Group test: Flash MP3 players

Flash MP3 players, the kind that use no-moving-parts Flash-based memory rather than a hard disk drive, used to be the poor cousins of MP3 royalty like Apple's iPod, with enough space for just a few albums and often quite cheap and tacky build quality. Now they're packing in advanced features like colour screens, FM radios and up to 8GB of memory, which can hold over 2,000 tracks. A lot of them don't look half bad either.

Once seen as not much more than toys when it came to music playing, the smallest MP3 players are now perfectly decent music machines in their own right. Now that they're offering anything up to 8GB of memory (and this seems to be increasing steadily) you can even cram on a decent amount of tracks in higher resolution formats such as Apple Lossless, Windows Media Lossless, which can offer CD quality, or even uncompressed WAV files.

Overview Price comparison: Apple iPod nano More info: Apple Size: 90x40x6.5mm Weight: 40g Formats: AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless, AIFF and WAV Memory: 2GB, 4GB, 8GB Radio: No Photos: Yes, JPEG Battery: 24hrs Apple iPod nano The very latest nano comes in an aluminium casing that's available in six colours, and if you go for the red, Apple has pledged a portion of the price of each one sold to the Global Fund to fight AIDS in Africa. Its never portly dimensions are now even thinner at 6.5mm and it's available in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB versions (that's 2,000 tracks in AAC format). There's no microphone on board but there are loads of third-party ones available - and of course, when it comes to accessories, the iPod has the pick of the bunch. The headphones incidentally are really very good, and only just eclipsed in this test by the Creatives. It includes the latest update of iTunes which has an enhanced search function (at the bottom of the music menu) that allows you to search for tracks or artists beginning with a certain letter or letters. It's not the cheapest at £129 for this 4GB version (£169 for 8GB), but Apple still knows how to make a decent player. It all adds up to an extremely sleek, stylish package that keeps Apple at the top of the pocket playing tree - at least for this year.

Verdict Plus points Looks terrific, unmatched functionality Minus points Not the cheapest, erm, no radio

Overview Price comparison: Creative Zen V Plus More info: Creative Size: 84x43x19mm Weight: 65g Formats: MP3, WMA, OGG, MPEG4 Memory: 2GB Radio: Yes, FM Photos: Yes, JPEG Battery: 39hrs Creative Zen V Plus Creative has been doing this for years and its latest looks cute, and feels sturdy, with extremely easy and intuitive navigation. Plug it in and it will immediately sync with the latest version of Windows Media Player on your PC without the need to add the supplied software, although this comes with some useful add-ons like a programme for formatting video. Yes, it plays video and shows pictures too, as well as packing an FM radio and it can record with a built-in mic or via line in. The supplied headphones were the best on test - the only problem was that tiny little thumbpad which wasn't best suited to our ape-like digits.

Verdict Plus points Looks and feels very good and has a strong features list Minus points Fiddly control pad

Overview Price comparison: Maxfield Max Sin Touch More info: Maxfield Size: 81 x 34 x 8mm Weight: 31g Formats: MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM, OGG Memory: 512MB, 1GB Radio: No Photos: No Battery: 12hrs Maxfield Max Sin Touch You may have seen those shiny black mobile phones from LG (called Chocolate, incidentally) which have no buttons as such, but a pressure-sensitive casing which allows you to control it by pressing in certain areas. The Max Sin Touch does that too - rather slowly we found. The menu system isn't that easy to find your way around either, though at least there's an old-school button on the side to start it up, so you don't activate the controls when it's in your pocket. It has a little internal microphone for recording - fine for voice notes but don't expect anything dramatic. The supplied headphones feel a bit on the cheap and indeed tacky side.

Verdict Plus points Looks lovely and distinctive Minus points Not the easiest to use or navigate

Overview Price comparison: Mcody M20 More info: Mcody Size: 81 x 34 x 8mm Weight: 31g Formats: MP3, WMA, WMA-DRM, OGG Memory: 1GB, 2GB Radio: No Photos: No Battery: 12hrs Mcody M20 You'll be hard pressed to spot the difference between this jet black block and Maxfield's jet black block. On the outside at least, they're identical, with exactly the same buttons on the sides and red-on-black touch display at the front - our sample even came preloaded with the same tracks. In fact, all is exactly the same except for the memory - this one packs in 2GB, but there's also a 1GB version available although even this doesn't distinguish it, since the Maxfield also comes with different memory sizes. Either is fine, if you prefer style over useability, but it's probably worth shopping around to see which offers the best price.

Verdict Plus points A good-looking piece of pocket-friendly minimalism Minus points Menu system isn't very intuitive

Overview Price comparison: Ministry of Sound MOSMP083X10 More info: Ministry of Sound Size: 30x80x15mm Weight: 31g Formats: MP3, WMA Memory: 2GB Radio: No Photos: No Battery: 8hrs Ministry of Sound MOSMP083X10 Ministry of Sound have churned out a lot of minimal, cool-looking players over the years. This one is a bit bigger than some of their other models to make room for the two-colour screen - it's quite chunky but feels lighter than it looks, has some nice easy-to-use buttons along the top and allows you to record voice notes. It comes preloaded with ten MoS-friendly club tracks but there's no radio and no picture viewer, which is fast becoming essential at this sort of price except in the teensiest players.

