.

Another drawback is an interface that's incredibly frustrating to navigate. Selecting a menu with the central button actually selects the first file and starts playing it. Yes, the central button is play or pause, but the menu wants you to use the forward button to select the menu and navigate it not very intuitive.

Also, even though the tiny display manages to cram in some useful information, including file type and bit rate, it uselessly attempts to display album art in a square smaller and at a seriously low budget 96 by 96 resolution. Why bother?

The Jet Stream handles JPEG photos and video with Xvid with AVI extensions only, so you'll need to convert most of your files with the provided software. Alas, viewing photos and videos is not the Jet Stream's strong suit.

If you were to replace the two included sets of earphones with a better pair, you'd discover some decent audio quality, but seeing as that would eliminate the wireless capability of the device its claim to fame this fact is beside the point. The file support is also a bit of a disappointment. It can handle only WMA, MP3, and Audible files.