These little white earbuds need no introduction: they come with every single iPod, be it a Classic, a Nano or a Shuffle and there are millions of them out there.

Given how widespread they are, we've included them in our regular comparison of headphones to see what you'd gain or lose by replacing the default option.

Handling

The first thing to note is that Apple has remained faithful to good old-fashioned earbuds, while current audio trends are more and more in favor of in-ear headphones.

This new generation of headphone, with a plug in either foam or silicon, goes right inside your ear and isolates external noise.

Without a plug, the iPod headphones slide straight in and are reasonably comfortable.

The cables, also finished in white, are a reasonable length, well-isolated, and flexible enough to allow you freedom of movement.

Sound Quality

At the end of the day, without being bad per se, the sound quality is far from excellent. 

As we habitually point out when we test Apple's products, the sound is dry and aggressive, and lacks clarity in low and medium ranges.

No doubt many people will find the sound produced acceptable, at least until they try something else. 

As with so many other products, though, once you've tried something better it's hard to go back, and replacing these headphones shouldn't be the cause  for too much heartache.