Verdict Plus points A solidly decent, easy to use player Minus points Looks a bit functionally basic and chunkier than it needs to be

Overview Price comparison: Nikkai Slim Video More info: Nikkai Size: 70x42x4mm Weight: 38g Formats: MP3, WMA, WMV, ASF, WAV Memory: 2GB Radio: Yes, FM Photos: Yes, JPEG Battery: 6hrs Nikkai Slim Video Many players go for the shape, but this one genuinely comes close to the size of a credit card. It's actually smaller in length and width and at 4mm thick it's slim enough to give a few supermodels some sleepless nights. However, the 1.5in CSTN colour screen is grainy and looks like the sort of thing that they stopped using on mobile phones three years ago. The identical buttons on each side can take a bit of getting used to, both for remembering which is which (we eventually worked out that the icons are on the back) and for pressing one side without accidentally pressing the other. It comes with iPod-like white headphones, though they're of markedly lesser quality than Apple's own and there's a little microphone for voice notes.

Verdict Plus points Looks very classy - and very thin Minus points Poor screen, buttons are very fiddly

Overview Price comparison: Sandisk Sansa More info: Sandisk Size: 44x13x89mm Weight: 65g Formats: MP3, WMA Memory: 6GB Radio: No Photos: Yes, JPEG Battery: 20hrs Sandisk Sansa Sandisk has raised the Flash bar with this player, which offers some rather excellent storage capacity for the price with 6GB, and there's a new 8GB version available too. And since it's Sandisk, who are best known for their memory cards, there's also a microSD slot to allow you to increase the memory still further (this option is only available for music though, not pics, videos or data). The 1.8in TFT colour screen is great for video and pics, as well as showing off the easy-to-use icon-based menu, and the supplied headphones are better than most (though they ultimately bow to Creative's). The mechanical scroll wheel lights up in a very nice ice blue, but it feels a bit cheap and the buttons around it can be a bit tricky to get your fingers on. In the US version it allows you to record from FM radio, but this feature has been left off European versions, which is a shame.

Verdict Plus points Good looking, easy to use, excellent capacity Minus points The scroll wheel feels rattly and cheap

Overview Price comaprison: Sony NW-S203F sports MP3 More info: Sony Size: 15x96x15mm Weight: 30g Formats: MP3, ATRAC3 Memory: 1GB Radio: Yes, FM Photos: Yes, JPEG Battery: 18hrs Sony NW-S203F sports MP3 Sony often seems to delight in doing things differently. Sometimes this isn't really for the best (it's ATRAC digital compression format doesn't look like it's ever going to catch on), but sometimes it seems to work - like in the unusual style of this player. Ditching the credit card shape of most players, it's gone for a look that's altogether more old-school, like a pen, which strangely makes it look even more modern. It makes good use of that funny floating display that Sony's been pushing lately, although there's only room for one line of text, and it has the good sense to hide the USB plug at one end of the cylinder, with the headphone jack at the other. You fast forward and reverse tracks by twisting the bulbous bit at the end - it's altogether easy to carry and use, though we were expecting better headphones from Sony.

Verdict Plus points Great look and decent functions Minus points Uses Sony's SonicStage PC software, which seems unnecessarily awkward

Overview Price comparison: StormBlue A9+ More info: StormBlue Size: 84x43x19mm Weight: 65g Formats: MP3, WMA, OGG, MPEG4 Memory: 2GB Radio: Yes, FM Photos: Yes, JPEG Battery: 39hrs StormBlue A9+ The StormBlue is a big man, but at least it keeps in shape with a 2in 260,000-colour TFT screen that does a very good job of displaying video and pics. It looks about the size of a mobile phone but it feels lighter and though it comes in both 2GB and 4GB flavours, plus there's an SD card slot that allows you to add a further 4GB. But although the screen and menu look good, they're both rather let down by the control pad, which feels like it belongs on a cheaper model. It comes with a cheap clear plastic case and standard low quality headphones, but it has a Bluetooth wireless connection, so you can use it with a better quality pair of wireless headphones.

Verdict Plus points Good screen, decent sound, nice menu Bluetooth headphone-compatible Minus points Big for a Flash player, the control pad feels a bit cheap

Final verdict Even a cursory glance at the Flash MP3 players available today shows that you don't have to look to far to find some very decent models. Since they're essentially digital storage devices optimised for playing music which predominantly do much the same thing, the main issues tend to be with capacity and menu functionality -and of course, since you tend to carry them around with you, style. Some fall down on build quality - surprising in some cases, since an item like Sandisk's player seems to be excellent in virtually every other way besides its wobbly scroll wheel. Others, like Sony's unusual design lose out on their limited functionality, though Creative gets an honorary mention for its stylish, compact and extremely easy to use device that offers a great alternative if you'd rather stay clear of Apple's iTunes hegemony. But once again, Apple appears to have listened to its critics and come back with a model that answers past faults and works hard to put the iPod nano at the front of the pack. Some of its rivals may be closing the gap, but in terms of functionality and usability, the iPod is still the one to beat.

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