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Front
My, what a small media player. The front of the shuffle features a white halo of controls around a play/pause button that's the same color as the device's case. This halo is probably more accurately described as a d-pad, since it contains four buttons, located at compass points around the play/pause key. The top and bottom buttons will change volume. The left and right keys will skip from song to song or, if held, will fast-forward and rewind.
Left
The left side lets you see the back side of the hinge.
Right
The right side of the Shuffle is the open end of its clip. Feel free to open and close it while working on your ventriloquism.
Top
The top of the shuffle is where you will find the 1/8-inch headphone jack. This is also the side you'll insert into the dock for charging and data transfer purposes.
Bottom
The bottom of the device has a switch where you can toggle between shuffle mode and "repeat this one song forever" mode. It also has the power switch and an orange LED to remind you the device is on or charging.
Back
The back side of the Shuffle is primarily clip.
Battery Out
This device will not let you take the battery out.
In Box
The iPod Shuffle comes with a set of entry-level Apple in-ear headphones and a docking station for charging and data transfers.
Durability (8.00)
There isn't much to the iPod Shuffle to break. That being said, the Shuffle's small size might lend itself towards the device getting misplaced. Other than that, there are a few minor durability worries to consider. The clip is really only a concern because it's a moving part and moving parts break down. Otherwise, it's made out of a thick material, is supported well, and opening the clip has a good stopping point, which discourages stressing the hinge too much.
The one durability issue is that the Shuffle doesn't combat scratches well. It scratches very easily when faced with metal, and the scratches are very visible. Keep the Shuffle out of your change-and-keys-filled pockets.
 Aesthetics (6.50)
Part of the trouble with such a small device is that there isn't much space for fluorishes. That being said, for what the Shuffle is (a shirt clip), it has a nice, simple, clean layout. It features nice coloration options as well, although our review unit was a boring grey. For what it is, the Shuffle is attractively minimalistic.
Portability (26.80)
If the iPod Shuffle us anything, it's ridiculously portable. The thing is almost 30% clip, leaving hardly any room at all for the actual media player. We'd be hard-pressed to concoct a plausible scenario where someone can't lug around 0.71 cubic inches of shirt clip.
Supported File Types (5.25)
The Shuffle will be able to handle AAC, protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), WAV, and AIFF sound files.
The Shuffle does not support any video or picture files because it doesn't have a screen on which to view them.
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