Oakcastle mp3 player review (MP100, bluetooth and clip)

[@TIATechIsAmaze]

Very well made video, you covered a lot in 6 minutes! also the transition when you signed off and the music took over was just 🔥🔥🔥

[@Johangd]

A review just like it has to be! Thank you so much!

[@RJandGuitar]

Excellent review (Oakcastle 100 MP3 player), very helpful thanks.

[@DesiDadReviews]

A lot of information covered very well. Great choice in music too!

[@kenwbrenner]

Nish - very nicely done! I'm in the market for a simple clip MP3 player, and found this one on Amazon. Your excellent review will aid me in making a purchasing decision. Thanks!11

[@nish_ttp]

Great to hear it helped you out Ken!

[@WestEnd308]

I enjoy you review, Nash. Besides your technical knowledge, your British enunciation is quite pleasant to hear.

[@htkm1179]

Awesome review! Very professional and informative! SOLD!! thank you!

[@amk8411]

Really good review Mr. Nish. 👍

[@ShinyTechThings]

Wow that was a Lot of info pretty quick, thanks!

[@nigelsnow5357]

Excellent video answering all my questions I had cheers Nish

[@patrickbut-not-a-saint9418]

Well done Nish. Succinct, informative, and very clear. As good as any presenter on BBC or other mainstream media.

[@hegilento]

Very comprehensive, no messing about, keep making videos Nish :)

[@ytcer]

Just fyi you missed the dedicated volume buttons on the victure vs oakcastle's hold switch. People who'll be wearing it exposed all the time (working out) would probably consider permanent volume buttons more helpful. People who shove it in a crowded pocket (for public transport, etc) probably think a hold button's an important point. Thanks for the tour, I'll be back for more

[@nish_ttp]

That's a really good point, thanks for raising it!

[@woodentie8815]

Just got mine out of hibernation (to listen to audiobooks rather than use pc. I see now these have doubled in price! Good video.

[@mo8748]

When I could not find the audio specs output (16 bit I don't think so ) and I read some ones experience of the Bluetooth connection being so easy broken, that was enough for me!

[@nish_ttp]

Bluetooth has been okay for me so far fair enough

[@Panzerlang]

Just ordered one for shuffling tunes to my bluetooth earbuds on the motorbike. Hooning music. Nice review dude. :)

[@nish_ttp]

nice, hope it works well for you!

[@ibob-nh6vu]

very nice job, super professional and thorough

[@issuepunkzine]

I am not happy with my Oakcastle MP200 - the bluetooth won't sync with my car (so I use a wired speaker) and when playing by artist, it will only play a single album then stop - it won't automatically go to a second or third album, which is what I need on long car journeys.

[@sheldonsmith1739]

I bought that MP3 player. The down side of it is that I found when playing in Bluetooth mode, the signal was easily interrupted. I could interrupt the signal by putting my hand over the player or if the player is clipped on your pocket just walking causes signal to break up

[@nish_ttp]

That's a fair point, I only noticed this recently as I was used it wired before. I imagine it is not the most robust bluetooth chip or whatever

[@piroozpakdel9415]

Thank you . Very good review of basics. I wish you would have commented if this has a factory reset of any kind.

[@nish_ttp]

There is an option to do factory reset if that's what you mean!

[@piroozpakdel9415]

@@nish_ttp outstanding. Thanks. Yes I was wondering. Sometimes this is a life saver. Just in case.

[@davec5511]

the tiny hole is a button you use a pin to press if your mp3 doesnt turn on

[@kobalt77]

Good review Nish. I used my Oakcastle today for the first time this morning and I am very pleased with it. The last player I had ( Supereye ) had touch screen controls, and it was virtually impossible to fast forward or rewind a track or Podcast without it jumping to the next track, SO annoying, and after a year the on/off button stuck in solid so I had to bin it. This one is a dream to use. Well laid out and easy to navigate. I mainly listen to Podcasts, but I can see how the Music playlist side of things may be a bit iffy. I will have to get some music on to mine first to try it out. Yes, tons of volume, and on the podcast the sound was very clear and natural, again I have no idea how it will handle Bass etc. Graphic Equalisers are a bit of a con, music is recorded and mixed by professionals who generally get it perfect, I cannot see the need to tamper with this, unless you have super sensitive hearing and need to cut a certain frequency. . This may be the best small MP3 player I have bought yet !

