![NAXA Electronics NPB-257 Portable MP3/CD Player, AM/FM Stereo Radio and USB Input (Black/Blue)]({"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81gVUwMQgeL._AC_SS130_.jpg":[130,130],"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81gVUwMQgeL._AC_SS260_.jpg":[260,260],"https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81gVUwMQgeL._AC_SS390_.jpg":[390,390]})
I needed a portable music player that I could take to my garage while I'm working there on the weekend, or use during power outages (I am stationed overseas where that happens all too frequently). I was primarily looking for something that would play MP3s on a SD card or USB thumb drive. Unfortunately, the "name brand" offerings were not at all what I was looking for, at least at a reasonable price. I saw a lot of boom boxes that still had cassette players (the 80's called and they want their technology back!), CD players that may or may not play MP3 CDs, and maybe an "Aux” input but that was it for the most part. Then I came upon this item, which seemed to have all the features I was looking for at a fairly low price. My only question was, "Who the heck is Naxa???!!” I had never heard of the brand before but decided to take a chance, given the low price and mostly positive reviews.
My gamble paid off. I have had this player for 4 months now and I am quite pleased with the purchase. It does everything I need it to do. It accepts a variety of media (SD card, USB thumb drive and MP3 or Audio CD) in addition to the AM/FM radio. The sound quality is actually much better than I expected at this price point. I agree with other reviewers that the volume is limited but it gets loud enough for my needs (and for those that still have kids in the house, that may be a good thing!). The digital display shows the MP3 tag data, although it scrolls through it a bit slowly and of course, no album art. Still, it's far better than displays I have seen on more expensive models.
A couple very minor gripes (resulting in a 4-star grade instead of 5 stars): I'd be happier if the radio function had a digital tuner but a manual tuner is almost unavoidable at this price point. Also when playing MP3s from SD or thumb drive, the player does not "remember" where you left off if you have to turn it off or switch to another mode. That might be a concern for someone using audio-books or other extended-length tracks (e.g. Podcasts). Not a problem in my case.
I’ll also mention that I use the player on batteries almost all the time. My first set of 8 "C" batteries (Energizers) lasted for 4 months with somewhat sporadic use (once or twice a week). Decent, I suppose, but I was hoping for less battery drain. Maybe my expectations were too high, though. By the way, other than the digital display getting dim, there is no “low battery” warning.
To sum it up, for a very low price you get reasonably good performance and lots of flexibility as far as playable media. You are not going to get an audiophile experience but to get that, you'd need to pay much more (and possibly get fewer features). All in all, you can count me as a highly satisfied customer and I would recommend this item to others.
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Customer reviews
After several months of use, the USB port (to insert flash drives with mp3 files) had broken off. So I took the housing apart to take a look—and was stunned by what I found. Never before have I seen a circuit board that looked like this. Were the workers who assembled this masterpiece drunk? Did they need to go the bathroom really badly? Or is this their way of protesting against miserable labor conditions? Judge for yourself by the pictures. The capacitators bent into all directions, the threads and big globs of hot glue in between…there is nothing manipulated here; this is how this thing left the factory.The USB port, it turned out, had fallen off completely—which was not too surprising given that it had obviously not been very solidly attached in the first place. Somehow I managed to re-solder the four connections which had also broken off and to reinstall it, hopefully, a bit more firmly. For now, this thing is working again, so I suppose it should get one out of five stars for that. Needless to say, I would never have bought it had I been able to take a peek inside beforehand.
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Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 31, 2013
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Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 24, 2015
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Top reviews from other countries
Jesus
I like my stereo naxa
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 27, 2015Product Packaging: Standard PackagingVerified Purchase
Daphney Laraque
not worth it
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 12, 2015Product Packaging: Standard PackagingVerified Purchase
pacster
Great for playing mp3s
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on October 3, 2014Product Packaging: Standard PackagingVerified Purchase
Amazon Greg
Great while cooking
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on February 9, 2017Product Packaging: Standard PackagingVerified Purchase
Krystina
I was disappointed, but Amazon is good about returns
Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 25, 2014Product Packaging: Standard PackagingVerified Purchase
