Digital Trends

Apple iPod nano 4GB

September 14th, 2005 | by Ian Bell

Performance

For its size, the nano reproduces music surprisingly well. We would probably put the music reproduction on par with the rest of the Apple product line. Frequency response is 20Hz to 20,000Hz which is identical to the rest of  iPod product line. Interestingly all of the audio specs are identical across the entire Apple iPod line regardless of storage space and size of the unit. If we had to compare the iPod nano sound reproduction to other players on the market, we would probably put it towards the top of the list. The Cowon audio players seem to sound better in our opinion, but the nano certainly holds its own against the others.

There are 20 equalizer settings to choose from depending on the genre of music you are listening too. If you are an Audible audio book downloader, there is a “spoken word” option in the equalizer settings that will work well for you. Each equalizer setting works very well and we were able to tell the difference in the settings.

The tiny 1.5-inch color screen is absolutely beautiful and works great with the nano, but there are a couple things we wish the player could do. We love how you can output images on a regular iPod photo to a television using a special cable adapter. This feature is missing on the nano, so you are stuck showing images only on the screen, at least for the time being, which is a little small to really appreciate the images. Perhaps Apple will release some sort of photo kit for the nano at a later time. The USB cable that comes with the nano is also proprietary so if you lose this cable, you are out of luck. But this makes sense because the nano is so thin that there is not enough room for even a mini USB connection on the player itself. And lastly, we wish Apple would have included a neck strap so you can hang the nano while using it. Really, the nano is only slightly larger than the shuffle, so it would make a good replacement for those that like to listen to music while they work out.

Conclusion

Well, what can we say? Apple has done it again, and has surpassed all of our expectations. The nano is a very attractive little player that has features you would expect from a much larger and more expensive unit. There is a color display, plenty of storage space, and of course it's incredibly easy to use. Flash RAM is certainly the wave of the future, offering longevity to products while making the overall physical dimensions smaller. Apple would be wise to offer a replaceable battery in their players, especially after all of the lawsuits they had to deal with, but we understand why they probably decided to pass, it would mess up the gorgeous design! If you are thinking about getting this player, visit your local retailer to check it out. You certainly have to see it to believe it. The Apple iPod nano is nothing short of remarkable.

Pros:

-          Very attractive design

-          Color screen

-          Exceptional sound quality

-          Ease of use

-          Affordably priced

Cons:

-          Integrated battery

-          No video output

-          Proprietary USB cable