Customer Reviews

FINIS SwiMP3 v.2 Underwater MP3 Player - One Color One Fits All

5 star:		(78)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

I admit I was skeptical of the SwimP3 when I first heard about it. I didn't believe that a device could produce sound that I could hear through the water. Since I'm known among my friends as a swimmer, I inevitably got one as a gift last Christmas.

I have been loving the device since then! I had a rocky beginning with it because I wasn't using the (provided) earplugs. The real problem is not the volume of the device but how LOUD the pool water is rushing over your ears. You don't really notice just how loud it is until there's something to compete with it. The device comes with some ear plugs, and these are essential for good sound quality. Without earplugs you can still discern the sound, but not nearly at as high a quality as you can with.

The device works like it says -- the sound comes in directly through your skull; you can actually hear the music better underwater! The device is very small and can be worn on the back straps of any pair of goggles (it comes pre-attached to a pair). It fits behind the head at such an angle that does not cause any noticable drag in any stroke.

The goggles need to be worn rather tight for the device to be heard properly, but it's still more comfortable than those horrible Swedish goggles. The device comes with a pair of goggles that are pretty high quality. They are not as good as most other name-brand goggles, but they have lasted me through about 8 months of swimming so far. It would be easy for me to attach the device to a different pair.

For some technical aspects...

The device has a single port on it, which is sealable with a bendy rubber flap. The port resembles the kind on your computer you plug your mouse into (PS2), and appears to be well-sealed with some sort of clear epoxy. On top of that, the rubber flap snaps into place as an extra layer of water-tight protection. That single port comes with a cable that terminates on the other end as a USB plug. When this is plugged into the computer, it both allows you to transfer songs (it shows up as a portable hard-drive) and recharges the SwimP3.

The device is capable of holding 128 MB of MP3 files, which is a bit limiting, but is honestly plenty for a workout. You'd probably be fine encoding your music at 128 Kbps or even 96 -- this isn't exactly a high-fidelity device (you're not going to hear it underwater). The battery lasts a little more than two hours. I do not know if it supports VBR MP3 files.

The controls on the device are on/off, volume up/down, and track next/previous. There is no display on the device (you're supposed to wear it on the back of your head).

The workouts...

This device makes it much easier to swim long distances alone. Normally I find it hard to swim 4000 yards by myself in a pool, but workouts seem to go much faster listening to music. I had concerns that the device might be disruptive during group swim classes, but the device appears to be completely quiet to nearby listeners. I think it would be safe to use it on a swim team or during any other sort of group activity.

About me...

My background as a swimmer started with high school varsity as a short-distance freestyle sprinter. From there I spanned out into club and college intramural. I swim about 4 times per week, and this device makes the times I swim alone MUCH easier.

All in all, I would give this device 4 out of 5 stars -- extremely good for a first-generation device aimed at a tiny market. I am sure future generations will come with more space and better features (OGG support!). As it is, I would definitely recommend this to any technically-savy person who swims regularly. A very good buy!

This is probably the best device available for listening to music while swimming laps. I think most serious swimmers will be satisfied with the device but it stills leaves a bit to be desired.

The SwiMP3 attaches to your goggles and is worn on the back of the head. The controls are limited and there is no visual feedback beyond a single LED. This may be the only portable MP3 play in existence that does not use headphones. Instead, sound is transmitted through a pair of paddles that rest on your cheekbones in front of your ear. Sound is actually transmitted through vibrations in your skull. I've never tried any headphones designed to be used underwater, but my pre-purchase research indicated the SwiMP3's bone conduction would be a better solution to experiencing music while under water.

So how does it sound? Slightly better than an AM radio on a boat. While you can hear and enjoy music while swimming, don't expect crisp highs, thundering bass and rich nuances in the midrange. However, you can hear and enjoy music while swimming. Unlike the other reviewer, my SwiMP3 (ordered from another source) did not include earplugs - definitely something you will want to go along with this device. Even with earplugs, I don't find the sound very loud and I usually play mine at max volume. For me, the paddles rest on top of a set of rather full set of sideburns which may diminish the volume and audio quality of the music (haven't decided to shave them as a test yet). It definitely sounds much better underwater than out of the water.

