iPod Nano 6G Review

The 6th generation iPod Nano must be the oddest looking iPod in recent history of Apple. It does not look anything similar to its predecessor nor any other iPods before it. Check out our full review of the iPod Nano 6G after the jump.

The new design of the Nano departs from what we’ve usually expected of it. This time, Apple decided to cut the size in half and made the display a touchscreen. Oh, and they’ve totally removed the clickwheel too.

In most respects, this new Nano does not look like any Nano. It’s small, thin and compact and the small touchscreen is the center of it all. On top is the power button and two smaller circular buttons for volume controls. At the bottom is the 3.5mm audio jack and the proprietary 30-pin dock connector. Most surprising is the belt clip they added at the back, a feature only found in the Shuffle before.

Since the iPod Nano now sports a touch screen display, the UI resembles that of iOS (the ones found in the iPod Touch & iPhone) although due to the limited screen real estate, it has smaller icons on a 2 x 2 grid.

To navigate, you just flick the screen sideways just like you would with the iPod Touch or iPhone. And since there’s no physical home button, you need to press the middle of the screen for a few seconds to go back to the main menu. It’s a bit confusing even if you’re a long-time iPod user since this is a new touch/gesture command.

The screen is bright, crisp and has all the usual eye-candy to it. The black bezel around it seems a little too thick I thought Apple could have used that extra space as part of the screen real estate. Navigating the touchscreen is easy although you’d sometimes end up launching an app especially if you have large fingers.

Also feels a little clumsy to use with one hand (much more if you have a big one) so most of the time, you tend to hold it with two hands — one to hold it firmly and the other to navigate the UI. Not a big effort but one could get used to it in time.

Music quality is good but not very impressive. Just like its other siblings (specifically the iPod Shuffle) it doesn’t have that enough bass and range. However, if you’re a long-time uer of the iPod Nano you won’t notice any difference at all except maybe if you use a much better headphones with it.

Since video playback has been dropped from this model, all you can use it is playing music or podcasts. It was hard to view photos on the 2.2-inch screen of the old Nano; it’s now even harder to view them on the smaller 1.54-inch screen.

Other things that are missing on the new one is the VGA camera, the built-in microphone and speakers (I especially missed the speakers). Also, if you bought games for the old Nano, you won’t be able to load or use them on the new one.

Battery life is impressive though and I could go for days without recharging it. Apple claims up to 24 hours on music playback and it isn’t far from the truth.

I felt that Apple made a wrong move on the re-architecture of the iPod Nano. Aside from the storage capacity, it does not add much value when you compare it with the iPod Shuffle. It looks cute, but that’s all there is to it. I think people will gravitate with either an iPod Touch or the iPod Shuffle as the Nano seems to have lost its positioning with this new design.

The new UI is still a hit or miss — either you’ll like the refresh with the touchscreen UI or you’ll completely hate it. I reckon those who regularly use their iPod Nano outdoors or for sports (like running or in the gym) might not find the new Nano very appealing; not really practical to use the touchscreen when you’re all sweaty.

The new iPod Nano has a suggested retail price of Php7,990USD 136INR 11,542EUR 130CNY 992 (8GB) or Php9,790USD 167INR 14,143EUR 159CNY 1,215 for the 16GB and comes in seven colors.