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Durability (8.75)
To test durability, we subject a device's screen and casing to a vicious attack by a common house key. The Shuffle has no screen so we were only able to test the casing and it performed admirably here, earning no lasting marks whatsoever. The only moving part on the Shuffle is its clip and it is very solidly installed with no play whatsoever side to side and up and down, and it's very strongly sprung to hold on tightly to whatever you clip it to. The Shuffle earns extra points here for its overall robustness compared to other more delicate devices we've seen.
Aesthetics (9.5)
The new Shuffle is a very plain device, featuring no ornamentation aside from the Apple logo on the back, which will generally be hidden from view during use as it is. Despite its lack of any adornment, it is sleekness personified with its minimalist design. We find the matte finish with the polished clip to add a little spice to be quite attractive, but it's still simple enough to not draw too much attention or embarrass anyone in a business setting.
Portability (44.88)
At just 1.8 inches high, 0.7 inch wide, and 0.3 inch thick, the Shuffle is the smallest media we've reviewed and probably the smallest one we've ever seen in person anywhere. Weighing in at just 0.38 ounce, it's easy to forget that you're even wearing or carrying it. In fact, we're surprised that there's no warning on the box that it could be a choking hazard for small children and dogs given its near-microscopic size. Under our scoring guide, the Shuffle earns mega points here with its
Supported File Types (6.0)
The Shuffle can play back AAC, Protected AAC, MP3, MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4), Apple Lossless, WAV, and AIFF file formats. Of course, there's no video or still image format compatibility since the Shuffle lacks a screen for any sort of visual playback.
Physical Controls (5.5)
 The only physical control on the Shuffle's body is the 3-way switch to turn the shuffle off and set the playback mode. All other controls reside on the headphone's remote. Here, there are volume and up down buttons at both ends and in the middle is a button that offers several functions.
All of the buttons on the remote offer good tactile feedback but not much travel and they're a bit small and easy to fat-finger. The sliding button on the Shuffle is a bit hard to catch unless you use a fingernail, but once you do get it, it slides firmly with noticeable a noticeable stop point in the middle to set it to play in order in between the off and shuffle positions.
Display
Screen resolution (0.0)
The Shuffle has no screen and earns no points in all screen-related sections.
Screen size (0.0)
N/A
Pixels per inch (0.0)
N/A
Screen brightness (0.0)
N/A
Built-in Speakers (0.0)
The Shuffle does not have any built-in speakers to allow music playback without headphones.
Cable Connectivity (6.0)
The Shuffle connects to a USB port on your computer through its 3.5mm headphone jack, and a special cable for this is included in the box. This is a proprietary connector, which we don't like since it just makes it harder to find a replacement should you need to replace as they aren't a common cable sold in any old store.
The audio jack is a standard 3.5mm size, which is great since this offers the most flexibility in options if you want to buy or use another pair of headphones with the Shuffle. There is one significant caveat to this, however - there are no other headphones currently on the market that have the playback controls on a remote that will work with the Shuffle. Rumor has it that Apple will release an adapter with playback controls to allow you to use other headphones, but there's no official word on if and when this will happen. 3rd-party vendors may come up with a solution, but at the moment, the full Shuffle experience is quite limited unless you use the included headphones, which we've generally found to be awful with every other iPod model.
Internal Storage (3.46)
The Shuffle comes in only one size with 4GB of storage. When we first connected the Shuffle to our computer, it showed 3.77GB of actual capacity. Apple advertises that this amount of storage is enough room for 1,000 songs, though the number of songs that can fit on it really depends on the format and bit rate of the music files you store on it. Regardless, this amount of storage should be more than sufficient for a device geared for use during physical activity, such as running and working out at the gym. If you do manage to get 1,000 songs on to the Shuffle, it would take nearly 60 hours for you to listen to every song assuming the average song length is 3.5 minutes. Unless you have workouts that last days, the Shuffle's internal storage should be more than enough for you.
External Storage (0.0)
The Shuffle does not have an expansion card slot to add additional storage.
Battery Life (2.62)
To test battery life, we fully charge a media player's battery, load test music onto its internal storage, set it to play in repeat mode at the highest volume level, and time how long the battery lasts. Apple claims playback time of 10 hours for the Shuffle, which sounds pretty impressive for a device smaller than many USB thumb drives. As we often see, the Shuffle lasted less than Apple's claimed time, dying an ungainly death at 8 hours and 44 minutes. This is good enough to last you for an entire work day, but be prepared to charge it if you want to enjoy your tunes into the evening and beyond.
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