[@nish_ttp]

Good to hear you are enjoying it! I can imagine a touch screen on a cheap device like this just won't end well

[@kobalt77]

@@nish_ttp Lesson learned my friend. 🙏 thanks again.

[@rettenthetetlen8759]

Hi. How do you like the player so far? What do you think about the bass and music quality, battery life? Is it freezes out often? Thanks

[@kobalt77]

@@rettenthetetlen8759 I love it, it is such a joy to use after the previous 2 I have owned. The buttons are so easy to use and to navigate with, battery life great for my needs, and the sound is crystal clear. The sound on any MP3 player has more to do with the quality of the headphones you use. I mostly listen to podcasts so it is perfect, and tons of volume too. PS It has never froze on me.

[@LaughterOnWater]

I'm curious how low you can get the volume. I like to listen to audiobooks while I'm falling asleep. With a Sandisk Clip Zip and Rockbox, you can get the volume down to about -60db so it's just barely audible, but the range of the audio is still clear. What's the low end of the audio volume like on this machine? Sansa Jam and Clip Sport Plus don't offer Rockbox compatibility, and like the Clip Zip (without Rockbox) the audio is still _way_ too loud to fall asleep to at its lowest setting. Can this be set so that you can _just barely_ hear someone reading a book?

[@nish_ttp]

Hmm I would say that the lower end of volume isn't super duper quiet, but there aren't measurements. However one potential solution (presuming you have the audio books in a standard audio format) would be to use audacity to De-amplify the files, that way you can be sure!

[@LaughterOnWater]

@@nish_ttp Thanks Nish!

[@galaxyghost1340]

I got mine and for some reason sometimes it just randomly turns off? Does anybody else have that issue?

[@Kaapstad420]

What sucks about this devices is that playlists are limited to 100 tracks each. Anyone know if firmware updates can be a solution to this?

[@nish_ttp]

ah that's a bummer thank you for pointing that out. I wouldn't have too much faith in their software updates to be honest

[@stevenkelly4243]

Try just putting loads of tracks in one folderusing PC that should allow hundreds of tracks, just name the folder playlist!

[@theseshcave7581]

well thats me sold thank you for the review

[@maidenslayer]

The battery life don't seem too long to me though although I was using Bluetooth earphones. I'm not sure if that would make a difference? It is a good MP3 player though.

[@nish_ttp]

Yeah, bluetooth uses a lot of battery. It will last at least 2x as long wired.

[@karlliu5580]

does it support song title in Korean, Chinese and Japanese ?

[@its_just_gab9225]

It does I believe, I’m not exactly sure why it wouldn’t but I don’t see a problem

[@its_just_gab9225]

I have one of these myself and have had no problems downloading podcasts and songs regardless the language

[@nish_ttp]

It has these languages in the language settings of the player so I don't see why not!

[@crackerjack2.099]

you can make playlists by pressing m also

[@coondogtheman]

This player has FM recording. How is the audio quality of recorded FM? Is it in stereo and does it have changeable record quality settings?

[@nish_ttp]

I haven't tested it I'm afraid but I wouldn't be expecting much from it to be honest

[@TIATechIsAmaze]

Avenged sevenfold!! 2:18, we have A LOT to discuss

[@nish_ttp]

Haha, tbf this is my music collection spanning like 10 years ago to present, so it's a mix!

[@johnwest6690]

I haven't fully watched the video yet, but does this MP3 pause instantly? My Sandisk one takes .3 seconds to pause usually and it can be annoying. More importantly though, is there a way to enter/quickly skip to the mid/end of a song? I'm sick of having to press the fast forward button for a good 10 minutes trying to get back to the part of a podcast I was listening to with my current sandisk mp3.

