If you want a full multimedia player, rather than simply requiring audio playback, you need one with a good LCD display and well-designed operating system. The iRiver X20 offers a bright, 56mm LCD and a number of different operating modes. The size and shape of a typical mobile phone, it includes a replaceable Li-Ion battery pack giving up to 22 hours of playback on a single charge, and is available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions.

The X20 plays back music files in MP3, WMA, ASF and OGG formats and the sound quality, through the supplied earbud headphones, is clear and balanced with plenty of volume. There's an internal speaker in the player, too, though the sound quality there isn't so good. It does mean you can more easily watch videos with other people, however.

And videos are well handled by the X20. You can optimise clips for playback, using the Plus 3 software, adjusting for the player's screen resolution and aspect ratio. If the internal memory isn't enough for your video, you can slot a Micro-SD card into the side of the player to increase it.

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As well as music and video playback, the player has a built-in FM radio, photo slideshow and a real-time recorder. This means you can record live through the microphone or directly encoded into MP3, via the line socket.

The weakest aspect of the X20 is what's meant to be one of its key features. The main menu comprises a series of icons arranged in a circle and you should be able to flick round them by rotating the white circular pad on the front of the X20 with your thumb. In fact, though, it's hard to get steady movement, as the surface of the wheel is too smooth to avoid slippage. Although the wheel is grooved, the grooves run concentrically and don't provide much grip. If they ran radially from the centre of the wheel, you'd get a better response.

iRiver's Plus 3 software handles transfers from your PC, but we had some problems with this, too. While it ran OK, there was a button missing. You're meant to be able to select the tracks, clips or photos you want to upload to the player and click 'the red transfer button'. Problem is, there is no red transfer button. The only way we could transfer files was to shift-click on them all and drag them down to the X20 pane, which is more awkward than a single button click.

Even given the problems we encountered with the rotary control and software on the X20, it's still a good player, offering sharp, bright video and excellent sound reproduction. The real-time encoding of recordings is a useful extra, too. There are no games or stopwatch, but overall this is a fair player for the money.