Keep in mind this is a device for swimmers and not audiophiles. It's innovative design serves that purpose well. The SwiMP3 has been able play every MP3 I've copied to it - including high bit rate and VBR files. The audio quality and storage capacity doesn't really justify high bit rate files, but I don't want to re-rip my music. It's 128MB storage capacity is a bit limited but in my 1 hr. workouts, I've never drained the battery or completed a playlist. With only 3 buttons it can be tricky to operate since the same buttons do different things depending on how long they are held down (e.g. same button to raise volume or skip track). Without a visual display it can be difficult to determine if the shuffle or bass boost features have been enabled. I found the included goggles of high quality but a bit large for my face. I'm using it with a pair of Speedo goggles now but it does make the strap a bit tight.

Despite the limited controls, small storage capacity, and marginal sound quality - I really am glad I purchased this device. I now swim longer and more frequently and enjoy it much more.

This underwater mp3 player is fantastic! I've been waiting for something like this for years!

My sport of preference is swimming. The only problem I have with the sport is boredom. The Finis SwimP3 is a dream come true for me. I am amazed with the clarity of the music. The only way I can describe on how well it sounds underwater is... it sounds like listening to your car stereo with your windows rolled up.

I haven't done it yet, but the clarity of the music is so awesome that I'm 100% positive that you can listen to a audio-book without any problem on hearing the narrator.

If you are a lap swimmer, this will be money well spent. For me, it's worth every penny.

I admit I was skeptical of the SwimP3 when I first heard about it. I didn't believe that a device could produce sound that I could hear through the water. Since I'm known among my friends as a swimmer, I inevitably got one as a gift last Christmas.

I have been loving the device since then! I had a rocky beginning with it because I wasn't using the (provided) earplugs. The real problem is not the volume of the device but how LOUD the pool water is rushing over your ears. You don't really notice just how loud it is until there's something to compete with it. The device comes with some ear plugs, and these are essential for good sound quality. Without earplugs you can still discern the sound, but not nearly at as high a quality as you can with.

The device works like it says -- the sound comes in directly through your skull; you can actually hear the music better underwater! The device is very small and can be worn on the back straps of any pair of goggles (it comes pre-attached to a pair). It fits behind the head at such an angle that does not cause any noticable drag in any stroke.

The goggles need to be worn rather tight for the device to be heard properly, but it's still more comfortable than those horrible Swedish goggles. The device comes with a pair of goggles that are pretty high quality. They are not as good as most other name-brand goggles, but they have lasted me through about 8 months of swimming so far. It would be easy for me to attach the device to a different pair.

For some technical aspects...

The device has a single port on it, which is sealable with a bendy rubber flap. The port resembles the kind on your computer you plug your mouse into (PS2), and appears to be well-sealed with some sort of clear epoxy. On top of that, the rubber flap snaps into place as an extra layer of water-tight protection. That single port comes with a cable that terminates on the other end as a USB plug. When this is plugged into the computer, it both allows you to transfer songs (it shows up as a portable hard-drive) and recharges the SwimP3.

The device is capable of holding 128 MB of MP3 files, which is a bit limiting, but is honestly plenty for a workout. You'd probably be fine encoding your music at 128 Kbps or even 96 -- this isn't exactly a high-fidelity device (you're not going to hear it underwater). The battery lasts a little more than two hours. I do not know if it supports VBR MP3 files.

The controls on the device are on/off, volume up/down, and track next/previous. There is no display on the device (you're supposed to wear it on the back of your head).

The workouts...

This device makes it much easier to swim long distances alone. Normally I find it hard to swim 4000 yards by myself in a pool, but workouts seem to go much faster listening to music. I had concerns that the device might be disruptive during group swim classes, but the device appears to be completely quiet to nearby listeners. I think it would be safe to use it on a swim team or during any other sort of group activity.

About me...

My background as a swimmer started with high school varsity as a short-distance freestyle sprinter. From there I spanned out into club and college intramural. I swim about 4 times per week, and this device makes the times I swim alone MUCH easier.

All in all, I would give this device 4 out of 5 stars -- extremely good for a first-generation device aimed at a tiny market. I am sure future generations will come with more space and better features (OGG support!). As it is, I would definitely recommend this to any technically-savy person who swims regularly. A very good buy!

I admit I was skeptical of the SwimP3 when I first heard about it. I didn't believe that a device could produce sound that I could hear through the water. Since I'm known among my friends as a swimmer, I inevitably got one as a gift last Christmas.

