Performance Summary...
Throughout our performance tests, the Rio Forge Sport did quite well. Majority of the music genres sounded well with the pitch, highs, lows and mids all sounding intact and without too much exaggeration and general disturbance. The volume levels also performed well, however, we did notice amplification of sound at the very high level. Once we turned down the volume level a bit, the audio sounded very normal.
The usage went just as well, and other than the ability to control the player single handedly, the remaining options worked flawlessly. That said the FM radio functionality was a disappointment in itself, as we either failed to capture the local stations or there was far too much static to get a clear audio reception. Combine the static with sound exaggeration at the highest volume setting, and you have a pitiful mixture of enjoyment.
The Rio Forge sports a great number of additional features including a stopwatch, sports case with armband, 20 hours of battery life and the already mentioned pair of earphones as well as the Rio Music Manager application. The earphones are above average than what competing MP3 players provide, which gives Rio somewhat of an edge when it’s compared directly to its competition. But considering that many of you will already have a selected pair of earphones or headphones, that shouldn’t matter too much to you. The Rio Music Manager is also a nice application with impressive features and a generally smooth layout.
As it currently appears, the Rio Sport Forge is a player with mixed results. The negative aspects of the player aren’t too terrible, but they can definitely be more refined. Rio’s Forge Sport is currently being retailed around $90.00 (for 128MB), which certainly makes it one of the most affordable audio players in the market. It would be difficult for you to find a player that matches in performance at such a price point with good audio quality.
If the disorganized buttons and FM radio option is not your concern, Rio Forge Sport is worthy of your attention.
