Yes, ladies and gentleman – it’s iPod season once again. The annual hunt has largely been a success for Apple, yielding a completely new nano – one that doesn’t look like the old nano, but more like the old, old nano.
How does the new arrival stack up against the older generation and has it got what it takes to take on the best Sony has to offer? Click over for some stats based mayhem.
Looks
It’s what’s on the inside that counts, right? Nah – who are we kidding, no one wants a minger of an MP3 player and let’s face it: the old nano was a little bit fugly, with it’s short, squat frame. The Sony NWZ-S639F isn’t much better with its rather utilitarian looks – it seems a bit like they laid out all the parts they needed and then just wrapped some plastic around it all. The new nano walks this one, no contest, what with its sleek curves and choice of nine different colour options.
Winner: new iPod nano
Size and Weight
The old nano and the Sony were neck and neck for this, with one a little bit bigger, but the other a little more hefty. The new nano trounces them both, however, quickly grabbing itself another gong.
Winner: new iPod nano
Storage
With only a maximum of 8GB on offer, the old nano is left out in the cold by the Sony and new nano which can squeeze in up to 16GB of musical goodness.
Winner: new iPod nano and Sony NWZ-S639F
Formats
What, you don’t just live in iTunes land and you’ve got music in formats other than AAC? You’re clearly some sort of eccentric, but if you must insist on playing back content outside of Apple world then you’ll find the Sony much more flexible. The only downside being that you can’t tap into protected tracks from the iTunes Store.
Winner: Sony NWZ-S639F
Software
Sony has tried its best, bless it, but it’s simply no match for Apple in the UI department. Its icon interface is okay to use, but it’s nowhere near as intuitive and simple to pick up as Apple’s menu system. The new nano adds in Cover Flow when you flip it on its side so you can flick through your albums visually, making it all the more pretty and easy to use.
Winner: new iPod nano
Battery Life
You’d think, given that it’s the newest, that Apple’s latest nano would be best at this – but it’s even beaten by the old model. Both can do a full 24 hours audio, but the new can only go four hours of video verses five on the old timer. Maybe it was storing an extra ounce of battery life in its spare tyre. Sony shows them both how it’s done, however, cramming in a whopping 40 hours music and ten hours of vidja.
Winner: Sony NWZ-S639F
External speakers
Since when did headphones become optional? You may want to listen to crunk full blast at the back of the number 46, but it’s unlikely everyone on the bus shares your taste in tracks. Thankfully none of these players packs in a tinny, crackling speaker so there’s no risk of annoying fellow commuters with your tunes, should you lack self control, for instance.
Winner: Society
Price
With the old nano shifting at £99 for the 4GB and £129 for the 8GB, the new nano pricing of £109 for 8GB and £149 for 16GB means you get more bytes for your buck. All looks fine, until you realise that Sony is selling its 8GB and 16GB models for the same prices as the old nano with half the storage – £99 and £129 respectively.
Winner: Sony NWZ-S639F
Why haven’t you compared the sound quality & headphones that come with each player? Yano… the reason we buy them?
i find it unbelievable that you haven’t even mentioned sound quality. incredible. what do you think we use these things for?
Solely because they prefer iPods and comparing Sony’s audio quality to iPod would instantly tilt the scale to favour the S639F like how the scale tilts to a melon as compared to an Apple.