[@nish_ttp]

The pausing is near instant but maybe a slight delay, if the screen has timed out then it takes 2 presses too (1 to power up and 1 to pause). The fast forwarding is pretty poor, you hold and then it starts cutting forward (accelerates a little). It does remember where you were in the track though.

[@matttrisha435]

Can you use Bluetooth headphones to listen to the FM radio with this device ? Or does it have to have the wired headphones in to listen to the radio (like EVERY other radio) I’m DESPERATELY Trying to find a portable pocket fm or dab radio for my dad to listen to using Bluetooth headphones,,,, have you any recommendations??

[@nish_ttp]

Afraid it's the weird antenna headphones thing. Only option I can suggest is there are some good mobile apps for radio listening!

[@drewphifer4684]

I just got this off amazon and my menu does not even have Text, Photos, Videos, or Pedometer. Also is there a way I can play all the songs on shuffle without having to put them into one folder?

[@nish_ttp]

It appears the software might have changed but honestly those features are next to useless so I wouldn't worry. If you want to shuffle everything - go on Music, then 'Playlists' then 'All songs'

[@drewphifer4684]

Thanks but when I go to 'Playlist' then 'All songs' it only shows the stuff in the internal memory and I cannot figure out how to get it to play everything on the SD card

[@nish_ttp]

@@drewphifer4684 Okay so I figured it out - it's a real weird software quirk. What I want you to try is go to the main menu and the files option, then just navigate around your sd card to any folder, then return back to the main menu, go to music menu, playlists and all songs and it should work (if not, try the 'refresh playlists' option in music too). The software truly is abysmal, I probably wasn't critical enough of it in the review!

[@johnchampion7819]

Thanks for the info, well presented.

[@mnshp7548]

Great video thankyou very much

[@TW39]

Hi does it play music good on bluetooth wireless headphones ive just got a mp4 player cheap not branded and when I bluetooth it to my wireless headphones and play music it skips 2 seconds at the start when i play music and its a 4.2 bluetooth mp4 player

[@nish_ttp]

Its been decent for me so far, I would say to keep it clipped outside your pocket though. Generally not the greatest bluetooth performance though.

[@TW39]

Hi I dont know why its skips 2 seconds at the start off playing music from my SD card on mp4 player with wireless bluetooth headphones on never had that problem before

[@fthprodphoto-video5357]

Very nice review thanks a lot

[@kattam312]

nice!!!! maybe a review of your piano? looking to buy a Beginner piano.

[@nish_ttp]

Cheers! Might be a break from reviews for a lil bit. I have the Roland fp10 and highly highly reccommend it, really good piano style action.

[@kattam312]

@@nish_ttp yhhhhh, I mean if you are open to receive ideas, videos with latest lifestyle tech will be welcomed (provided you can buy and return them after review) aswell as vlogs or day in the life might be a worthwhile experiment.

[@seanbusiness6052]

Hey! sorry for being informal with a comment, i tried looking for your email or business contact but cant find one. Id like to collaborate on a project, you have an excellent voice for narration. If you see this, contact me at; [e-mail] We can chat on zoom/skype if possible so you can put a face with the name. this channel has potential man dont give up! Already subbed!

[@kayuh991]

Next video idea: how to download music to oakcastle mp3

[@lauratrant7943]

yes please, I still haven't figured it out!

[@kobalt77]

Hooked it up to my laptop via USB and just dragged and dropped, so easy.

[@kobalt77]

@@lauratrant7943 Hooked it up to my laptop via USB and just dragged and dropped, so easy.

[@johnchung1420]

It says to add files, "select charge and transfer" but mine wont do that? How do I add files to the device?

[@nish_ttp]

Hmm so when you plug it into the computer it should automatically be recognised as a storage device.

