Oregon Scientific Arena MP180

The Arena comes from Oregon Scientific, well-established providers of all that’s a tad quirky in the world of electronic gadgetry. Here they’ve come up trumps with what is one of only a limited number of waterproof MP3 players on the market.

The Arena MP180 is waterproof to a depth of 1m for up to 30mins; it also boasts an AM/FM radio with 30 station presets. It’s got an adequate 1GB of storage, sound quality is good, the supplied in-ear phones are very comfortable (we actually preferred the underwater ones to the standard earbuds but both are supplied) and overall build is nice and solid.

The all-important clip on the back does feel a bit plasticky and fragile, though, and while the nice bright LCD makes navigating through tracks simple, the rubberised controls aren’t that responsive, which can be frustrating. But, then again, it’s not like there are millions of better waterproof MP3 players to choose from.

Contact : Solo Sport UK 01539 622322 www.arenainternational.com