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Apple iPod Shuffle

Apple iPod Shuffle 2GB (4th generation) review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £39
inc VAT

The newest iPod Shuffle isn't without its charms, but there are better value MP3 players available, even at this low price.


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The iPod Shuffle as always been the smallest and the cheapest of Apple’s MP3 players. The last generation was the smallest yet, around the size of an AAA battery, but Apple achieved this miniaturisation by relocating all the buttons from the body of the Shuffle to the in-line remote built into the earphone cable. As well as being fiddly to use, an adaptor was required to use third party earphones.

Thankfully, Apple has seen sense. The latest Shuffle has all the usual playback control buttons located on its body that you would expect. It greatly resembles the second generation Shuffle, but is smaller than that model. It’s only slightly thicker than two £1 coins and weighs just 12g. It feels sturdy thanks to its aluminium construction and the integrated clip allows it to be securely fastened to your clothing.

Apple iPod Shuffle

As with previous Shuffles, the standard 3.5mm headphone socket also doubles as a USB port for charging and data transfer using the included adaptor cable. A small indicator light glows orange when the battery is charging and turns green when fully charged. In our tests, the battery lasted just over 17 hours when playing music, which is very impressive for such a small audio player.

The power button doubles as a switch for choosing either random or repeat playback modes. As with the last generation Shuffle, this model supports playlists. Since there’s no screen, you have to press and hold the VoiceOver button. A computer generated voice then reads out the names of the playlists you’ve transferred over from your computer using iTunes. When it gets to the name of the playlist you want to play, release the VoiceOver button and press Play. If you’ve enabled the option in iTunes on your computer, the voice can also read out the name and artist info for each of your tracks. It works well, and it’s arguably no less fiddly than the tiny screens on other budget MP3 players.

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Details

Price£39
Rating***
Headphone Rating**

Hardware

Capacity2.00GB
Formatted capacity1.77GB
InterfaceUSB2
Storage mediumflash memory
Battery and charge optionsLi-ion, USB
Size31x10x30mm
Weight12g

Features

Device has screen?No
Native resolutionN/A
Memory card supportNone
FM Radiono
Audio record optionsNone
Video record optionsNone
Supplied withheadphones, USB adapter

Test Results

Tested battery life (MP3 playback)17h 5m
Audio MP3 playbackYes
Audio WMA playbackNo
Audio WMA-DRM playbackNo
Audio AAC playbackYes
Audio Protected AAC playbackYes
Audio OGG playbackNo
Audio WAV playbackYes
Audio Audible playbackYes
Image BMP supportNo
Image JPEG supportNo
Image TIFF supportNo
Video MPEG-4 AVI playbackNo
Video MPEG-4 MP4 playbackNo
Video WMV playbackNo
Video MPEG-1 playbackNo
Video MPEG-2 playbackNo
Video MPEG-2 VOB playbackNo
Video MPEG-4 DivX/XviD supportNo
Video H.264 supportNo
Video MPEG-4 MP3 audio supportNo
Video MPEG-4 AAC audio supportNo
Download compatibilityiTunes

Buying Information

Price per MB1.9p
Warrantyone year RTB or customer carry in
Supplierhttp://store.apple.com/uk/
Detailswww.apple.com/uk

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The newest iPod Shuffle isn't without its charms, but there are better value MP3 players available, even at this low price.

£39 inc VAT