Apple Ipod accessories are now a multi-million dollar business, and quality varies from very good to poor.

Gear4 's simple 1watt Pocket Party v2 speakers, which plug into an Ipod's cradle port, fall towards the wrong end of that scale.

They weigh just 52grams, are similar in width to a 50p and 8cm long, making them extremely portable.

We expected the sound quality to be quite tinny, much like their predecessors and, although this was true at times, they aren't aimed at audiophiles, so sound quality was generally acceptable.

The downfall for these speakers though is that you cannot control the volume. You can only switch between loud or quiet, and even that control is a little fiddly to reach.

Changing the volume on your Ipod makes no difference to sound levels. This is in contrast to the original Pocket Party speakers where volume was controlled direct through the Ipod.

The Pocket Party speakers only cost £25, but for another £5 there are better, if bigger, travel speakers that have superior sound quality with volume that can be adjusted.