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Music to your ears

The iPod may be a household name, but there are a vast array of other MP3 players out there. So how good are they? 

At Which?, our team of independent experts looks beyond the hype to give you trustworthy, relevant buying advice.

The Which? experts test dozens of MP3 players to discover which ones are Which? Best Buys and which ones to skip. 

We give you our advice in plain English, rather than techy jargon, so you won't end up regretting your decision the first time you put on your favourite album.

As well as handy advice on MP3 players, by joining Which? you can get the lowdown on thousands of products, from microwaves to pensions.

Take a trial to Which? and get full access to all our reviews.

What makes a Best Buy MP3 player?

A Which? Best Buy MP3 player won’t be cumbersome to use – you’ll be able to transfer your favourite songs from your PC with ease, and be confident that sound quality will be top-notch. 

Out of the 100+ MP3 players reviewed, 32 of them have been named as Best Buys. These aren't necessarily the most pricey ones, either.

Be careful, though - we've also found some MP3 player so poor that we've had to name them Don't Buys.

MP3 player reviews you can trust

The Which? experts are continually putting the most popular MP3 players through their paces and over the last 10 years have tested thousands of models.

You want an MP3 player that sounds great and is easy to use when transferring music files and when you’re out and about. So we analyse the sound quality, noise and maximum volume of each MP3 player using the bundled headphones as well as a pair of high-quality headphones.

We scrutinise the display quality, portability, transfer speed and shock resistance – all things that tend to become niggles over time.

Many MP3 players also let you play films. So we rate the video quality, screen brightness, smoothness and visibility from different viewing angles.

Give Which? a try today

By joining Which? you’ll get access to all of our reviews and Best Buy recommendations for thousands of products. And if you could do with more personal one-to-one advice, you can always pick up the phone and talk to our helpline team.

Best of all, you can sample the benefits of Which? during a trial. Which will be music to your ears if you don't want to make a bad decision.

Sign up for a trial membership to Which?