How to find the right mobile music and video player

By Sascha Rettig Sep 19, 2010, 12:18 GMT

Berlin - A music and video player can be so important to a person's everyday life that it's easy to lose perspective when picking out a new one. Is it for use in the park? Or to watch one's favourite TV show on the train home?

Experts advise considering long and hard for what use the player is intended before making a choice. But it doesn't help that the selection of such devices has exploded in recent years.

It's important to remember that there is no perfect device for every occasion. The most important thing is that the player meets your needs and is right for the job at hand.

So, most importantly, ask what you want to do with it. 'Is it only something for listening to music while jogging?' asks Roland Stehle of Germany's gfu association for recreational and communications technology. 'Or is it more for trips so you can watch shows or films while underway?'

Different answers can mean very different devices, with differences in construction, size and the range of options available.

Small hand-held music players like the iPod Shuffle or Philips' Go Gear are best for jogging, bike riding or relaxing in a park, according to reviews by the German consumer reports organization Stiftung Warentest in its magazine, test.

Just about all the players mentioned have a clip for fastening them to clothing. But, because of their small size, there is no display. That means it's impossible to sort music into folders and music must be listened to in the order it was uploaded, or in random order.

But, priced at between 25 and 60 euros (32 to 77 dollars), they're a much more affordable than bigger devices, which can start at 400 euros. But those larger, all-around devices aren't just good for playing back music and videos. They can also store photos and have games for whiling away the time.

Storage space is key. Smaller MP3 players tend to have between 2 and 4 gigabytes. Most video players have two-digit capacities.

'If you want to have your complete music collection and a lot of films available, then you're naturally going to need more storage space than if you just want to listen to a little music,' says Sven Hansen of c't, a German computer magazine.

'The tendency is to go to flash drives, which are more stable and extend battery lives.' Anyone who wants to retrofit their memory, usually with a Micro-SD card, should make sure their player has the necessary slot. It's generally not available on Apple devices.

Another problem with Apple players, says Hansen, is that they bind users to the iTunes program. 'This continues to be an issue and annoys a lot of users. Other players are more open in this regard and are pulled up by the computer, like a drive where you can put music and video data.'

Another issue is the data formats. Along with MP3, WMA and AAC are standard audio formats that can be played on most devices. But that's not the case with the greater variety of video formats, which includes MOV, AVI or MPEG.

'Often the video data has to be converted, which takes extra time and energy,' says Stehle. Also, if one is going to use the video function, one should make sure that the display is big enough, generally at least nine centimeters diagonally.

Most players have acceptable sound quality, says Hansen. 'Most video players are also good audio players,' he says. 'But if you buy a cheaper player, then forget the pre-packaged earphones, which usually sound tinny.' In this case, it's a good idea to swap out the phones.

Some players can lead to hearing loss if volumes are pumped too high, since they exceed the output level of 100 decibels.

'That means they're louder than a nearby compressed air hammer,' reported test. 'Anyone who listens to music like that regularly will damage their hearing.'