Digital Trends

Apple iPod Nano 8GB (4G)

September 22nd, 2008 | by Ian Bell

Testing

 In our testing, Genius did surprisingly well at finding songs that go together, though we did get the occasional head-scratcher--a solo cello track got picked up on a playlist generated from a 50 Cent song. In many cases, Genius couldn't find enough similar songs to create a 25-song playlist, though Apple claims that as more people use the feature, it will get smarter.

Video

Video file support still excludes AVI and MPG, but H.264 and MPEG-4 (M4V, MP4, and MOV) should satisfy most users. Video output works via the dock connector instead of the headphone jack, though you'll need a video-compatible dock or an optional $49 AV cable from Apple. Photo support is broad, encompassing JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, PSD, and PNG, all of which get optimized for the 2-inch screen when you sync them in iTunes. Audio support hasn't changed from previous versions. Codecs include AAC (including protected files from iTunes), MP3, WAV, AIFF, Apple Lossless, and Audible audiobooks, leaving FLAC, OGG, and WMA out in the cold once again.

We watched an episode of Chappelle's Show on the nano's QVGA screen, and the picture automatically reoriented itself to landscape mode. It also flips depending on whether you're holding the player with the the screen on the left or on the right, suiting righties and lefties alike. Video is sharp, clear, and smooth, with good if slightly cool color, though watching longer movies is still tough on a 2-inch screen. And although the nano supports alternate audio tracks, captions and subtitles are simply unreadable on the tiny screen.

Photos

Photos look very good on the nano, but we're disappointed in the continuing lack of zooming or panning. Mitigating this slightly, photos now automatically re-orient in any direction depending on how you hold the nano, so photos will always fill the screen.

Audio

We listened to songs by Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Radiohead, and Wynton Marsalis, and everything from the bass on up through the top end of the treble sounded spot-on to our ears. Rock tracks came off a bit flat-sounding during more complex passages, but R&B, electronica, and reggae had plenty of depth and thump. Acoustic jazz also retained its sparkle nicely. 

The white stock earbuds aren't the greatest, but they're good enough for everyday listening. We recommend upgrading, though, since the player is actually capable of very good sound when you play back Apple Lossless files or high-bit-rate MP3s. Oddly, Apple still refuses to include a custom equalizer, relying instead on the same old set of marginally effective presets like Rock, Jazz, Bass Booster, Treble Booster, and so on.

One interesting addition for workout nuts: You can put the player in Shuffle All mode by giving it a good shake. Skip to the next random track by shaking it again. The feature is smartly disabled when the hold switch is on or the screen goes dark to prevent inadvertent track skips.

Games

Arguably the biggest advantage of the nano's accelerometer is that it enables tilt-based control of games like Spore Origins ($9.99 at the iTunes store) and Maze (free, preloaded on the device). You don't get the lightning-quick responsiveness of the iPod Touch, but it does make it more fun to move your Spore organism around its environment by tilting the player in any direction.

Image Courtesy of Apple

Sadly, Apple didn't do anything in the area of battery life, leaving audio playback time at 24 hours and video at 4 hours. Although those are the same times as Microsoft claims for its flash-based Zune, we don't think it's too much to ask for longer life, especially for a device that doesn't have any wireless features to suck up juice.

Conclusion

Overall, we're pretty satisfied with the new nano, even though it's nowhere near as sexy as the newly revamped iPod touch. And on a small, dedicated audio player that's focused on slim design and pocketability, we don't feel too slighted that the nano lacks wireless features like the Zune, especially given the excellent integration between the hardware and iTunes software. But despite the inclusion of an accelerometer, we're giving Apple fair warning that the competition is really starting to pull far ahead on features, and a true "iPod killer" (at least for the nano) is becoming ever more feasible.




Pros:

• Accelerometer enhances interface and games
• Extremely thin design and lots of color choices
• Very good AV quality
• Useful new features like Genius, adjustable font size, and spoken menus

Cons:

• No wireless features
• No custom EQ
• Mediocre battery life