Another of the N10's design innovations is the fact that its ear-bud-style speakers are built into the lanyard. The cap that holds the lanyard can be removed and the unit stuffed into a pocket if you so desire, but the amount of slack wire that is taken up by combining the lanyard and ear-bud speakers makes other models look comparatively cumbersome. This seems a small point until you've seen the earphone wire of an iPod Shuffle or the Nomad flinging around wildly on the treadmill or waiting to get caught in the door of a cab.
Apple's iPod Shuffle (NT$3,100/512MB) is a rather bold departure from the designs above. There is no LED screen and users are given the option of having the Shuffle play their music in a predetermined order or in its namesake mode.
Apple has also managed to do away with a lot of the price compared with their iPod or iPod Mini models. It's portable music at its simplest.
Having seen each of these models and tried them out, the iPod is the most striking, but not in a pleasing way. It's the first feature you notice of anyone wearing one. It's a fashion statement, but more statement than fashion. The iRiver, by comparison, is sleek and stylish and gives you control over your music. The Nomad Muvo falls short.
Regarding sound quality, keep in mind that headphones play an arguably more important part than any other component (amplification being their only competitor) and that most portable music players ship with inexpensive ear-bud-style speakers.
Simply plugging in better-quality headphones can create more problems than it fixes if the headphones you're plugging in require an amplifier to bring out their full range. Of course, strapping an amplifier to your belt and lugging around a pair of hefty headphones defeats the purpose of buying a wearable player.
The practical solution then, is to find a pair of ear-bud speakers that you like better than the included pair.
This is a matter of personal taste, though some brands are clearly better-sounding than others. Audio-Technica makes a wide range of ear-bud speakers that get expensive quickly, largely for the materials they're made of -- titanium, teak wood, gold plating, etc, but even their bottom-shelf models sound great.
One last thought regarding flash-memory music players and sound quality: The best sound I've heard from any device I've plugged into in recent months came from a Motorola E680 smart phone. iPod isn't the only answer.
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