- Design: About the size of a credit card, the iPod nano is just 0.24" (5.4mm) thin. The 2.5" Multi-Touch display is nearly twice the size of the display on the previous iPod nano, so you can see more of the music, photos and videos you have
- Music: Tap to play your favorite songs, entire albums or everything by one artist. You can even browse by genres or composers. Flip through your music by album art. To keep things fresh, give the iPod nano a shake and it shuffles to a different song in your music library
- Video: Now you can watch episodes of your favorite TV shows, Hollywood blockbusters, free video podcasts and home videos on your iPod nano. View them on the widescreen 2.5-inch Multi-Touch display. Tap to play, fast-forward, rewind and pause
- Bluetooth 4.0: Pairing iPod nano with Bluetooth-enabled headphones and supported speakers is a cinch. With no wires in the way, connecting to Bluetooth devices is hassle free
- Radio: FM radio keeps you up on what's going on out there, whether it's the game, the top news stories or your favorite talk shows. Just plug in your headphones and tap to see the controls. Flick the radio dial to change stations
The latest iPod Nano is an update to the current state of the art in ultra-compact music players and it represents incremental but important improvements over its predecessors with only a few minor trade-offs. I'm convinced it represents a substantial functional upgrade for most users.
Its major advantage, in my opinion, is actually its slightly-larger size in comparison to the 5th generation. Although the smaller form factor of the previous Nano was remarkable for its extreme compactness, it actually made the device somewhat cumbersome to use. Its touch-screen was too susceptible to unintended inputs and it couldn't be easily held in one hand while manipulating its controls. Attempts to control it via screen-input while clipped onto one's clothing tended to be futile: you'd need to un-clip the device, then hold it in one hand and manipulate its touch-screen with the other. While the tiny size and convenient clip made it practically disappear while in use, it could be an ergonomic nightmare to actually interact with.
The new Nano is still tiny but much better for one-handed use. My index finger comfortably sits on the three-way volume/play/pause button (itself a major improvement) while my thumb has easy access to the sleep/wake button, the home button and the improved, larger, multi-touch-enabled screen. This easy one-handed control has the significant practical advantage of not requiring the interruption of my activities to switch, for example, between podcasts, music playlists and FM radio.
Other improvements follow logically from the Nano's new shape. The screen's larger proportions allow all the main "apps" to show up on a single home screen, so less fiddling is typically required for switching. Videos and photos become practical on a screen of these proportions, so it's perfectly reasonable to load some viewable content in addition to the audio content that will no doubt remain the Nano's main reason for existence. With few pixels, photos take up very little memory. The screen has neither the stunning colors nor the retina resolution of the premium iDevices, but photos still show up crisply and become the modern equivalent of the now-obsolete "wallet"-sized photos people used to carry. Video content is surprisingly usable as long as you can set the Nano in a viewable position for example, on a cardio machine at the gym. The Nano supports rotation, so displaying the beautiful panos you've made with your new iPhone is simply a matter of rotating the device to the horizontal and then looking very, very closely. Maybe bring a magnifying glass.
More important for most people, the new Nano is an improved device for playing music. The "Home" button is a good antidote to the common experience of getting lost in the old Nano's sometimes-inscrutable layers of touch screens, bringing you immediately back to the home screen without interfering with playback. An even bigger practical improvement is the addition of the play/pause button on the volume control, a feature lifted from the (now unfortunately absent) remote-equipped earphones of many previous iPods. It's worth a few minutes' time to familiarize yourself with this button's very clever functions: click to play or to pause, double-click for next track, triple-click for previous track (even when in shuffle mode), double-click-and-hold for cueing (great for skipping forward in podcasts), and so on. Most routine playback functions are accessible through this simple and very welcome interface and can be accomplished while diverting little attention from whatever you're otherwise engaged in.
