As we begin with the Apple iPod Touch 4G review, it strikes us that the company certainly does not accept the fact that remarkable advertisements and promotions are the only essential elements required to drive their product demand in the technological market. Ingenious solutions devised by the company over the years elucidate that it believes in carving out exquisite products. With the introduction of Apple’s gorgeous iPod Touch, the concept of personal music players has been relentlessly redefined. The iPod Touch 4G (4th Generation) is a significant upgrade to the previous models with its sleek, clear screen and two cameras. Reviewing Apple products is something that we cannot resist and without letting loose on time we picked up the Apple iPod Touch 4G for a comprehensive review.
Each time Apple puts on its thinking cap, innovative products are spotted adjusting themselves on market shelves. Our neatly packaged review unit entered with a pair of earphones, user manual and USB cord. It sizes up to 111mm x 58.9mm x 7.2mm and is incredibly thin at about 101 grams, the device is lighter than its predecessor. The sleek structure is undeniably tantalizing and felt great on the palm of our hand. The build quality is impressive and may surpass few knocks and bumps. The company has designed this unit with neat curved edges to augment the overall appearance. We were mesmerized with this model’s look but couldn’t refrain from complaining about the glossy body finish which is highly vulnerable to scratches.
Apple has always enriched its products with brilliant touchscreen ability. Keeping up with its trend, the company now offers 960 x 640 pixel resolution to further improve the iPod Touch 4G experience, certainly a significant change we don’t mind embracing. The Retina display wards off rigid competition with its ability to deliver sharp images and distinct viewing angles. As it goes without saying Apple again overwhelms us with its touch capabilities. We certainly love books but reading our favorite novels on the Retina display enhanced our fervor even more. This display uses a TN-panel unlike the IPS-panel on the iPhone 4. The 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen experience was good with its smooth surface, enabling us to conveniently glide our fingertips without any glitches and enjoy excellent control. The 3.5mm audio jack, dock connector and external speaker are neatly positioned at the bottom edge.
On comparing the Touch 4G with its predecessor, the first difference we noticed was the front-facing VGA camera which has been incorporated for FaceTime calls. Using the rear-facing camera, we could record sharp 720p videos. However, the images captured with the fixed-focus camera without Flash lacked crispness and detail which was disappointing as we expected something better from Apple in this aspect. The camera bundles together interesting functions such as Email Photo, Assign to Contact and Use as Wallpaper.
Surprisingly, the image quality did not tarnish in low light conditions, thanks to the back-illuminated sensor. The video quality was remarkable as compared to the images that we captured using the built-in camera. We were disappointed with the camera functionality as it lacks Flash, auto-focus capabilities and image adjustment options. Moving on, the included mic renders extra malleability for voice calls. The device is neatly fitted with a home key, a power/sleep button and two volume control buttons. The volume buttons are difficult to use and they are placed on the tapering edge. The loudspeaker was poor and we preferred using the included pair of earphones whenever required. This version significantly caught our attention with its A4 processor.
The responsiveness was remarkable without any undesired lag during continuous movements. The pinch-to-zoom competence for images, web pages and maps was fabulously polished. This is something Apple has always specialized in and continues to keep up with touchscreen capabilities. You can accordingly decrease the brightness level to suit your needs. We were thrilled to use the ‘FaceTime’ feature. We started off by choosing a contact and hitting the dedicated button gently over a Wi-Fi connection. We could also easily create folders and organize applications. Dragging one icon onto another helped us create a folder and the iPod Touch 4G competently named the folders by category.
The revived interface is surely appreciated as we could access our e-mails, the web and other applications simply by tapping the Home button. We quickly scrolled through our music collection to pore over the sound quality. We couldn’t observe any difference in the sound quality, keeping the previous generation model as a reference. Nevertheless, the experience was amazing and we could access various music functions like playlists, artists, songs, albums, audio-books, compilations, genres and iTunes U. This variant is surely a great music player with exceptional sound quality and easy-to-use controls.
The interface is pleasant to use and swiping through the homescreen was a simple task. Keeping all these factors in mind, we somehow did not observe any major difference in the fourth-generation iPod as compared to the previous models. Adding some details on our gaming experience, the three-axis gyro sensor promises to improve the accelerometer based games. The Games Center is in its early stages, but the concept of enabling users to play games online is noteworthy. We did not face any problem while junketing as the unit can be connected to a pair of wireless headphones via Bluetooth. This version packs in a pair of Apple’s standard headphones. We feel the company could bundle together a headphone with an in-line remote for easy control.
The YouTube application was fun to use and we could easily access online videos. With the pre-loaded Apple App Store, we could enjoy the best selection of apps, both paid and free, and there are plenty of applications to get your hands on from the iTunes Store as well. The multi-tasking capabilities were exceptional and we tried running multiple applications concurrently as well as toggling between different applications has been made facile. On double-clicking the Home button, we were presented with our most recently used apps.
This new variant exceeds its predecessor and mounting competition with a handful of new and unique features. To round it up, the Apple iPod Touch 4G is a good option to swift out considering its refreshed user interface, Retina display and sleek structure. The media player is tagged at Rs. 19,900 and this heavy price tag is quite obvious keeping the Apple brand in mind. It manages to get a good rating of 9 out of 10 from us.
