Portable MP3 players have come a long way since the Diamond Rio, a black rectangle that was the first mass-market, digital-to-go product. Now, Nike and Philips have teamed up to strap a sleek round disc around your bicep when you hit the gym.
The psa 128 max has great sound, and with 128 megabytes of memory, it’s got room for more than an hour of high-quality files. It comes with its own battery and recharger (it can also run on a standard AAA battery), giving it enough juice to run about 10 hours.
And while it looks good (think alien saucers from the future, strapped to your arm), design is its biggest flaw. The headphones, which rest on the back of the neck, make turning your head nearly impossible without the earpieces slipping out. An elaborate set of wires, remote controller and magnets, meant to provide a no-tangle way of wiring up, are a huge hassle and could cast you as Captain Wires from the Planet Dorktron at the gym.
