[Bosk]

Does anyone know how much battery life the X5 will get playing only FLACs?

I'm considering both the X5 and X5L and want to know if I would have to get the X5L to play FLACs constantly.

Cheers.

 

[lloyd braun]

if you were using low bitrate mp3 the x5 might do just fine but since flac is going to eat more battery life up i would go for the L. i have an L, and before buying i wondered which to go with like many others. i'm really glad i went with it not only for the extra battery but also the added weight (which some may consider a turn off but i like a little extra heft for a more solid feel). i've been getting 20-25 hours usually, bear in mind that i change tracks quite frequently. i would guess with all flac you could average around 15 hours or so per charge, just a guess.

 

[rsabo]

FLAC might be less efficient than MP3, but not by much. With the Karma, (not the X5, I know) the supposed order of decoding efficiency was MP3 & WMA, then FLAC, then OGG. I know that FLAC is designed specifically for efficient decoding.

From experience - I haven't been timing my usage - the battery life with FLAC is 'long enough'. I recharge my X5L twice a week, roughly.

 

[darkninja67]

Go for the L version. FLAC kills my X5 (standard) I figure I get around 6-8 hours with Q7 FLAC files. Typically I will listen to ogg or 192kbps MP3 when commuting though.

 

[Bosk]

Cheers guys, it sounds like the L version is the way to go for FLACs.

Now if I can just decide between buying one of the tiny iAudio flash players and the beefier X5L for its FLAC capabilities all will be well

 

[GuffMorgan]

Or you could get the U3 (flash player) which has FLAC capabilities

 

[catscratch]

4-6 hours with FLACS on my X5 sounds about right. Note that this is with the ES2 unamped, listening at 13-15/40. With less efficient phones, you're probably looking at 4 hours max.

I'd definitely go for the L version. I should have, but it wasn't out at the time.

I don't know, however, if my short battery life is indicative of the lack of efficiency in FLAC files, or if it is simply a problem with the battery in my X5. I use FLACS exclusively, and don't have too much lossy music.

 

[Bosk]

Yeah, but 2GB of storage with 400+MB FLAC albums?
Might be OK for home use where you can copy albums over to it whenever you need, but long train trips with only 4 or 5 albums to choose from isn't what I'm after.

 

[darkninja67]

I am waiting for the iAudio 6. Looks to be a sweet player in a compact form factor.