Top 10: the best portable video players

5. Sony PSP, £129

The PlayStation Portable is not only a great handheld games console, it's also a pretty handy video player too. Now available in a Slim & Lite model, it obviously plays UMD discs, as well as MP4 video files which can be read from its memory card reader. Once again, if you have videos in WMV or DivX format you'll need to convert them first but if you're after a video player with a decent screen size and resolution, why not make it a powerful games console too?

4. Apple iPod touch, £269

The iPod touch's screen is probably the most advanced in any portable device out there. It sports Apple's multi-touch touchscreen technology and its generous 3.5 inch screen has a decent resolution of 480x320 pixels. As a portable all-rounder, it's a good choice, although the 16GB of flash memory is somewhat limiting for video. Like the other iPods, most video files will need to be converted before you can play them, and that just might be the other big drawback. Other than the price of course.

3. Creative Zen Vision W, £280

You could do a lot worse than to plump for the Creative Zen Vision W. It's the big brother to the awesome Vision:m and has a 4.3 inch 480x272 colour screen. Not too big, not too small, it's available in 40 and 60GB capacities. If you're familiar with Creative reviews, look no further. It's got a composite-out plug too so you'll be able to okay your videos through your television. And it supports most open video formats like WMV and DivX.

2. Archos AV700 TV, £450

Archos were always good at putting together portable video players. But the AV700 TV goes one step further: it's got a built-in digital TV tuner in it. That means you'll can use it to watch Freeview TV channels whilst on the move, as well as your own movie and audio files. This is an oldie PVP, and it's a bit pricey compared to its rivals. But when you think how much the a portable TV would cost separately, if you want the flexibility of both, the AV700 TV is still well worth it.

1. Archos 605 WiFi, £199

Top of our PVP tree, the Archos 605 WiFi is simply brilliant in every way. It looks great, it feels great. It's not too big, it's not too small. Hell, it even smells nice. It's 4.3 inch screen kicks all comers to the curb thanks to the ridiculously good 800x480 pixel resolution. Providing your videos are good enough, they'll look absolutely magic on it.

Like many of Archos' PVPs, the 605 is Wi-Fi enabled so you can load it up with your videos without even having to plug it into your PC. It'll also support practically any video format out there. Right now, it's the finest portable video player you'll find on the market.

James Rivington

James was part of the TechRadar editorial team for eight years up until 2015 and now works in a senior position for TR's parent company Future. An experienced Content Director with a demonstrated history of working in the media production industry. Skilled in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), E-commerce Optimization, Journalism, Digital Marketing, and Social Media. James can do it all.