Probably give it 4 stars, but realize I need to justify the lower-than-average rating.This product is small, actually very small. I know you can use your iPhones or Androids and even get more storage space than this, but shuffle has a different target of users, mostly for active and on the go users. This is perfect for exercising, running, walking, etc. Just clip it to your shirt and your ready to go.
Pros:
-> Solid construction with an aluminum exterior.
-> Attractive design. The silver is especially nice as it somewhat matches the included headphones(which aren’t very good but any devices included headphones rarely are).
-> Very small and great for exercising. Smart how the headphone jack also doubles as the USB connector, which helps reduce the size.
->The VoiceOver feature works surprisingly well. Having a screen also would be nice but VoiceOver is great while working out because you don’t have to look down to know what song you’re on.
-> Good sized buttons.
-> iTunes store still has the most content.
-> For some of us the lack of recording is a feature.
-> Surprisingly good sound quality,
Cons:
-> The device is so small that whenever I try to use the clip I have to press against the rewind button on the other side of the clip.(edit on 11/21 - After some experience using the device I’m able to use the clip without hitting this button)
-> This is a known entity but I run Linux and it’s a pain to have to run iTunes with a device like this, there are some workarounds but Apple tries to prevent you from using it like any other mass storage device.
->It kind of goes against the iTunes/iPod model of syncing your whole library, since it’s too small to fit most libraries. There is a manual sync method in iTunes and then it involves manually creating playlists and syncing them.
->Kind of expensive for the limited amount of features it provides.
I used to own a Sansa Clip+ and if I didn’t have the work constraints I would have preferred that device. The Clip+ is only$35 but has 4 GB, a voice recorder, an OLED screen, an FM receiver, an expandable micro SD card slot, equalizer adjustable on the fly, plays DRMed WMAs and plays Ogg Vorbis, and is easier to clip onto things. It is, however, made of plastic and the clip broke on me after a year and a half of a fair amount of use, so I’ll give the advantage to the shuffle on that. I don’t know if the Clip+ default firmware supports it but Rockbox provides a VoiceOver like functionality. With Rockbox you can enable more firmware features like dynamic range compression.
Overall good product but over priced.