| Apple iPod Shuffle: A Strong Competitor to iPod Shuffle | Today's Top Stories | ||||||||||||
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(Review) - It doesn’t matter whether or not Apple’s new iPod Shuffle can outdo other players in the market. All it matters is that Apple has a solid contender compared to the first-generation Shuffle. You can tell how dedicated a company is (with innovation) when it’s determined to beat its previous product line with substantial improvements that deserve recognition. Like a number of Apple products, the second-generation Shuffle is very minimal in design. While the buttons are somewhat tiny than we would like, the exterior is rather refreshing from the first-generation predecessor. The gray and white color scheme, an astute layout and a clearly wearable design makes the new Shuffle one of the most portable music players in the market. That’s not to say other music players aren’t portable, but after seeing the second-generation Shuffle (clip design), there’s nothing better. In fact, keeping up with the coolness factor, Apple has designed the new Shuffle in a way that it makes you look cool and hip, something a lot of teenagers would be interested in. In addition to the drastic improvement in physical design, Apple has also updated the Shuffle with a few more notable options, one of which includes skip-free playback - a new concept that would ease into a group of music files (one after another without skipping) that are meant to be a single track (i.e. symphonies). Furthermore, the new iPod family of music players will now ship with brand new earphones that were also designed from the ground up. The second-generation Shuffle is one of those new products. We must say the new earphones look sleeker than the previous version with round earbuds and a comfortable structure. As is the case with a lot of music players, you can use the 1GB Shuffle for storing data, which you can transfer using USB. Unfortunately, the Shuffle now comes with a separate dock for data transfers. This means you can’t connect the Shuffle directly to the PC/Mac and start transferring. Considering it’s meant to be more portable and robust than ever, it’s unpleasant to have to carry a USB dock just to transfer data. We wish Apple could’ve made the process more seamless and hassle-free. The full-charge requires approximately four hours for a total of 12 hours of battery life. In our lab, we recorded the time to be fairly close to the specified amount from Apple at 11:37 hours. The sound quality, as always, was impressive with clear tonal qualities and precise separation of notes and deep bass. Measuring at 1.07" x 1.62" x 0.41" and weighing at 0.55 ounces, the second-generation is an amazingly light and compact music player from a brand that majority of us trust. We are not too excited about the screen-less display, but we suppose if all you want to do is listen to music, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Also, don’t mistake the new Shuffle for a feature loaded player, as it’s anything but that. Not only is it very minimal in design, it’s also very minimal in features. That means no support for photos, video, FM tuner, advanced recording and other fun and audio enhancing capabilities. All in all, Apple’s new Shuffle loses points for a screen-less design, lack of an integrated USB port and substandard battery life (the company could do a lot better). However, Apple has definitely taken the second-generation Shuffle to new heights with a robust and durable design, sleek interface, good audio quality and skip-free technology. Not to mention, the price of the device makes it a must-have. For $79, Apple has a clear winner on its hands that not only reignites the iPod fire in the market yet again, but it’s officially the first-generation Shuffle killer. |
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