The list of major upgrades doesn't end there. The inclusion of Bluetooth will make the Nano usable, for the first time, with many car audio systems and also with wireless Bluetooth headsets and remote Bluetooth speaker systems. The FM radio is much better than I would have imagined if I hadn't used the previous Nano, with legitimately excellent reception and a very nice interface that lets you select unlimited numbers of "presets." I've used small portable radios in the past, and maybe there are some other good ones out there, but the ones I've experienced have been terrible. I'm personally still attached to FM, and this level of FM quality would make the Nano a terrific device even if it did nothing else.
In general I find the new Nano to be a beautiful, nearly-flawless little piece of practical technology that can do things which, not that long ago, I would not have expected to be possible within my lifetime. While it's not inexpensive, it has real life-improving potential for people who love music or who want to remain portably connected to a world of podcasted information. Being smaller than a credit card in two of three dimensions, it fits easily into the smallest pocket. While jaded consumers of technology can claim it's a mere incremental improvement over its predecessors, I prefer to see it as an instance of exceptional, practical, functional design in a world full of cheap junk that too often disappoints or fails to function altogether. While I have a few nitpicks (below), none of them significantly diminish its overall excellence. It earns every star.
Notes:
There are a few disappointments and drawbacks:
--The Ear Pods that come with the device sound good overall but don't have the remote function included with many iDevice earphones in recent years. While the new Nano has a hardware button that mimics that function, the corded remote is often more accessible, making pause/play and track-change functions instantly available even if the device is buried in a pocket. A decent set of Apple-compatible remote-equipped earphones would be a nice addition.
--This latest Nano eliminates the useful integrated clip featured by the last (6th generation) Nano, making it more a pocket device. Its thin-ness and Bluetooth support compensates for this: the old Nano's clip made it slightly cumbersome in a pocket, as it could catch on things and added significantly to the device's thickness. Nevertheless the previous generation remains the ultimate for portability and, while thicker and slightly wider, weighs around 1/3 less than the latest model.
--The white screen-surround on the colored Nanos doesn't look all that great in my opinion. It does give the Nanos a clean, friendly look, but to my eyes black would be a better choice and would contrast sharply with the bright colors and icons. I chose the boring but still attractive "slate" (black) model, which does have a black screen-surround.
--I would like more flexibility in some of the settings: for example, the ability to keep the screen "on" longer, even indefinitely, before it sleeps. As it is, the screen goes dark so quickly I'm often still in the middle of fiddling with whatever I'm working on and have to re-wake the screen to continue. The previous-generation Nano was similar.
--The previous 6th-gen Nano enjoyed an unintended popularity as a watch, mainly with kids, who seemed to love using it for this purpose. It had lots of clock faces to choose from and could be set to default to the clock when waked from sleep (as can the current model). The new Nano gives up the prospect of practical wrist-wearability. It also features fewer clock faces and only a few background options, all color-matched to the device, none of which is customizable. Perhaps this helps contribute to a lean OS and optimize the device's storage space. Whatever the case, the new Nano is not a watch, nor a clock, although it will accurately show you the time and it still has a useful stopwatch and countdown-timer.
The Lightning connector is functionally far better than competing connector types such as Micro-USB and a clear improvement over the old style. The previous-generation Nano was nearly dwarfed by its connector, and it's easy to see that retaining that oversized monstrosity (as it will seem to have been, within a year or two) would have precluded the current positioning of the Home button on the new device, among other drawbacks.
The Nano is still not an iOS device: internet connectivity and wirelessor Cloud-syncing remain in the future. This makes sense: a Nano is likely to be away from a wifi signal much of the time it's used, and cellular capability hardly seems reasonable. If you're looking for a do-it-all device, a smart phone remains a much more versatile (but cumbersome) alternative. The Nano is fundamentally optimized to function as a stand-alone audio player. Pandora will have to wait.
Why not simply use a smart phone for music playback and podcasts? Well, you could but the Nano has some significant advantages. Its size makes it much easier to carry while active, or while working around the house or in the garage. Its dedicated intelligent play/pause button makes interfacing with audio playback much simpler. And at least among Apple devices it is the only one to offer FM radio, which it does very well. These tend to be very important differences in day-to-day use and can easily justify its purchase price as a separate device.
