Getting started with the new iPod nano and iPod touch | iGeneration

The new iPods have arrived, the models we ordered when they were announced were delivered to us this Monday morning, and most certainly to many of you. We chose a 16 GB white/grey iPod nano and a 32 GB iPod touch in the same color. The iPod touch is sold for €329 and €439 in 32 GB and 64 GB versions. The nano is sold for €179 in a single capacity.

These two DAPs have seen their design completely transformed. Here is a first grip and some initial appreciations. We will come back to this in more detail later, in particular on questions of autonomy with the touch.

iPod nano

This is the model for which the curiosity - or rather the concern - was the greatest. Because from what we had seen in photos and on the Apple site, this new nano seemed a little cheap, an impression supported by its new interface with its large round icons.

Once in the hand, this feeling is not completely diminished. On the battery side, we find the quality of manufacture, the Apple finish with aluminum for its case (a small strip on the back remained in plastic for the Bluetooth, it somewhat breaks the homogeneity of the metal).

On the front side, the overall design has a we-ne-sais-quoi that evokes cheap music players. It's not an ugly walkman, but it's a walkman that stands out from Apple's production. It is reminiscent of the first tube-shaped plastic shuffle that lacked that Apple stamp. Some may have a completely different impression and a more positive judgment, there is obviously a good deal of subjectivity in this assessment. At least this white model is quite sober, the other colors - which we could not judge on the part - are less neutral.

The upper edge has the power button, on the left the two volume buttons combined in one piece, and below, the Lightning socket and the headphone output. A headphone socket which moreover comes to passably crash into the palm when handling the player with the left hand. The nano went from 31 g to 21 g, which means that it doesn't change much, it remains a featherweight.

Its thickness is identical to that of the first nano - governed by the diameter of the headphone socket - except that its predecessor had its clamp in addition. In its absence, it is impossible to attach this nano 2013 to a lapel.

The evolution of the interface is quite curious. We know that the nano has its own system, different from iOS. With the previous model, Apple had nevertheless tried to hide this singularity by using icons identical to those of iOS, in particular those of Photo, Settings and Music.

The new nano makes a clean sweep and marks its difference: round icons and resumption of this roundness in the design of the home button which, too, deviates from the charter of iOS devices. These details contribute to this iPod being less "Apple". There is clearly a desire to draw a boundary between iOS devices and this one with more limited possibilities. There is no iCloud service and even less its iTunes Match music component that would have needed a Wi-Fi chip, but certainly at the cost of a nice impact on autonomy.

This Home button brings you back to the home screen, but we keep the possibility of using the lateral movement gesture, as on the previous nano, for navigation. As for the double press on this button, do not expect it to display a drawer with the applications, at best it returns to the player's reading mode, at worst it does nothing.

Another change, we no longer have this gesture of rotating the entire home screen with a pinch, but it would not be of any interest here. This gesture also disappeared from the photo application when we wanted to reorient an image. On the other hand, we gain the zoom by spacing with two fingers.

We also note the smaller choice of clocks, and with a fairly standard appearance, no more Mickey Mouse and Kermit the Frog... Sobriety, if not sadness, in the 6 "generously" provided wallpapers (sorry, the "wallpaper", another evolution in terminology). They are consistent with the color of the case, no extravagance in their patterns and colors.

iPod touch

As much as the nano can disappoint, the touch has a new design that is difficult to be choosy about (on the left the iPhone 5). The manufacturing is neat, we did not find marks like on some of our iPhone 5s and the buttons are firm under pressure.

We thought the new iPhone was light, and now the touch is even lighter: 88 grams compared to 101 grams for its predecessor and 112 grams with the iPhone 5. height on a floor of (false) parquet, without signs of damage.

The back is flat, but not entirely, since the camera protrudes slightly from the surface (thinness of the case requires). Which raises questions about what will happen to this camera by dint of being in contact when you put your iPod down if you are not equipped with a cover. This also induces an imbalance since it is based on this single point. The hold in hand is a little less "sharp" with this more square shell.

The grip for the wrist strap is integrated, by default it is not flush with the surface. With a pressure it is taken out of its housing to fix the strap there. The latter, called "Loop", will not remain engraved in the memories. We will not comment on its solidity, it remains to be seen over time. But it still looks better in photos than in real life.

The idea is not bad, however Apple offers a banal and thin strap that rather makes you want to equip yourself with another better bill. Accessory manufacturers would be wrong to deprive themselves, that of Apple will not give them great competition.

The screen is the same diagonal as the iPhone 5, and we don't at all feel that Apple is offering an inferior version. The characteristics given are identical and this is confirmed in use, there is no washed-out color effect, for example on the touch screen compared to the iPhone 5.

A quick test shot testifies on the other hand to the difference between the front camera of the iPhone 5 and that of the iPod touch (right - large version) even if they are given as identical on the paper. The noise in the image is a little more pronounced with the touch and the lighter blacks. Same observation, in low light (iPod touch on the right - large size). The third photo, outdoors, taken with the sensor on the back, shows differences especially in the colors, a little more natural with the iPhone 5 (large size). The iPod touch has a 5MP rear camera, like the iPhone 4, but with an f/2.4 aperture like the 4S and 5 (f/2.8 on the iPhone 4).

We then measured with Geekbench 2 [€0.79] the performance of this iPod touch, against the iPhone 4S and 5. The first two have an A5 at 799 MHz and 800 MHz, and the third a A6 at 1.29GHz. Launched four times on each device (all in iOS 6), Geekbench gave the following averages, which places this new iPod touch a step below the iPhone 4S from a year ago:

iPod touch 5G: 583.75 iPhone 4S: 627.5 iPhone 5: 1631