I have been loving the device since then! I had a rocky beginning with it because I wasn't using the (provided) earplugs. The real problem is not the volume of the device but how LOUD the pool water is rushing over your ears. You don't really notice just how loud it is until there's something to compete with it. The device comes with some ear plugs, and these are essential for good sound quality. Without earplugs you can still discern the sound, but not nearly at as high a quality as you can with.

The device works like it says -- the sound comes in directly through your skull; you can actually hear the music better underwater! The device is very small and can be worn on the back straps of any pair of goggles (it comes pre-attached to a pair). It fits behind the head at such an angle that does not cause any noticable drag in any stroke.

The goggles need to be worn rather tight for the device to be heard properly, but it's still more comfortable than those horrible Swedish goggles. The device comes with a pair of goggles that are pretty high quality. They are not as good as most other name-brand goggles, but they have lasted me through about 8 months of swimming so far. It would be easy for me to attach the device to a different pair.

For some technical aspects...

The device has a single port on it, which is sealable with a bendy rubber flap. The port resembles the kind on your computer you plug your mouse into (PS2), and appears to be well-sealed with some sort of clear epoxy. On top of that, the rubber flap snaps into place as an extra layer of water-tight protection. That single port comes with a cable that terminates on the other end as a USB plug. When this is plugged into the computer, it both allows you to transfer songs (it shows up as a portable hard-drive) and recharges the SwimP3.

The device is capable of holding 128 MB of MP3 files, which is a bit limiting, but is honestly plenty for a workout. You'd probably be fine encoding your music at 128 Kbps or even 96 -- this isn't exactly a high-fidelity device (you're not going to hear it underwater). The battery lasts a little more than two hours. I do not know if it supports VBR MP3 files.

The controls on the device are on/off, volume up/down, and track next/previous. There is no display on the device (you're supposed to wear it on the back of your head).

The workouts...

This device makes it much easier to swim long distances alone. Normally I find it hard to swim 4000 yards by myself in a pool, but workouts seem to go much faster listening to music. I had concerns that the device might be disruptive during group swim classes, but the device appears to be completely quiet to nearby listeners. I think it would be safe to use it on a swim team or during any other sort of group activity.

About me...

My background as a swimmer started with high school varsity as a short-distance freestyle sprinter. From there I spanned out into club and college intramural. I swim about 4 times per week, and this device makes the times I swim alone MUCH easier.

All in all, I would give this device 4 out of 5 stars -- extremely good for a first-generation device aimed at a tiny market. I am sure future generations will come with more space and better features (OGG support!). As it is, I would definitely recommend this to any technically-savy person who swims regularly. A very good buy!

Since my knee injury, biking & swimming are my best workouts but swimming laps was quite boring after the first 15 minutes. Then one day I read an article about Finis in the business section of my paper, and found mostly positive Amazon reviews and decided to splurge.

I feel like my life has changed. I often swim up to an hour and the SwiMP3 has kept my sanity. I'm swimming longer and stronger - much easier to stay motivated and the time flies by.

It is amazing how good this sounds, once you stick your head in the water. Breast stroke and freestyle are fine, but can't quite hear it when using the kickboard, since my head is out of the water the whole time and my outdoor pool has a lot of ambient noise from the kids' swim team at the time I swim and in the flight path of the airport. Might work okay in quieter pools. I think that my brain fills in the songs when my head is above water during breast stroke - can still hear it, but sounds tin-can-like, but just for a moment, if I'm concentrating on it (hope this makes sense).

Relatively easy to load tunes, now that I figured it out with some help from emailing tech support - they got back to me within 12 hours.

I purchased mine for about [...] below Amazon's best and with free shipping (shop around online).

OK, I love to swim. I am trying to lose weight and I hate to sweat, so swimming is a great cardio choice for me. But, then, there was the boredom. When you do anything else cardio you can listen to your mp3 player, right? Not so much with swimming. Counting laps, making up blog posts, shopping lists, design ideas for my store...just, your mind goes wild with things that frankly, are frustrating, cuz you cannot do a thing about ANY of them while you're doing laps. I always thought, "If I just had some music...", but when I looked for it in the past the technology was for only the very elite. Several hundred dollars that I was unwilling to spend. I recently found a cheap [forty bucks] mp3 player at my local Fry's. It was not a case, but a waterproof mp3 player, with a pair of earplugs that looked like clear, soft rubber Christmas trees. I used it about 4 times...and honestly, even though the sound was just so-so, and if water got past the Christmas trees it was pretty much gone...it was still very cool. I could hear the music for most of my workout [an hour of laps] and I would have been tickled. As it happens...I have sissy ear canals. I can't wear any kind of ear plugs, not even the foam ones, for any length of time...and I am talking minutes...without breaking down the skin inside my ears. Then I have days of crusting and healing before I can wear them again. I thought if I just kept redoing the process it would toughen up in there. But at one point my left ear was nearly crusted shut. So sad.

