Review: iPod nano and iPod touch

Posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2012 at 8:23 am. PT

I’ve been using an iPod since October 2001 when Apple first introduced the product that “puts 1,000 songs in your pocket.” We’ve come a long way since then, but one thing that hasn’t changed is my love for the iPod.

My favorite iPod of all time was the first generation nano that you could use with a lanyard. I wore that everywhere I went for years. It was the perfect size and with the lanyard it was always around my neck.

The new iPod nano reminds me a lot of that first generation model, albeit with better design and technology. The iPod nano literally fits in the palm of my hand — it’s really tiny, but since the large screen takes up almost the entire face of the device, it’s very easy to navigate and use.

The first thing you will notice about the nano is the funky new interface. The icons are circular and colorful, so they’re different from those on the iPod touch. I like them. They give the nano a fun feeling and people will immediately understand what each icon does.

Simplicity is a very important feature with a product like the nano that will end up in the hands of everyone from kids to grandparents. That’s not because people wouldn’t be able to figure it out, but because the nano does one thing and it does it extremely well — it plays your content. It should be easy.

Each icon on the nano is about the exact size of my thumbprint, so it’s just perfect. After tapping on an icon, you navigate through the iPod using left and right swipes on the screen. It’s really pretty simple.

There is also a Home button that will take you back to the home screen at any time, which will be familiar to anyone with an iPod touch or iPhone. There is also an On/Off button on the top of the nano.

The Volume buttons on the left side of nano also allow you to Play/Pause the music by pressing in the center of the buttons. Apple effectively added another button on the device, but they were very clever in doing it. I really like that button because it means I don’t have to wake the nano if I need to quickly pause the music — I just press that center button.

I don’t put videos or photos on my iPod, but you can if you want. I use my iPod nano for music, so I sync as much of my favorite music as I can and go. Currently I have 1,257 songs or 125 albums on the nano and I still have 7.2GB free.

If you have Bluetooth headphones or have a car that is Bluetooth-enabled, the nano has got you covered. With Bluetooth 4.0 built-in, the nano will let you do away with all the wires and still give you access to your music.

I already know that this iPod nano is destined to be one of my favorite devices ever.

The iPod touch

I was shocked when I unpacked the iPod touch — it actually makes the iPhone 5 look big, and that’s saying something since it’s one of the smallest devices on the market.

The iPod touch shares a lot of features with the iPhone 5 including the great screen. From the minute you turn on the touch, it is familiar. That’s because it also runs iOS 6, the same operating system that powers the iPhone 5.

The iPod touch comes with FaceTime, Maps, Passbook, App Store, iTunes Store, Notes, Reminders, Game Center and access to more than 700,000 apps that can be downloaded with your Apple ID — 175,000 of those are games and entertainment titles.

Of course, the iPod touch can play video too and with iTunes you have access to 190,000 TV episodes and 45,000 movies. You can also get 1.5 million books and more than 26 million songs. That’s a lot of content.

For me, the best thing on the iPod touch is iCloud. I have all of my music in the cloud now using iTunes Match and I like to have access to it on my devices. All I need is a Wi-Fi connection and I can download any of my songs or albums from iCloud anytime I want.

iCloud also syncs all of my other data from my iPhone, iPad and Macs with the iPod touch, so I can check email, look at my Notes, Reminders, Calendars or Contacts should the need arise.

Even though I have those options, I still try to use the iPod touch as a consumption device. Of course, my music is the most important thing, but I do put some videos and movies on the touch as well. The larger screen makes it very easy to watch something when I’m away from the TV.

One place the iPod touch excels is in the gaming market. I’m not much of a gamer anymore, but I still like to race every now and then and the touch ensures I don’t need a separate device.

I think that’s the real power of the new iPod touch — it really excels at everything. Music, movies, video, iCloud, gaming, surfing the Web, email. It just does it all and it does it all very well.

For Apple, the iPod touch is the perfect stepping stone for people to move up to the iPhone when they are ready. The devices are similar in so many ways. They get you hooked and keep you for life.

