iPod Nano Gen. 6 Review, A better perspective!

In this article we are going to present the latest Nano generation, an Mp3 player that was and it seams that will continue to be a reference model in this niche.

Construction

Maybe this has become a cliche, however the iPod Nano Gen 6 looks like an iPod Shuffle with screen.

Right after the release some images appeared on the Internet that suggested the fact that the old iPod Nano generation was cut in two, the superior side being the new iPod Nano and the inferior side being the new iPod Shuffle.

It seems that Apple wanted to show how far they can go with things after they proved themselves on the old iPod Shuffle, and now it’s time for the Nano to get in line. The 1.54” screen with 240×240 resolution is the first type of multitouch touchscreen present on a Nano model.

The minimalist construction specific to Apple couldn’t be more obvious than in the case of the iPod Nano Gen 6. Only three buttons can be found on one of it’s sides, the proprietary slot and headset jack being found on the opposite side.

The clips on the back has a mechanism that can’t be mistaken for another, being loaned from the previous versions of Shuffle. It is very solid and we can see the Apple logo on it.

In the package we can also find a pair of classic headset and cable data. The package itself is very small and also includes a mini-guide.

Functionality

The big button of the iPod Nano 6 has the Sleep/wake function. The mp3 player cannot be effectively stopped. When you are listening to music, the same button stops the screen.

The action can be compared to the keyboard locking button. The volume button are active even when the screen is off, a feature that I have highly appreciated. Not the same can be said about the Shake to Shuffle feature. The screen needs to be turned on so that the accelerometer can recognize the move.

The interface of the iPod Nano Gen 6 is similar to the one of iPhone and iPad Touch. The buttons of the main menu seam to be applications, being displayed in groups of four on the screen. Along with the ones for music, settings, radio and podcasts, we have discovered a Clock application with many features.

The first one of them seams to be the source of inspiration for a series of belts that fixes the player to your wrist. The second one can be used along with the Nike + iPod Sport kit. 

By default, it can count the number of burned calories and the number of steps, based on the user’s weight.

For those of you familiar to the playlist creation method and transferring files using iTunes, the new iPod nano doesn’t bring anything new.

If you want to listen to similar songs to the one you are currently listening, you can try Genius Mixes. The FM Tuner was kept, and Nano gives you the Live pause feature. During your favorite show or song you can use the pause feature.

The VoiceOver feature, introduced on the previous generation of Shuffle is also present on the current Nano. For a better visibility, the black/white colors of the menu can be inversed.

Audio Quality

We really didn’t through that iPod Nano is going to be a disappointment regarding audio quality. The headset that you will receive in the package are, at the very least, of decent quality.

Keeping in mind the pretty high price of the player, I think that an investment of at least 30 dollars to buy a better headset might be a good idea. For this test we have used Sennheiser headset and we have found the player to be very great, regardless of the volume level.

Other aspects

Based on how you mount the player on your clothes, the interface can be rotated in any direction with the already known gesture. The autonomy, under normal conditions, which included adjusting the volume after 5-6 songs and turning the screen on a few times per hour was around 20 hours.

The performance is very decent, considering the fact that the battery has only 105 mAh and 0.39 Wh. If you are interested to compare things, you should know that the iPod Nano Gen 6 lacks audio recording, can’t play videos and doesn’t have a video camera.

Probably Steve Jobs reached the conclusion that iPod Nano gen 5 was a bit..faulty and thought that the principle “less is more” is better.

Conclusion

We liked the iPod Nano Gen 6! And we liked it a lot. Do we recommend it blindly ? No. According to the official announcement, the price of the device will be similar to the one of the previous generation, with the exception of some regions, Europe included.

Pluses and Minuses

+ great design

+ multitouch screen that is very easy to use

+ excellent audio jack

- high price

- the included headset could have been better.

Rating: 4.5