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Other reviews did a good job describing other features which work super well, so I will only cover the Nike Fitness and Bluetooth to avoid redundancy.
Pros: This nano has all required Nike Fitness components in one unit. No more need for pods on or in your shoes. Yes it even works on a treadmill and tracks Very accurately. Starting out the Nike Fitness, You can select a run by distance, time, or calorie count. During your run, it pauses the music and with a sweet sounding easily understood friendly female voice, gives you a quick update on your distance, then continues to play your playlist. This I found very cool. If you press the top sleep button while running with Nike fitness, it gives you the time, distance and current pace. I tracked this feature and compared it with my Garmin GPS watch and they tracked fairly well out of the box and only improved with multiple calibrations after I completed my run. The more you calibrate it, the more it learns and gets closer to accurate.
Cons:
1)There is one Huge Fail however. The manual suggests placing it at your waist to use the Nike Fitness. Most runners are waiting for a quality workable armband which I believe would compromise this feature based on the how it works. I will test it on my next run. It seems that the Apple engineers aren't runners. This I believe may be a fail for this feature since it is geared toward runners and runners infrequently wear their ipod at their waist, especially because this Nano lacks a clip. I, however, placed my iPod in my Spi-belt which is a small flexible runner's pouch wrapping around the waist. It is a tiny fanny pack for keys, ipods and such. Remember though, it needs to be at your waist, so finding that button while running when it is enclosed in a pocket proves challenging as well.
2)My other concern is that Bluetooth connected to a stereo headset wouldn't work when it is at the waist. Most reviewers and user manuals of higher end sport stereo Bluetooth headphones state that they were required to place their Bluetooth player on their sleeve in order to get uninterrupted playback. My question to the engineers is-since the iPod cannot be at the waist and sleeve simultaneously will i be able to wear a stereo Bluetooth headset and use Nike Fitness at the same time? I would love to get into the minds of the engineers on this one.
I was also successful with Bluetooth connection with my car. It works, but some features are lost compared to when I sync it directly to the radio via USB. With Bluetooth, I no longer can use my voice activated song or artist request which Ford vehicle SYNC systems have. I would instead have to search on my iPod for my favorite song while driving. That isn't a safe option, therefore not making Bluetooth syncing with my car stereo desirable for me. Also, tag information isn't displayed on my car's stereo while using Bluetooth. Perhaps, a car other than Ford has these features.
I am curious about the Bluetooth connectivity with stereo headsets while running. If anyone has success with this feature and where you placed their iPod to maintain connectivity, and quality of sound reply to this thread.
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My new nano arrived with FedEx yesterday after a long grueling trip from China. This is my first new nano since my 2nd Generation unit -which has a lot of miles on it and which still works great. The reason I purchased this one was because I know the clock's ticking on "old reliable". Candidly, I checked out generation numbers 3 through 6 as they were released and dismissed them all for a variety of reasons. I had hopes that this one would make the necessary change fairly painless. I've only had it for a day so, for the most part, the jury's still out. First, though, let me say that I use my nano mostly for working out. It would seem that Apple has finally admitted that most nanos are bought exactly for that specific purpose. Let the iPod Touch have all the bells and whistles for those who want them. Keep the nano task-oriented!
So far, I'm most impressed with the new earphones. They fit very well and I suspect I'll have no problem jogging with them in place. I'm concerned, however, that they're going to let in a lot of ambient gym noise as they don't fit snuggly. I do like the sound quality though.
The radio also impresses me. It works well and my favorite stations come in clear as a bell.
The new nano also supports videos. I can't address that feature because I know I'm unlikely to use it. (Who wants to watch a video on a 2.25" screen?)
The unit is light (perhaps too light), thin and attractive. It's surprisingly "slippery" to hold, however.
My biggest issue: There's almost nothing you can do with it that doesn't require both hands. Hence, the title to my review. Note to Apple: Go back to the 2nd generation unit, enhance its storage capacity, and give us back our click wheel. High quality, one-handed music is what this niche market really wants!
