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5. Apple IPod Nano Fifth-gen 16GB MP3 Player Full Review

Apple iPod nano fifth-gen 16GB MP3 player full review

Posted by Katherine Hannaford on Wed 16 Sep 2009

Is it picture perfect for Apple?

When Steve Jobs compared the new iPod nano to the Flip Mino camcorder at the early September launch, we all wrote his boasts off as hyperbole. But upon using it, we discovered the old favourite nano had been drastically improved with the addition of an easy to use, point and shoot video recording setting.

- Watch our hands-on video of the new Apple iPod Nano

- Take a closer look with our hands-on gallery

With over 100 million iPod nanos sold, Apple could’ve been forgiven for resting on its laurels and updating its most popular iPod with a new slick of paint. They haven’t forgotten the lick of colour on these latest models, but also thought to add a whole wealth of other features - an FM radio, pedometer (with Nike+ compatability), voice recorder, speaker and the aforementioned camcorder.
 

Video capability
 

Billed as a “free” camcorder (the iPod nano hasn’t changed in price), it features 15 filter settings which are reminiscent of the Photo Booth settings on Mac computers. They’re not actually available on the iPhone, which adds to the perceived extra value of the fifth-gen ‘pod. Shooting is dead easy, with the click of a button, however users will be able to preview footage (even when on a set filter) before pressing record.

There was one fault however with recording video - and that was the placement of the lens. Stuck about 7/8ths down the length of the device, on the left hand side of the back, our fingers were constantly getting in the way of filming. Of course, it’s advisable to film in landscape mode, which involved fumbling with the nano and getting even more fingers in the way if you’d already hit record. We’d be much happier if the lens was at the other end of the device, as would the YouTube watchers.

The accelerometer does admittedly help here – whichever way you turn the iPod, the footage is turned the right way up, though it’s worth mentioning that you can’t actually change the angle once you’ve started filming. Five days on from ripping it from its tiny white box, and we were still struggling to remember to hold the nano by the edges.

The 15 filters are fun, and easy to use. Click and hold the middle button of the click-wheel, and choose from sepia, black & white, x-ray, film grain, thermal, security cam, cyborg, bulge, kaleido, motion blur, mirror, light tunnel, dent, stretch and twirl. Choose one with the click of a button, and you can preview your surroundings in that mode. Press the button again, and recording begins.

Playback is very simple, and the new speaker is surprisingly loud, if a little tinny. The speaker isn’t actually visible - it just seems to emanate from the whole iPod casing. Connecting to a computer to transfer the footage went sans drama, as did uploading the footage to YouTube. With video shot in VGA 640 x 480 format, it’s perfect for uploading online, but you wouldn’t want to play it on your HD TV.

The quality of the video was fair, we thought, for the price. We wouldn’t use it over the Flip MinoHD, which portrays colours more accurately, but the nano is more than adequate for a quick video of your friends yelling “twatvision” at the lens (as ours did). The footage was smooth, at 30fps, which really surprised us and almost compensated for the lack of audio quality.

FM Radio

The inclusion of a radio received a swell of murmurs and even cheers at the launch event. Using the headphones (any make will do) as the antenna, users can tune into any FM radio station. Tag songs, and when you connect your iPod to your computer later, you can actually purchase the tracks on iTunes – if you live in the States, where this feature actually works.
Live Pause allows you to literally pause the station you’re listening to – say, if your phone rings – and it will cache up to 15 minutes of audio for you to catch up on after your conversation ends.

Radio quality was great, and tuning to stations was remarkably quick. The fact that Apple doesn’t lock you into using the radio with a pair of its Apple-brand headphones is a sure sign of Apple shedding its DRM-happy former image. Although we would of course like to see the iPod Shuffle’s VoiceOver compatible with any brand of headphones, natch.

VoiceOver, whilst present on the previous nano model, has been ramped up for the fifth-gen Nano we’re reviewing, so it won’t just speak control-specific words at you, but also the artist name and song title just like the Shuffle does. You don’t need Apple’s headphones for this to work either, with an elongated hold down on the middle click-wheel button.
 

