Apple iPod Shuffle review
February 9, 2009 by Insider Staff
The runt of the iPod litter, the Shuffle gorges itself on 2GB worth of tunes from your iTunes library – it’s okay, you can specify playlists, rather than leaving yourself at the tender mercies of complete randomness – then plays them back. The USP? Before playback, it quite literally “shuffles” the playing order. So how does this budget MP3 player fare in the grand scheme of things? Read on…
Pros
The Shuffle is tiny, robust, and cheap. It clips neatly and firmly on to your clothing or any loose flab, making it ideal for gym-goers. Sound quality, as with all iPods is almost completely characterless, clean and effective. It won’t overwhelm you with bass or draw out hitherto unplumbed depths of emotion from your Kajagoogoo playlist, but it is very clear and precise. It works a treat with iTunes, which will either give you a completely different set of tunes each time, or let you keep that beloved work-out mix indefinitely.
Cons
Either a masterpiece of minimalism or an under-spec’d piece of crap depending on which way you look at it, the Shuffle has no screen, no extras of any description and comes with Apple’s much-unloved white earbuds.
In summary then…
If all you want to do is clip the Shuffle on, earphone up and hit the treadmill or the bus to work, with a different MP3 or AAC soundtrack every time, it’s perfect. If you want to browse through tunes to find just the right musical setting for that train journey to Rhyl, forget it. Either way, it is comfortably the best-looking player you’ll get at this price point.
Main formats supported
MP3, AAC
Sound quality
Style
Build
Features
Overall
Like the sound of this MP3 player? Get chatting about the iPod Shuffle on the PriceRunner forums.
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