Apple iPod Classic review

Apple's 120GB iPod Classic is one of only three portable players here with a hard disk instead of flash memory.

Despite this, it did very well in our battery tests. It lasted nearly 42 hours in our audio test, and eight hours and 34 minutes in our video test, which should be long enough for all but the longest journeys.

The 120GB hard disk can hold more music and video than any of the other players here. The interface is logically organised and easy to navigate, making it easy to find specific songs and videos.

The Genius playlists feature attempts to find music in your library that's similar to the track you're currently listening to. It works surprisingly well and is useful for rediscovering tracks you rarely listen to. You have to enable Genius in iTunes on your computer before it will work, though. The feature works only on songs available to buy on the iTunes Store, so it won't work if you're listening to a Beatles song, for example.

Like the fifth-generation iPod (see Labs, Shopper 237), the Classic has a 2in, 320x240 colour screen and can play only MPEG4 and H.264 video files. Videos look crisp and clear, although the small screen isn't ideal for watching long movies. The iTunes software can convert videos in other file formats, but it can take an incredibly long time. Fortunately, many third-party conversion tools are available.

If you plug in a quality pair of earphones, the Classic produces clear, rich and detailed music. The included earphones have plenty of volume but lack bass, and vocals can sound indistinct. Irritatingly, increasing the bass in the equaliser settings can cause distortion. The fifth-generation iPod also suffered from this, so it's a shame it hasn't been fixed in this model.

Apple's iPod Classic is generally well designed. We were particularly impressed by its long battery life and useful Genius playlists, but it misses out on an award due to its bass boost distortion problem.