iPod nano 5G review iPod nano 5G review

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Categories: MP3 & Audio Reviews    Tags: , ,
We love
Gorgeous interface and innovative twists on new features
We hate
No still image capture and iTunes Tagging won’t work in the UK

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Verdict
New features, new ideas: The iPod nano’s four years old, but this update keeps it as fresh as ever
Launch Price
£115
6 Pages
123456

iPod nano 5g

Few things in life are certain, but September’s iPod update is now so regular it might as well come pre-printed into the gadget addict diary. But this year’s update is different. Sure, Apple has unveiled a new iPod nano. And, yes, it has a load of new features. But this isn’t a re-invention, as in previous years, but rather a re-think.

Instead of the design overhaul which gave us the plastic nano, the aluminium nano, the fat nano and the oval nano, Apple’s stuck with the most recent iPod nano shape. To the casual observer, it’s the same device, albeit with a new paint job, but flip the new iPod nano over and you’ll see Apple’s crammed in a video camera. Neato, but that’s not all.

There’s also an FM radio, pedometer and the Voiceover technology from the iPod shuffle inside, letting the new iPod nano bark out track names and artists at the push of a button. There’s also built in Nike+ functionality, so fitness freaks can sync their steps to an online database without hooking up a clunky adapter.

Add to that some shiny new chrome-effect colours, and this iPod nano has it all. Apple’s taken the kitchen sink approach, and chucked everything it has at the tiny player. But it’s still missing the odd bell and whistle.

Sure, the new iPod nano can record VGA video, doing so very ably, even if the camera placement means it’s easy to capture footage of your fingers. But if you’re expecting to snap still shots, you’re out of luck.


Read our iPod touch 3G review


That said, Apple has packed in neat bonuses for video fans. Hold down the centre button and you’ll be treated to some snazzy effects, shown off in real-time previews. It’s astonishingly smooth, and guaranteed to sneak a smile onto your face the first time you use it, and annoy your subjects when you continue to morph and distort them at will.

And then there’s the FM radio. Apple’s taken a dull add-on and made it exciting with the ability to pause live broadcasts, using the iPod’s memory as a buffer. There’s also iTunes Tagging technology built in, letting the iPod identify tracks played on the radio and bookmark them for potential purchase when you sync back with iTunes.

Unfortunately, iTunes Tagging isn’t supported by UK radio stations just yet, but as soon as it’s switched on you’ll be able to build up a wishlist, simply by tuning in.

Adding a pedometer to the new iPod nano has also been done with a flourish. Apple’s player can be set to count down towards personal pedestrian goals, or simply notch up your progress over the course of a day. When it’s docked with iTunes it’ll upload that data to a new Nike+ site, where your progress is collated. It uses the new iPod nano’s built in accelerometer, and Apple claims there’s no battery drain to leaving it switched on all day, as the nano can sense when it’s moving, or when you’re having a breather.

All these additions combine with the iPod nano’s exquisite interface to make this a worthy successor to the best selling MP3 player in history. Sure, there’s little here to improve its actual music-playing abilities, but when Apple has made such a supreme job of refining them over the previous four generations it hardly needs too.

Instead this is a reaffirmation that the iPod nano is the greatest of the click-wheel iPods. It remains to be seen where Apple will take its most popular model next, and the raft of new features seem to leave it little option but to pack apps inside the next version. But for now the new iPod nano has pretty much everything you could want in a music-player. If you’ve got the upgrade itch, go ahead, scratch it with the new iPod nano.

10 Responses to “iPod nano 5G review”

  1. [...] annual iPod event wasn’t full of many surprises, although the lack of a camera on the iPod touch did [...]

  2. [...] new iPod nano might shoot video. But just how does its camera work compare with its closets rivals? Well a new [...]

  3. [...] isn’t just about making your movies nice and noisy. It’s about churning out your iPod tunes too. There’s an Apple–friendly dock on board the Panasonic SC-BT200 too, although the [...]

  4. [...] about a new iMac emerged just days after Apple’s recent iPod unveiling. And now there’s some techie flesh to add to those gorgeous gadgety bones. [...]

  5. [...] no bones about it: the Archos 3 Vision is a killer alternative to the powers of the spanking new iPod nano, with a spec sheet that’ll sate tech heads, music buffs and mobile video junkies alike. And [...]

  6. [...] have seemingly been revealed. iLounge claims the same source that gave it an early heads-up on the new iPod Nano 5G has spilt the [...]

  7. [...] new features. Its makers, Pure Digital, will hope it’ll keep the threat of the video-packing new iPod nano at bay, not to mention the likes of the Toshiba Camileo [...]

  8. [...] new features. Its makers, Pure Digital, will hope it’ll keep the threat of the video-packing new iPod nano at bay, not to mention the likes of the Toshiba Camileo [...]

  9. [...] to plug your iPod into your pillow for some MP3 lullabies? You’ve been able to do that for a while with Sound [...]

  10. [...] iPod nano It’s the obvious choice, but the 8GB iPod nano remains top dog when it comes to natty jukeboxes. For £115 you get a choice of swish colours, from [...]

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