Apple iPod nano Lanyard Headphones

Another great iPod accessory from Apple

By Charlie White

The Apple iPod nano is as close to an ideal personal music player that exists on the market today. Not only does it sound great, but it?s so gorgeous you?ll be tempted to wear it around your neck like a piece of jewelry. Now you can, with the iPod nano Lanyard Headphones ($40) a nicely-designed accessory that lets you show off your nano and abandon that annoying tangle of wires. We put one of these lanyards to the test, and liked what we saw -- and heard.

The lanyard plugs into the dock connector on the bottom of the iPod nano (see graphic below). The part of the connector that inserts into the dock connector doesn?t carry any of the signal?that?s done with a small miniplug that inserts into the same place the earphones jack is inserted. The dock connector itself has two tiny latches that help to hold the nano to the lanyard. As a result, this small two-part connector attaches the iPod to these earphones with the perfect amount of tension, where it?s easy enough to unplug but is certainly not going to let your nano fall to the ground, either.

Here's the plug where the lanyard meets the iPod.

Concealed inside the neck strap is the cable that electronically connects the iPod to the earphones. At the point where the lanyard touches your neck, there are two ingeniously-designed wire-managing holders that allow you to adjust the length of this necklace. It?s easy to slide these white tabs back and forth until you get the nano to hang at just the right spot. I found that adjusting the lanyard to its longest length put the nano in a perfect spot where it was easy to access its controls and easy to see, even for middle-aged farsighted folks. 

After I got the lanyard situated to my liking, it was time to listen to the earphones. Comparing them to the stock earphones included with every iPod, I determined that I was dealing with exactly the same mechanism. Just like the stock earphones, these were of acceptable quality, and sounded good throughout the audible range, albeit with the characteristic weak bass that is a minor problem with all of the available iPod earbuds from Apple. Quickly snapping on a pair of Griffin EarJams (this is a $15 accessory that I really think is worth checking out), that bass problem was nearly solved.

The nano lanyard is very well made, and gets rid of all of those wires that are a nuisance when using the iPod. In fact, dealing with wires was about the only objection I had to the iPod nano, and now that problem has been artfully solved by this lanyard. It would be nice to have one of these for the iPod Shuffle as well. I am a bit put off by the $40 price, though. Sure, the thing is well made, but taking a close look at it I really don?t think it?s a very good value for $40. There are similar products available on the market for less money, but then, they?re not associated with iPods. For instance, earlier this year I reviewed an Oregon Scientific MP3 player that had a very similar earphone lanyard included, with both player with lanyard costing slightly more than $100. Come to think of it, that lanyard had an innovation that Apple?s doesn?t?it included a clever little parking space for each earphone, consisting of a small magnet onto which each earphone could latch when not in use. That would have been a nice touch on this Apple unit.

The packaging for the nano Lanyard Headphones, like all iPod products, is beautiful, too.

That said, one of the most appealing features of the iPod nano is its lovely appearance, and what better way to show it off than hanging around it your neck? You can certainly make that happen in grand style with these lanyard headphones. They turn the nano into a multifunction device?it?s not only a superior music player but also an attractive pendant at the same time. Highly recommended. 9 out of 10 stars.