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Update 1/5/2013: I mostly use my SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip MP3 Player instead of this Nano (it has a memory card slot), it's not as fancy but it's easier to use/navigate.
First off, you don't need more then one hand to do anything on it (maybe I just have small hands?), although, the 6th generation one was much easier to use with one hand.
Pros:
They finally put a pause/play button as an external button
the layout for skimming/skipping through a song has been made easier or switching to shuffle...
I find the earphones to be much better then the old ones but I personally use V-MODA Crossfade LP Over-Ear Noise-Isolating Metal Headphone (White Pearl) or my bose ear phones
the time is displayed on the song screen! and no more clip (i never used it)
Cons:
It's slippery
I think the button below (on) the screen surface is pointless, it just makes the ipod bigger and doesn't add much value.
The external volume control buttons barely protrude out making it more difficult to feel (b/c of the way I hold it) and you might click the play/pause button instead
Also, the buttons (volume control and play/pause) are on the side of the nano and not on the top of it like on the 6th generation so while holding onto the ipod you might click one of them accidentally (it keeps happening to me), this will take some getting used.
Video is a waste of a feature in my opinion... and they had to create a new type of usb cord (i can no longer borrow from friends/family)
Other then that, it's no different then the 6th gen nano (obviously the size/dimensions are different) and so far i prefer my 6th gen but I've only had this one for a day. I'd give it 3.5 stars as I expected more from the seventh generation nano...
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This is my first iPod. I used a Creative Zen for years, but it wore out, the plug was going, buttons not responding any more. Looking at the reviews, and seeing that the 7G was coming out, and cost a good bit less than other models, I decided to give it a try. I listen to books while knitting, also sleeping, a great help when I wake up in the night also at the gym, although I am no athelete. So using and iPod is a brand new experience.
Good things: This thing is tiny. It weighs nothing. It's like using a set of earbuds to listen, with nothing else. The new earphones work very well. I can sleep in them with no problem. The sound quality is excellent, really good. I can even get good radio reception, and we live in an area where that is not a given. The touch screen is intuitive and easy to use. I love the fact that if you buy it from Apple you can get it engraved. I bought pink, which is a great color. The cord is expensive, probably because it is new, but it will fit into a cheap adapter for the wall or the car to charge. The volume goes much lower and much higher, which is very convenient. Not all recordings are low enough for sleeping comfortably, as I'm very conscious of the need to preserve your hearing. On the other hand, hooking it up to my car's speakers, I need the volume all the way up. If you are listening to a book, you can slow the speed down by half, in case you get someone speaking too quickly to understand. A great advantage if listening to books in a foreign language. I like that the light goes out after a while, conserving battery power. IPod 7G seems to charge quickly, too. If all I did was begin to listen to something on my iPod and stopped listening to it when I was finished with my workout, the 7G would get 5 stars.
Problems: While it has nothing to do with the iPod itself, dealing with iTunes is not an easy thing to do, and the instructions are not complete. It is reasonable to include iTunes here, as it is also made by Apple. I have to transfer my considerable collection of ripped CD's into a format acceptable to the iPod. In doing so, I notice that the files do not end up in order in the iTunes library. This can get to be a nuisance when you're trying to get all the folders onto the iPod. If I go to anything else, like listen to the radio, I cannot go back to where I was listening automatically by looking for Now Playing. I like that feature in Zen, and cannot seem to get it here. While the feature for books at half speed is great, there is no way to transfer something labelled as music into something labelled a book, and the half speed feature is only for books. Once my considerable collection of books is also in the iTunes library, syncing several books may be difficult because the list will be so big.
The verdict is not in. Both Zen and iPod 7G have qualities that are better and worse than the other.
After writing the above, I called iTunes, very helpful and friendly, a real person who can speak American English, and if, after the folder is in iTunes music you right click, then go to get info and change the type from music to audiobook, it will do virtually everything I want to. iTunes, which is integral to the iPod, has a lot more features, and it is worthwhile to explore it fully, clearly. So I have changed the rating to 5 stars, as this does everything I want, and does it elegantly.
