MP3 players with the best battery life

Has the daily ritual of recharging all your portable devices become so loathsome that adding one more gadget to the list might just make you snap? Or maybe your extreme, jet-setting lifestyle requires a portable music player that can run for over 40 hours without a recharge? Well, you've come to the right place. We've assembled this list of our favorite long-haul MP3 players, all of which are capable of a week's worth of casual usage without a recharge.

With the exception of the Apple iPod, all of these players utilize a solid-state Flash memory technology that requires much less power than their hard-drive siblings. Leading the list is the Sony NW-S705F, which not only endured an amazing 50 hours in our CNET lab tests, but also offers built-in active noise cancellation that's a godsend for commuters and plane travelers. We should also note that this Sony player boasts a unique quick-charge technology that cuts recharging time down to minutes. Next up is the beautiful and versatile Cowon D2, which supports video and photos and can also maintain 50 hours of continuous music playback.

The MobiBlu B153 may not be much to look at, but it offers the utterly unbeatable battery time of 153 hours. The B153 is tough to track down in stores, however, so you'd probably need to order it direct. One of our favorite pint-size players, Cowon's iAudio 7 is a lightweight workhorse with photo and video support, a top-notch audio recorder, and over 40 hours of battery life (rated up to 60 hours with screen brightness set low).

Last, but certainly not least, are two MP3 players that need no introduction. The iPod Nano, despite its remarkable thinness, lasted an impressive 24.5 hours in our lab tests. For those of you willing to sacrifice a little battery life in favor of storage capacity, the luxuriously roomy 80GB iPod outshines its hard-drive-based competition with nearly 20 hours of audio playback.