New Apple iPod Nano 6G Product Review

Until the relatively recent release of the iPod Touch, the iPod Nano was the best selling product of the iPod range at the time year on year. This years new 6th gen iPod Nano is arguably the biggest change to an iPod product ever. 

With it they have combined those two best selling products together by creating a small touchscreen nano. It is 46% smaller and 42% lighter than the previous generation, but is this a good thing?

• 1.54-inch colour TFT display
• 240x240 resolution multi-touch display
• 8GB or 16GB Capacity
• 24 hour continously playing music battery life
  
• Nike+
• FM radio
  

There is a reason Apple had not jumped on the bandwagon of making small touchscreen MP3 players like many manufacturers. They believed that it was not possible to do well. There are many around and have been for several years, but most are slow and unresponsive, and even the best can only be classed as average when it comes to touch response.

Apple have once again delivered. Being Apple it has multitouch, which is pretty amazing considering its size. By adding this feature it means that the accuracy of the touch has to be nigh on perfect, and it really is impressive to see. You can simply glide across the menus, and scroll down to see artists, much as you would with the scroll wheel. Whether touch screen makes progress quicker is a different matter and probably a personal choice. However Apple have gone some lengths to make this everyday action much simpler to navigate. To do this the screen displays a large letter of where you are. This sounds like a simple feature, and it is, but it makes scrolling through hundreds of artists very easy to gauge where you are. As you stop you see all the artists to do with the large letter in the background. Again anyone familiar with the iPhone or iPod Touch will feel instantly at home with how it works.

Volume buttons are a nice feature so if its in your pocket you can feel for the volume instead of having to bring it out into the open from your pocket. Nice feature for a touchscreen device! The menu is like a mini iPhone. If you have ever used one before, you will be used to the "app" style homepage. You can even choose your favourite icons, e.g. View Artists or Albums, and move the icons over onto your own homepage which is a nice customisation feature. Overall the interface of the new Nano 6G is highly impressive for such a compact screen. Menu navigation is smooth and fast, as described with the scrolling letter technique, whilst the contrast makes the screen easily viewable in most lightning conditions.

Whilst the interface of Nano blurs the lines of the iPod Touch, the additional clip on the back of the device makes its usage possibilities similar to an iPod Shuffle. Especially with its near half size and weight, it makes it ideal to clip to your clothes for the gym. Another great simple feature that Apple's designers seem to think of, although it does beg the question of whether the next generation Shuffle will exist or not. The only difference being the price.

Like mentioned before, Apple clearly didn't rush into making a small touchscreen device and it shows. The new Apple iPod Nano 6G is a superb device, with performance to match its looks. With 24 hours of battery life whilst listening to music non-stop, you will be a long way on your journey before it dies too. Overall this iPod deserves its market success it will likely get. A truly A-Class product which is without doubt the must have gadget this Christmas run up.

V Rating (Out of 5 V's)

Features:VVVVV
Looks: VVVVV
Price: VVVVV
Overall (not an average): VVVVV

An unbelievable product, which is arguably the greatest and most versatile iPod yet. A real achievement.