In this review I'm going to look into Pocket Tunes Deluxe 5.0, a feature packed, powerful media player for your windows mobile phone.
Introduction and Interface
I've been a user of Pocket Tunes ever since its launch for the Palm OS. It is a very functional and good looking media player for your Windows mobile phone. I'm going to look at it on a Windows mobile smartphone. After using this player the default Windows media player definitely does not cut it as a media player of choice for Windows mobile phone users.
Pocket tunes has a very minimalistic but functional interface. It comes with a default blue theme with the option to customize it with downloadable skins. Most of the control is accomplished via the D pad on your phone.
Features
Pocket tunes supports syncing with Itunes which also includes playlists. This is a really nice feature for those who are already using an Ipod on their computer. The 5 band equalizer is quite flexible and has the ability to create your own presets
Internet radio is supported. Last.fm allows you to receive personalised music recommendations. Podcasts can be downloaded or streamed. This is useful for those near a wireless network or with a good data plan.
Sound quality and other features
The sound quality is good and is only limited by your phones sound hardware. The possibility of fine tuning the sound allows you to configure the sound to increase the bass. The volume can be increased to a limit with no loss of sound quality.
Crossfading can be enabled though it does use up quite a bit of RAM. The music automatically pauses when a call arrives and resumes after the call ends. Album art can be displayed.
Bluetooth Stereo headsets are supported and it worked without any problems with my Motorola S9 headset.
Screenshots
Conclusion
Pocket Tunes provides a slew of features with a very usable interface. The customizability of the player should satsify even power users who intend to use their phone as their primary media player. The player is even usable in a car since it has big buttons which are easily controllable with a finger. The podcasting functionality is excellent and the audio quality is good. I did not experience any slow down even while using a fully loaded 4 GB card in my phone.
You can download a 15 day trial here and see if this player suits your needs. At $37.95 the player is a pretty good deal.