Apple's iPod shuffle 'worst' mp3 player - Telegraph

Apple's new iPod shuffle has come botton in a survey of mp3 players tested by a leading consumer watchdog.

The new Apple iPod shuffle, the size of an AA battery, has scored just 51 out of a possible 100 points in a study published by Which?, putting it at the bottom of a list of nine players tested.

Which? is not a cutting-edge technology magazine, but with 520,000 readers it is a very influential force in the consumer electronics market, especially with late adopters.

Apple's digital music players, first launched in 2001, have come to dominate the MP3 market, with the company selling 220 million of the devices worldwide.

Though the Shuffle is very portable, and at ￡38 not expensive, Which? found the Apple device difficult to use and very limited in its capabilities.

"Finding your way around the iPod Shuffle is a challenge", the review said, which also marked it down for its lack of FM radio, voice recorder, lack of screen and the inability for the user to choose the order of the songs.

The Philips GoGear Spark, priced at ￡38, and the Philips GoGear Raga, at ￡27, both beat the Shuffle with scores of 75 and 67.

The Philips GoGear Spark impressed the reviewers with its 49 hours of music playback – four times that of the Shuffle.

Kat Hannaford, a technology expert at T3 magazine, said she was not surprised by Which? ranking the Apple devices so poorly.

She said: "You buy an iPod because you are buying into a lifestyle. It is easy to get better quality devices at cheaper prices if you look around.

"My main problem with the iPod Shuffle is that though it only costs ￡38, the quality of the headphones it comes with is very poor and you can only use Apple headphones. This means you can end up forking out an extra ￡80 to enjoy good quality sound."

IPod's larger devices, the iPod Classic and the iPod Touch, which allows users to surf the internet, also fail to score highly in the test, with both devices beaten by lesser known competitors.

The iPod Classic, receives 70 points, but is beaten by the Samsung YP-P3, which is nearly ￡80 cheaper and gets 77 points and the Cowon, ￡20 cheaper, which gets 76 points.

The iPod Classic, which allows users to watch videos, is marked down for its screen quality, which "we wouldn't recommend for watching a full length movie on".

The iPod Touch, which has a full touch-screen and internet capabilities, is also beaten by rivals, including the Archos 7 Internet Tablet and the Creative Zen X-Fi.

An Apple spokesman pointed out that the main attraction of the Shuffle was that it chose the songs for users. He also said it frequently scored the highest possible marks in special technology magazines.

Apple also pointed out that its iPod Classic and iPod Touch, while both beaten by rivals in the test, were ranked as 'best buys’ by Which?