Bottom line

The iPod nano and iPod touch are the most significant updates Apple has released to this product line in years. The competition just doesn’t have a chance.

http://blog.matthewjanssen.com/ Matthew Janssen

I think the iPod with the lanyard was the first generation shuffle, not the nano.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=566115167 Andrew Wood
  
  indeed – the first nano didn’t have a lanyard; the ‘chewing gum’ shuffle, which was an absolutely brilliant product, had a separate end-cap with a neck cord built in.
- John
  
  Apple did have a lanyard headphone combo for the iPod nano.
http://darcyfitzpatrick.tumblr.com/ Darcy Fitzpatrick

I read somewhere that the Touch is so thin now, the headphone jack is just about the next limiting factor in how much more thin they can make it.

Any bets on whether they’ll ditch the headphone jack sometime in the next couple of generations and make their iOS devices wireless headphones only?

Maybe not circa the 5S, but the generation after, perhaps? If that were the case, maybe there are some cues in the new ear pod design that hint towards this wireless future.
- Eric M.
  
  They could go to 2.5mm jack, like some older phones used to have. People will freak out, but that’s never stopped Apple before.
http://twitter.com/jgpmolloy John Molloy

I have a question, Jim. Passbook is not available on the iPad – I assumed that it required a constant net connection – but it is on the iPod touch.

Any ideas why it is not available on the iPad?
- jawbroken
  
  Because it’s a ridiculous device to use as a replacement for a ticket or loyalty card, huge and unwieldy.
  - gjgustav
    
    Uhm… you carry your phone around anyway. Why fill up your wallet with loyalty cards that are cumbersome to find right when you need them?
    
    I’d rather use Passport than a loyalty card any day.
    - jawbroken
      
      You’ve completely misread my comment somehow. I was talking about Passbook on the iPad, as would be clear if you were to read what I was replying to.
      - gjgustav
        
        You’re right. My apologies, I was thinking iPod.
- gjgustav
  
  Passport also uses the GPS and automatically brings up the ticket when you approach the venue. The iPod touch does not have a GPS. iPad WiFi-only models also do not.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=566115167 Andrew Wood

Why use an iPod Touch when you have an iPhone 5 though? Screen is the same; surely you don’t carry both around with you?
Mother Hydra

the design aspect I find most intriguing with regard to the touch is the lanyard strap. Seems like such a no-brainer for the iPhone and it really would help them sell through more units in the Asian parts of our world. Japan still has a love affair with ge-gaw crap hanging from their phone lanyards, and I believe Apple really struck a sweet design with the touch. I would like to hang a little cloud charm off my manly iPhone 5 just because. I keep waiting for Apple to introduce a little inset loop on the corner of the iPhone but do they listen? NO! In all fairness I haven’t sent in any feedback but still. They should just know. harumph.
http://wondroushippo.com Carter Dotson

Here’s the problem with calling the iPod touch good for gaming: the tech is a year and a half old already, as it’s basically the iPad 2 in specs. The iPod touch 4th gen had iPad 1 specs half a year later and it was suffering as a gaming device the next year. I’ve talked to game devs who say that even 512 MB of RAM may be pushing it for game performance. This thing might be good right now – but a year from now, I fear that we’ll be in the same situation with the iPod touch 4G, a device that won’t run things very well because it’s underpowered. If only they had gone with 1 GB of RAM.

Also, I really wish they would beef this thing up, I hate how thin it is compared to phones. The additional heft is good for grip when playing games.
- Eric M.
  
  Specs are fun to talk about, but what really matters is that the device runs well and isn’t laggy, like most (all?) Android devices. Especially with games. Even the mighty Galaxy S3 feels more laggy to me than the last gen iPod touch when playing popular games.
- gjgustav
  
  Nintendo has never had the latest and greatest hardware specs, yet build many successful gaming devices.
- dvdphn
  
  A good case would solve your issue with grip/heft/thinness.
  - http://wondroushippo.com Carter Dotson
    
    Eric M.: I don’t know about that, I’ve got both, the S3 has done far better for me when it comes to smoothness. Which I would hope so. Once Samsung finally puts out Jelly Bean worldwide, check it out – it runs beautifully on stock, don’t know how well it’ll work after Samsung TouchWizzes on it, but it’s dramatically better on the other devices I’ve used it on.
    
    gjgustav: Not really a fair comparison because there’s usually just one target hardware variation in terms of power. iOS development is a moving target and it seems like devs target the more powerful devices.
    
    dvdphn: Yeah, it’s definitely a problem that can be solved. I played a bit with the 5th gen at an Apple Store and I really liked the feel. Though I really wish they would bring this back up to speed with the iPhone.