All year long your iPod provides you with your favorite tunes on those long rides home from work, those brisk jogs around the neighborhood, or even those relaxing days at home. No matter what, your iPod is always ready to rock out with you, so why not give back to your media-playing pal? Get your iPod a nice cover or case, or perhaps a comfortable docking station – you know, to show that you care. If you’re feeling generous, here are our picks for the best iPod accessories.
Protection
Without a decent case, your iPod will get beat up. It’s simply inevitable. To shield your Pod from dings and damage, look no further than Lifeproof. Their cases really do live up to their name – they’ll protect your device from impact damage, dirt, and water. You can even take your iPod swimming with you, but not beyond depths of 6.6 feet.
Dropped your iPod in a puddle and worried it’ll never work again? Bheestie Bags to the rescue. Each bag is filled with tiny molecular beads that are engineered to absorb and hold in moisture. Just drop your device in, seal the bag, and let it sit for a couple days. Bheestie claims their bags are 700% more effective at removing moisture than rice or silica.
If you just forked over a wad of cash for a new iPod, you probably want the screen to stay in pristine condition — especially if you’re rocking an iPod touch. We’ve gone through loads of screen protectors, and eventually came to the conclusion that nobody makes them better than Zagg. Their protectors are stronger, more durable, and longer lasting than any others out there. They’ll put you back 20 bucks, but they also come with a lifetime warranty, so we think it’s worth it.
Docks
It’s hard to consider this one an “accessory” since it costs far more than any iPod you can buy, but if you need a speaker dock, this one is the cream of the crop. It’s made out of furniture-grade wood with a glossy dark-cherry finish, and is outfitted with two midrange speakers with phase plugs, two silk dome tweeters, and a down-firing subwoofer. On top of that, it uses both tube amps and digital amps to produce a warm, rich sound. Check out our full review for more details.
Yup, this exists. Grace Digital knows that you like to bump your tunes while you float, so they went ahead and made a super-rugged, completely waterproof, iPod-ready floating boombox. It’s designed with weight in the back and floaties on the front, so the speakers will always face upward when it’s in water.
If you’re looking for a dock, definitely check this one out. It was born on Kickstarter, and unlike most other docks out there, it’s machined from a solid billet of aluminum, which makes it’s heavy enough to prevent the dreaded dock cling phenomenon. It can accommodate a naked iPod or one that’s wearing the bulkiest case imaginable, and enables you to undock your device easily with one hand.
This one is almost exactly the same as the Elevation Dock, but with a few key differences. Just like the Elevation Dock, it’s made from a solid billet of aluminum, but it’s also designed to let you easily change the height of the connector pin. This pin also has the ability to swivel, which makes undocking your device really easy even when you lift at an angle.
Headphones
These are our favorite in-ear headphones ever. Phiaton’s PS-210’s combine the convenience of Bluetooth with the comfort of active noise cancellation, and they sound absolutely amazing. The frequency response is stellar on all levels — highs sound smooth and bright, the midrange is exceptionally detailed, and the bass has plenty of punch.
Monster Miles Davis Tribute Edition
If you’re looking for some classy buds to go with your iPod, then look no further. Each earbud is plated in 24k gold and accented with red or blue to indicate which bud is for the left and right ears. Jazz enthusiasts will instantly fall in love with their clear highs, open midrange, and accurate bass.
Shure’s E3G headphones are easily one of the best canalphones we’ve ever tested. Some people find this style of headphone uncomfortable, but if you appreciate being completely immersed in your music, then there’s no better option. They’re designed for mobile gamers, but their detailed sound is great for music and movies as well.
If the Phiaton buds we mentioned above were a bit too pricey for you, check out these ones from Audio-Technica — they’ve got a similar performance but at a much lower price. Their sound is wide open and highly detailed, and their active noise cancellation is nothing short of excellent. For 80 bucks, these headphones are a steal.
Exercise
We could’ve put these in the headphones section, but they’re not your average set of buds. In addition to funneling your tunes from your iPod into your ears, these badboys can measure your heart rate, respiration rate, energy expenditure, calories burned, metabolic rate, speed, steps taken, ventilatory threshold, and recovery time.
This nifty little gadget fits into special pairs of Nike running shoes and gathers data on the distance you travel on your runs, the number of steps you take, and can give you realtime feedback on the calories you’ve burned.
Music is pretty much essential for a good workout, but unless you have a holster of some sort, jogging with your iPod can be a pain. This one is designed to help you fasten older iPod Nanos to your arm.
There are tons of good armbands out there for your iPod touch, but this one from Incase is one of the best. It’s made out of the durable, washable, and lightweight material Neoprene, and it’s got reflective accents that help make you more visible while you run.
Gadgets / Other
iPod speaker docks are great, but they can sometimes be inconvenient when you want to listen to music and play an iOS game at the same time. Instead of plugging in your iPod directly to play music, Auris beams music from your device to your dock via Bluetooth.
Tangled headphones are extremely annoying. If you hate untangling and de-knotting your phones every time you take them out of your pocket, consider using headphone organizer. There are tons of them out there and they all get the job done, but our favorite is the AppleCore. It’s straightforward, simple, cheap, and effective.
Laser tag is awesome, but why go out to a dingy arena when you can zap your friends in the comfort of your own home? Lazer AppTag lets you do just that. It’s essentially a toy gun that you can mount your iPod touch onto. It comes with a companion app that lets you set up games, organize teams, and keep score.
In the colder months of the year, iPod touch users are often faced with a dilemma. Do you leave your gloves on to keep your hands warm, or do you take them off and deal with frigid digits so you can play Angry Birds? It’s definitely a tough decision, but if you snag a pair of capacitive gloves like the ones Mujjo makes, you can use your touchscreen devices without taking your gloves off. Check out our full post on them to find out more.
Gamedock brings retro games back to your TV. Just attach the dock to your TV, plug in your iPod touch, and use the NES-style controllers to play any game on your device. These badboys aren’t quite on the market just yet, but they are available for pre-order.
What do you think of our best iPod accessories list? Did we miss something? Let us know in the comments below.
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