While putting the Apple iPod Nano fifth generation through a review, we’ve been thinking that there are times when it can come in very handy indeed. Although offered in a small and cozy form-factor, we see Apple packing this wonder with loads of features and emphasizes on its camera functionality among other attributes. Picture this: You wake up in the morning thinking that the day would be just another boring set of hours where mundane life takes over and acts as a killjoy. As you step out and traverse onto the streets, you suddenly espy an UFO flying by and think it could get you a huge reward of sorts. Well a flying saucer zooming your way may be a little farfetched but there are a lot of instances where you find yourself exclaiming, ‘Where’s a camera when you need one?’
The iPod Nano came to us in a neat rectangular transparent box where we could immediately view the trendy device. As we acquired possession of the offering, we felt a strong urge to just dive into the box and pluck the iPod player like a ripe apple from the tree. Sitting pretty dressed in green, the iPod Nano was accompanied by Apple earphones, USB 2.0 cable, dock adapter and a quick start guide. Although we received the green device, it also comes to shelves drenched in other exciting and vibrant colors such as black, orange, purple, silver, blue, pink, red and yellow. The Nano sports a polished anodized aluminum finish which adds to its overall style.
When pitted against its previous generations, the fifth one dazzles with a leaner and slimmer body. The first thing that caught our eye was the 2.2-inch color display screen with a slim black border which was large enough to enjoy all the content stored in the device. We thought that it would have been great if the company employed a touchscreen instead of just a white touch-sensitive click wheel which was situated below the screen. This inclusion featured Menu on the top and play/pause at the bottom. Either side included the forward and rewind options. When the device was flipped on its belly, the Apple iPod logo gleamed at us with the camera sitting at the lower left hand of the product. The hold switch was located on top of the device while the 3.5mm stereo headphone jack and dock connector were situated at the bottom.
The highlight of the latest Apple Nano seems to be the inclusion of the video camera. It offers you H.264 VGA video and 640 x 480 pixels as well as up to 30 frames per second with AAC audio. Fifteen real-time special effects were also provided to heighten the creativity of users. These include sepia, x-ray, black and white, film grain, security cam, thermal, cyborg, kaleido, bulge, light tunnel, mirror, stretch, twirl and dent. Clear video and audio was also procured and captured with high quality. Speaking about audio, it offers frequency response in a range of 20Hz to 20,000Hz and supports various audio formats such as MP3, AAC, protected AAC, audible enhanced audio, WAV, AIFF and Apple Lossless among others. Although you can hear audio aloud, the sound seemed to jar quite a bit and we feel that Apple could have countered the problem by employing a stereo outlet on the back of the device as there is ample space.
An Apple iPod, may it be the classic model, the Touch or even the Shuffle, is very much loved for its music storing capability as well as the ability to heighten the entertainment quotient. The iPod Nano is no different in this perspective. As fathomed, this offering can be synced with a computer through iTunes and allows its owners to enjoy a plethora of music tracks, videos and photos. You can simply drag-and-drop all your selections onto the allocated sections on iTunes and hit sync to avail of these options on your Nano. The menu of the iPod Nano consists of Music, Videos, Photos, Podcasts, Radio, Video Camera, Extras, Settings and Shuffle Songs. Within the Music option, you are offered not just the usual Playlists, Artists, Albums and Songs but also Cover Flow, Genius Mixes, Genres, Composers, Audio Books and Search for accessing the song that’s constantly playing on your lips and ringing through your head. Coming to other options, photos can be viewed either in landscape or portrait mode depending on how you hold the gadget.
Extras include Alarms, calendars, clocks, contacts, fitness, games, notes, screen lock, stopwatch and voice memos. The games category comprises of just three games namely Klondike, Maze and Vortex and since the Nano supports motion-sensor, the latter two games were highly enjoyable. Among the array is the awesome new feature known as Fitness. It helps keep track of the total number of steps taken as well as the time and calories. This feature comes in extremely handy to fitness conscious owners.
The iPod seems to be a cross between the bulky Apple iPod Classic and the mini highly-portable iPod Shuffle. Fathom what you may, we feel that this mix is indeed a well-received one. To further add to the concoction, the company has also embedded into the trendy device four awesome features namely Video, FM Radio + Live Pause, VoiceOver and Fitness. With the first and last option already being dealt with, we go to the FM Radio + Live Pause. We could enjoy radio as well as its new Live Pause in pristine audio. The Spoken menus also enable you to hear the names of songs, artists and menus without having to even look at the screen.
A downside to the iPod Nano is the placement and position of the camera. The lens is located on the lower-left hand side of the rear. We feel that this location is inapt as it tends to get covered with the hand while grasping the device and operating its frontal buttons. It would have been more convenient if the camera would have been located on the upper half of the player as typically seen in most mobile phones. We also noticed that on closer observation, the glorious shiny paint seemed to be chipping off a bit. This only goes to show that with prolonged use, the device won’t be that much of an eye-candy.
The Apple iPod Nano brings loads of features all packed up in one lightweight bundle. Measuring at just 3.6 x 1.5 x 0.24 inches and weighing 1.28 ounces, the Apple offering can be carried around in the bag, purse or even slipped into the pocket. This offering can be looked upon as an ideal gift as it comes with a realistic price tag of just Rs. 9,400 and Rs. 11,200 for the 8GB and 16GB models respectively. We mark the fifth generation Nano 9 out of 10.
