Take one look at the new iPod shuffle and you can see Apple’s has gone in a very different direction from previous versions.

The old shuffles were colourful boxes with a modified ‘click wheel’ that let you navigate your music library. They were about the size of a large flash drive.

The new shuffle is a small -smaller than a normal flash drive - grey or silver box. Gone is the click wheel. The only thing on the device is an earphone jack, a slider button to turn it off and on (this also doubles as a way make the device play random songs), and a small light to let you know it’s charged.

Like the old version, the new shuffle also comes with a small clip attached.

In fact, the new shuffle may be the most unstylish model Apple’s ever released, but it’s also the version with the most functions.

The control buttons have been moved to a small bar the earphones. Click the bar once and the music starts. Click it again and the song pauses. I won’t go into all the combinations, but you can navigate your music with a simple combination of one, two, or three clicks.

If you get lost, the new shuffle even has a new ‘voice over’ command. Hold down the button, and the Shuffle will actually tell - yes, it speaks - which playlist and yes again, this Shuffle lets you use playlists you are listening to and the name of the current song. The device lets you choose from over 14 languages.

I liked this iPod a lot more than I thought I would. With 4GB of storage, which Apple estimated will let you put 1,000 songs on the device, and the new controls, you find yourself forgetting that at the other end of the earphones is a small, unstylish but very enjoyable box.

Better version: Latest iPod’s vital specs

- Size is 45.2 mm x 17.5 mm x 7.8 mm
- Weight is 10.7 grams
- Playback time is up to 10 hours
- Impressive 4GB storage