[@kpjlflsknflksnflknsa]

Hi there, Thanks very much for this review. It's helped to inform my decision a lot. Re connecting bluetooth headphones to the device. You made it sound like you'd need to turn on bluetooth and connect the headphones each and every time you switched on the device. Is that correct? It sounds cumbersome. Forgive me but I don't know all that much about technology. I just want to connect wireless bluetooth headphones to a device like this so that I can go running whilst listening to music without a cord getting in the way. Cheers!

[@nish_ttp]

Once you have paired the bluetooth headphones in the process shown in the video it will remember them and search for them when you turn the player on - hope this helps!

[@TIATechIsAmaze]

Blink 182! I see you're a man of culture as well 1:56

[@nilaangeles7006]

One question, I have a Bluetooth headset and can that mp3 music be played without Wi-Fi To go out on the street ??

[@nish_ttp]

Yes, you can use this player by bluetooth (this is how I like to use it) - though the battery life is better if using wired heapdphones.

[@monokendo]

do you know if this will connect to 5.2 bluetooth earbuds?

[@nish_ttp]

Yep, though Bluetooth is backwards compatible so I think the 'quality' of the connection wouldn't necessarily be 5.2 but whatever version this player has!

[@djbgatekeeper]

Great video thank you.

[@LadyOrland0_]

I bought this mp3 and it worked well until one day it decided that, connected to the computer, it will only charge. So now I'm not able to add music. Anyone else had this issue?

[@nish_ttp]

Mine comes up with a dialogue menu on the device to select charge+transfer vs charge only. Maybe a factory reset on the device is worth doing. Try a different PC too!

[@roymckeag8677]

All my music is on a card and selected music plays fine with headphones. Bluetooth works however it doesn't play what I have selected but some random album. Any ideas anyone?

[@nish_ttp]

that is really strange, all I can suggest is a factory reset sorry

[@roymckeag8677]

@@nish_ttp Thanks anyway. Have now discovered it will play any music on my wired headphones but Bluetooth will not work with M4P files on this device (ipod works fine with same selection). I have a mix on my card so if it finds an M4P it seems to just randomly play an MP3. Poor but I'll keep it anyway.

[@SlipperyJack60]

Mine has a long long battery life. However, it isn't recognised by my laptop now so I can't add any more songs. That's a bit of a pain. In fact, it's a lot of a pain. If anyone knows of a way to sort this, I'm all ears.

[@nish_ttp]

Same thing has happened to me, damn windows 11! Only optioneft is to use the sd card only

[@SlipperyJack60]

@@nish_ttp Ah yes, I didn't think of that. I was just using it without the SD card. I'll have to do that. Thanks for reminding me.

[@wagnsonner]

What's the largest SD Card it can handle? I tried 128GB and it's fine.

[@nish_ttp]

I probably wouldn't go much bigger than that!

[@killingbeatrice9788]

Hello everyone, my mp100 suddenly not detected by my pc (before it worked now not anymore) can someone help me? wondows 10 on MSI . Thank you so much

[@cell22091979]

Hi did you find a solution ?? , same problem here after 4 months

[@MrWrongUK369]

mine seems to say file mot supported on alot of albums

[@nish_ttp]

hmm, what file format are you trying?

[@MrWrongUK369]

@@nish_ttp mp3 some albums seem to work some not. I will test more.

[@nish_ttp]

@@MrWrongUK369 hmm all I would say is make sure you use the file explorer mode as the music one I found to be quite dodgy.

[@MrWrongUK369]

@@nish_ttp I think it's also how they pack the file/torrent to make it small also.

[@andygee2575]

How do you add music to it tho ?

[@nish_ttp]

Use a USB cable, and it's drag and drop! (sidenote, can access both internal and external micro sd when it is plugged in).

[@beanbag5433]

The first one I had died on me wouldn't charge. I returned it for another one now this one seems to be doing the same. I'm gonna let it charge to see if just dies, quickly. I wouldn't recommend buying this

[@beanbag5433]

Also not compatible with higher quality flacs

[@nish_ttp]

Ah that's a good point to raise, I hadn't tested any proper .flacs on there.

