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Midsize Players<br />
Bigger than a bumblebee but <strong>sm</strong>aller than a brick, these players offer decent<br />
storage and battery life, plus distractions like games, photos, and video. —S.C.<br />
Portable Media<br />
Apple iPod nano 8 GB<br />
$199 • apple.com<br />
Bloggers greeted photos of the nano<br />
redesign with a chorus of “ugh”s, but<br />
hold one and you’ll disagree. Apple’s<br />
done it again. The 2-inch screen isn’t as<br />
cush as what’s on some midsize players,<br />
but it’s certainly big enough to enjoy<br />
an episode of Mad Men. And for users<br />
whose primary need is audio, the new<br />
nano is just as slim but feels sturdier.<br />
WIRED Still insanely thin (0.3 inch).<br />
Rich, colorful screen. Browsing tunes,<br />
pics, and movies more fun with new<br />
visual menus. Comes with three games<br />
and a world clock. Battery lasts for 26<br />
hours’ worth of music.<br />
TIRED Can’t rotate photos to display<br />
full-screen. Stiff click wheel can make<br />
navigation challenging. Irksome screen<br />
lag when zipping through menus. iTunes<br />
won’t transcode between video formats.<br />
EDITORS’<br />
PICK<br />
Cowon D2 4 GB<br />
$200 • cowonamerica.com<br />
With its lush touchscreen, button-free<br />
face, video capabilities, and support for<br />
exotic audio formats (APE, anyone?),<br />
the D2 far exceeds what a machine of<br />
its size should be able to handle, including<br />
doing many things much better<br />
than its rivals in this category. It isn’t<br />
perfect—for instance, simple tasks<br />
require more menu navigation than<br />
with other players—but still, we have<br />
no qualms telling you to get this.<br />
WIRED Stylus doubles as a viewing<br />
kickstand. Strong battery life (34 hours<br />
audio, eight video). SD card slot. Feels<br />
luxurious in your hand.<br />
TIRED Touchscreen may vex the<br />
large-fingered. Photos load slowly<br />
and don’t auto-rotate to match<br />
screen orientation. Most video must<br />
be specially converted for player.<br />
iRiver Clix Rhapsody<br />
gen 2 4 GB<br />
$190 • iriveramerica.com<br />
The Clix Rhapsody’s face is serenely<br />
devoid of buttons. Instead, you cruise<br />
menus by manipulating the entire<br />
front panel of the player, rocking<br />
left, right, up, and down to tweak<br />
settings, listen to FM radio, and queue<br />
up songs. The click-face design is no<br />
gimmick: It’s as enjoyable to use as<br />
the iPod’s celebrated UI, and it frees<br />
up plenty of space for the expansive<br />
2.2-inch screen—a lovely showcase<br />
for photos and movies.<br />
WIRED Pocketable, 0.5-inch-thick<br />
body. Well-organized contextual<br />
menus. Supports Rhapsody To Go and<br />
Rhapsody Channels Internet radio.<br />
TIRED Pricey. Videos must first be<br />
converted with iRiver’s software. Rocker<br />
face tends to loosen with use.<br />
Meizu M6<br />
miniPlayer 4 GB<br />
$150 • en.meizu.com<br />
As a pure audio player, the M6 is better<br />
than most, with a powerful internal amp<br />
and bright, punchy audio. But attempts<br />
to load visual content like photos and<br />
video met with stonewalling by both<br />
player and conversion software. Synced<br />
pics finally appeared after we nuked<br />
the system software and ran a firmware<br />
upgrade, but when we fed The Sarah<br />
Silverman Program into the converter<br />
and clicked Start, nothing happened.<br />
WIRED Looks gorgeous. Portable<br />
yet durable. Photos auto-rotate to fit<br />
screen. OGG and FLAC support. Solid<br />
30-hour battery.<br />
TIRED Testy touchpad controls. Too<br />
many unrelated options lumped under<br />
one menu. Played tunes alphabetically,<br />
ignoring Song Order menu.<br />
GENE LEE, STYLED BY ROB OXENHAM/ARTIST UNTIED
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