Microphone

Speaking of talking iPods, the latest version has been outfitted with a microphone, making it even easier to record Voice Memos. You don’t need to purchase an external microphone anymore if you want to take advantage of this feature, simply press the middle button and audio recording begins. It saves the recorded audio as 128kbps AAC files, and audio quality was pretty decent. Not as clear as our Samsung Dictaphone, but nonetheless it’ll do for recording interviews, your baby’s first words, or a meeting with your lying bank manager. It’s worth noting that the microphone is on the back of the nano next to the camera lens, and whilst audio could be adequately picked up when it’s lying on its back, it was clearer if the microphone was facing up.
 

Nike+

Moving on to the fitness settings, with the addition of the accelerometer the pedometer works with the Nike+ website to plot your steps. Believe it or not, but we actually tested this both walking and running (albeit on a treadmill, at the gym). It counts your daily steps and tracks them on the calendar under ‘history’ (though don’t forget to quit after your last step of the day, or they iPod will continue counting endlessly).

You can view calories burnt and time spent walking, and even give yourself daily step goals, which we’re proud to say we actually reached once…out of five days of use. When connected to your computer, the information is automatically uploaded to nikeplus.com. Now, all of this is obviously just a clever ruse to sell more Nike trainers (as well as the Nike+ sensor for your shoes), but we’re not ashamed to admit to walking just a tiny bit faster, knowing the nano was counting each and every step.

We can’t vouch for its total accuracy – after all, how do we know if we walked 4,688 steps, or 4,608? It’s as accurate as counting your daily calorie intake, there’s always going to be errors but we’re happy with the readings we got at the end of the day.
 

Genius

Finally, Genius. When this was first announced last September, we had our doubts. Why would we want to give Apple information on our listening habits? Surely this is just a trick to work out how many of our songs were procured from BitTorrent?

Perhaps, but there’s no denying that Genius does work. We can’t always be relied on for being a great DJ, otherwise we’d have a weekly spot at Fabric. Genius learns from your listening habits, and millions of others, and works out what songs best suit your chosen starting song. Apple’s sprinkled even more intelligence in the latest version of Genius, adding Genius Mixes, which is compatible with the new nano.

Within iTunes, it can create up to 12 Genius Mixes, such as “Rock”, “Alternative” and “Pop”, once you activate the new feature. If your music collection is mostly made up of pop music, then Genius will work out which pop songs best complement one another. You could end up with eight different pop mixes, but each mix will have distinctly different pop songs. We used Genius Mixes for a while, but ended up mostly listening to our own selected playlists – if anyone from Fabric is reading this, we’re confident of our DJ skills.

Alternatively, the shuffle feature is alive and well, and accessible via a quick shake of the iPod. Sound quality is decent for the price, but no match for the iPod Touch, which we believe is the best sounding iPod of all. We’ll be extra-controversial here, and say that the iPod nano didn’t match the Microsoft Zune in terms of bass and richness, but as the Zune’s still not available in the UK you needn’t worry your pretty little ears over this fact.

In summary, we really enjoyed our experience with the fifth-generation of the iPod nano. The slightly larger screen (it measures 2.2-inches, with the previous model being .2-inches smaller) meant Cover Flow was easier to use, and playback of videos didn’t make us reach for the phone to give SpecsSavers a call. The new polished aluminum finish gives the Nano a metallic, sparkly coat; it’s much nicer to look at than the other models. It feels good in the hand, and is amazingly light – but the scroll wheel could’ve been worked on some more, with the middle-click button sometimes needing a second or even third click to carry a command out.

We have no hesitation in recommending the latest iPod nano, especially with prices starting at £115. If we were in the habit of giving out half-star ratings, we’d award the nano with a 4.5 out of 5. However, we don’t, so we’re going to drop it down to a 4. The main selling point of this nano, apart from the music playback, is the video recording – and until Apple fixes the lens real estate (and chucks in still-photo taking), we just can’t award it perfect marks.


Link: Apple

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By kquaker

1|10|2009 21:26

I love the Ipod nano. And I also wrote a review which can be found here: http://gizmoelectronics.blogspot.com/2009/10/all-my-childhood-memories.html

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