[@aybidsibun]

How can I get this product shipped to India ?

[@nish_ttp]

I'm not sure mate, you might have better luck finding a similar product on Aliexpress?

[@kiloilio]

Thank you sir, good information. Aloha...

[@Tht1TrbGuy]

hoi, Cube here, i notice yours has a pedometer and such? videos and things, mine doesnt??? Whats your firmware, if i may ask, cause mine only has music and thats all it can do :/ do i need an update?????

[@Tht1TrbGuy]

And if so, how do i update it??????????????????

[@nish_ttp]

Hey, so I haven't updated the firmware or anything, not sure how it is done. But honestly those features are next to useless considering the screen size if that is any consolation!

[@Tht1TrbGuy]

@@nish_ttp i guess so..well thanks for getting back to me :D

[@user-kx3sv4wx3o]

I've asked a lot of channels now but do you have any spare tech from your reviews or anything that you could send to me and I would pay postage ? If not it's completely fine

[@nish_ttp]

nope sorry, I tend to review things I own/use for the time being!

[@user-kx3sv4wx3o]

@@nish_ttp oh I see it's fine then 😂 maybe in the future then

[@jerusalenarellano957]

nice vid

[@terryschleicher8511]

I have trouble downloading music.

[@nish_ttp]

Do you mean trouble gettinng it on the device? It should just be a simple copy and paste like it's a memory stick

[@patlong8449]

@@nish_ttp it's not recognised when you connect to the laptop, just says charged and is not found as a device.

[@nish_ttp]

@@patlong8449 hmm, I would test it with a different cable and device just to be sure the problem is with the player. Worth trying a factory reset on the player too - sorry I can't be of more help!

[@Karter315]

Thanks!!!

[@philmehrart]

ACDC - Ma brotha!

[@twootters7433]

You never said how to load the mp3's. It's aa pain. You have to gte it to go to a screen that says charge/transfer. Good luck on that. I was able to load 20 mp3 thatn the screen went blank and hasn't come up since. Oak castle has been no help. Go I miss my SanDisk player.

[@nish_ttp]

that sucks I would hope they would replace it :/

[@htkm1179]

...and Subscribed!! :-)

[@ParzivalPheonix]

Won't play files longer than 30 minutes.

[@nish_ttp]

That's a pain, thanks for flagging it!

[@klauskingsly4729]

I buy this mp3 player new never used for 22 pounds and work only 3 days then go directly in the bin. Battery is real disaster

[@nish_ttp]

That's interesting, I found the battery life to be solid. Maybe it varies between them.

[@klauskingsly4729]

@@nish_ttp full charged have something like 4/5 hours

[@nish_ttp]

@@klauskingsly4729 ah I presume that's wireless? I'll be honest I mainly tested wired battery performance so it's a good point.

[@jicee91]

6 months of use and the screen blink

[@nish_ttp]

The warranty should cover this, get in touch with them!

[@jicee91]

​@@nish_ttp Oakcastle support says to contact Amazon, and Amazon says to contact Oakcastle. Never again this brand.

[@loupasternak]

Shame they don't just hire some 15 year olds that can program. Since its all software, there's no reason they cant emulate the best features of ROCKBOX

[@nish_ttp]

Yeah you're spot on, they do seem to just hash something together as cheaply as possible, which is a shame

[@jubear1493]

