Best iPod and iPhone speaker dock: 24 tested

We tested all these docks so you don't have to

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Best iPod iPhone speaker dock

Close your eyes and imagine, for a moment, that you've popped to town on a sunny afternoon to buy yourself a speaker dock for your iPhone or iPod. Easy, right?

Well it is until you get to the shops and are confronted by row upon row of the things. All shapes and sizes, from cheap and cheerful to those costing hundreds of pounds. Even if the store attendants encourage you to have a listen to each in turn, a noisy shop floor is hardly a good environment to make an informed choice about which sounds best.

So we had ourselves an early Christmas and collected together dozens of iPod and iPhone docks, put them through their paces and picked out 24 to tell you about.

And by put them through their paces, we mean repeated side-by-side tests - to the point that we're sick of hearing some of our favourite songs!

To make the tests as fair as possible, we switched off our iPod's EQ, although where the docks had built-in EQs, we had a play with these to see if you could boost the sound this way. None will set you back more than £150, and to help you choose, we've divided them into three categories based on price.

As always with our group tests, though, just because something isn't the winner doesn't mean you shouldn't consider it. Some offer extra features you may want, others may represent fantastic value for money. So have a think about the kind of place you want to use your dock now: By your bedside? In the kitchen? In your children's rooms? As a sound system for your TV? Bear this use in mind as you read on.

As with all things in life, you get what you pay for with speaker docks. But don't forget that the sound isn't the only factor here: some of these docks include LCDs, can be connected wirelessly using Bluetooth, have alarm clocks and other fancy features that have to be paid for, and this may come at the expense of good sound.

What we tested...

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