Back to the drawing board. I researched some more and found something called "bone conduction technology" in reference to underwater music players. Used to be very expensive. VERY. Now? It's not so pricey!! This player did drop fifteen dollars from the time I ordered it to the time I received it...one day. Meh.

Anyhow, I got my SwiMP3 v2 on Saturday and I put almost 3 hours of my favorite workout music on it over the weekend. It was very easy using Windows Media Player 11. Totally drag and drop. It is small as far as storage, but it is plenty long for my 1-2 hour swim workout.

I used it for the first time Monday. And...O.M.G. Awesome is not even close to how cool this is. First, it doesn't go IN your ear. I repeat - NOT IN YOUR EAR! It clips to the strap on your goggles and the speaker part [the large end in the picture] sits below on the skin in front of your ear, near your cheekbone. This conducts the sound through the bone directly to the inner ear. It was loud and crisp and wonderful...then I put my head under water. My ears filled with water and...LOUDER, CRISPER, even MORE wonderful! I stopped and asked my lane mate if he could hear it. He said, "Hear what?" I lifted the speaker from my cheek and he leaned in and said, "OH! I can now..." It sounded for all the world like the whole Natatorium could hear it! I swam for an hour and the only thing that changes the sound is when your head comes out of the water. I usually swim with a snorkel, but did a few laps without to test this. Seems to be a bit more noise in my ears from turning and lifting my head to breathe...so it interferes slightly in hearing the music. But really, not very much. I have no idea how this thing is waterproof, but it seems to be, and is just completely amazing.

I can't find anything wrong with this device. Adjusting the volume is easy, just push and hold the up or down arrow buttons. Changing songs, one touch to the up or down arrow buttons moves you one song back or forward in your list. I can only see one issue with it. I am certain to want to swim MORE [today I did over an hour, 1.5 miles - 54 laps] and might very well hurt myself with this...heh.

UPDATE: Still using this after almost 3 years! I use it nearly every day in the summer...my only complaint is that the folks at audible.com and Finis will not play nice together so I can listen to my audiobooks on my SwiMP3v2. *sigh* Otherwise? Still awesome after all these years.

I have owned both models, the one that fit on the back of your head, and the current model. They both suffered from the same problem and that is these units can only be charged so many times before the battery goes dead. Unfortunately, there is no disclaimer of this point on the packaging. The unit is great when it works, but no so great when it "gives up the ghost" after so many charges. At $180 a pop, the unit becomes an expensive toy based on the problem mentioned above.

I read numerous reviews before purchasing this item. The reviews were mixed but I am quite pleased. Some commented that there is insufficient volume such that you need to wear earplugs. I have not found that to be the case but maybe that is just because where and when I swim it is less noisy. It would be nice if I could load more songs and, although I find the sound quality to be quite good, there is room for improvement. I would say that the sound quality is roughly that of a good AM radio except this is in stereo. I swim everyday and this certainly helps to relieve the boredom. The only drawbacks I can think of are that you look kind of like a dork (but I have a number of dork like qualities anyway), the music can distract you from such things as counting laps, and I am now dependent. When my battery ran out of juice half way through my morning's swim this morning, I really missed the music. Oh, and I also bought a number of albums just for swimming including the soundtrack to Das Boot (did I mention that I have several dork like qualities?) and a number of Yoyo Ma pieces.

I should mention that it is as easy as pie to load songs onto this player. You just drag and drop. I guess there is a manager that can help you but I would rather do it myself anyway.

I bought this for my girlfriend who swims two or three times a week. She absolutley LOVES it. She told me today that the ONLY thing wrong with it is that she keeps hitting the wall. Apparently she used to count strokes (back stroke) to tell her how close she was getting. Now the music takes her mind off each and every monotonous stroke that she forgets to turn around. It's VERY simple to use and has a rechargable battery too.