So long as you are FULLY aware this player IS what Nish says it is, namely "A CHEAP Chinese knock off the Sandisk clip sport plus" then you'll get what you pay for and have to hope that the one you buy came from a good batch. It'll be a cheap lottery though at the price. The whole Sandisk clip range itself, was fairly cheaply made as well, probably in China, but with better chips, better plastics and better OC etc. I've owned a good few Sansa/Sandisk clip's over the years, and had good experiences thankfully, with all of them. Unfortunately I believe they don't make them anymore, such is the low demand for pretty much music only devices, plus the rise of phones that will do that and a lot more besides. Sansa/Sandisk clip's are still to be found on amazon, eBay, in limited numbers mind, for not a great deal more than the Oakcastle, but they will be getting a bit tired battery wise now due to there age, even if unused, so you can expect a couple of years maybe a bit more if your lucky, before one will start to die on you. They developed a good following due to there sound quality, and size and not much this side of an iPod Nano could touch them for it. Add the fact iTunes was god awful to use for anything iPod and Sandisk had a winner on it's hands. The "sport plus" variant with Bluetooth, came in 16 and 32GB versions and like the iPod Nano 7th gen, (A review of which I'd like to see Nish do) neither came with a expandable MSD card port, which was disappointing, as most if not all non-Bluetooth clip's did. That said, as all models of clip's used actual Sandisk MSD cards internally and not a chip for storage, they can with a LOT of VERY careful disassembly, (For which a few guides exist on you tube ) be upgraded memory wise, if you happen to be brave enough to attempt it. I'd be on the lookout for a good late made 32GB one, over the Oakcastle any day of the week, unless I REALLY wanted to take my chances, and save not much less money.

[@MrBobWareham]

Thanks for your review, you just saved me wasting my money on China crap, cheers

[@nish_ttp]

Anytime! :)

[@Mozart1220]

It says it plays WMA files, but it doesn;t.

[@kristazieschang1205]

Dude, Wolfmother fucking sucks!! thing works ok, battery life is long. just got into 漢語 and couldn't get out. got this cuz I listen to several new albums a day while running. sandisk clipjam will only play in shuffle mode. I need to know who the horrible beiberesque metalcore band is so I can delete it when I get back home, might not be able to do that if in shuffle mode.

[@tommccloskey3595]

It won't work if the artists are of the rap or country genre...only rock/metal music works.

[@nish_ttp]

hmm perhaps your mp3 player has developed good music taste? I kid of course, that is strange. Maybe worth checking out your metadata with a program like mp3tag

[@tommccloskey3595]

@@nish_ttp HAHA I was joking. I don't like rap or country, that's why I said that. You are correct though, my mp3 has good music taste lol.

[@oatcake1966]

It's rubbish! It doesn't download any music. Complete waste of money.

[@mackjames5332]

For those of you out there who might be still considering this MP3 player that is NO LONGER AVAILABLE ON Amazon... and I bet will not come back - Oakcastle states a 3 year warranty, NO - You must go through seller, who will tell you to contact Oakcastle, who will tell you to contact Amazon, who will tell you to contact seller, get it? Oakcastle will NOT honor it. It took 2 weeks, this last Jan 2021 and a phone call of bs to get Amazon to partially refund my money on the first one when screen took a dump... never dropped, never stepped on, never sat on, never went through washing machine... ONLY USED 500mA or less charger, NO phone charger, NO fast charger... ( I was positive I purchased warranty on first one, for some reason it was on a different INVOICE all together) Bought a second one, in Jan, 2021 - because I liked the size, sound and ease of use of the MP100, and figured that sometimes there are just things that go wrong - but sometimes the new one would go direct to 'charge' status when being hooked up to computer (or tv or smart 500mA charger -AGPtek) - without prompting me the 2 charging options - I thought it was my USB mini cables, and tossed a few in the garbage over this - as time went on problem got worse - until my computer will no longer recognize it anymore, no 'bloop' when plugging in anymore. I purchased Asurion warranty on this last one, ON THE ORIGINAL INVOICE, and it is on the way to them now through UPS, I dropped it off at UPS store at about 5pm PDT tonight 06.04.2021, and Asurion has already refunded me... BUT WITH AMAZON GIFT CARD! ! ! Not my original payment method, oh well whatchya gonna do? DO NOT BUY THIS FROM ANYONE, ANYWHERE - EVER... these Oakcastle people are scammers, I am surprised I don't see them on the Walmart site with the other "all the usual suspects' of fly by nighters. I WILL NOT BUY ANOTHER ONE OF THESE EVER EVER EVER, or any other product Oakcastle might offer. have a good one hope this helped you out