Review: iPod touch 4th generation

Since the launch of the iPod back in November 2001, Apple have regularly updated and increased their range to provide music players to the masses.

Today, their product line-up consists of the compact iPod Nano, the ultra-compact iPod Shuffle, the hard drive-based iPod Classic, and the touchscreen iPod Touch.

Image shows iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, iPod Classic and iPod Touch.
Image © Matthieu Riegler, CC-BY, Wikimedia Commons

The 4th Generation iPod Touch.
Image © Matthieu Riegler, CC-BY,
Wikimedia Commons

Today, I am going to review the 4th Generation iPod Touch.

IMAGE AND VIDEO

The most obvious difference between the iPod Touch 4th Generation and it's predecessor, the 3GS, is the addition of not one, but two cameras, one on the front and one on the rear.

The camera on the rear can be used to capture HD video footage, which is quite an achievement on a device as small and light as the iPod!

The footage seems to be really high quality, and once you have shot your rushes, you can use several apps to edit on the go as well!

The iPod photo and video browser connects easily to your youtube account, and you can upload your clips or movies easily using a WI-FI connection.

I have found the iPod has all but made my DSLR and camcorder redundant! As I always have my iPod touch in my pocket, I can capture moments as they happen and easily share them online, or store them for later. I find this is much more convenient than carrying a video camera and a separate camera about!

The addition of the cameras means the iPod touch can now be used to make video calls. FaceTime is a package that comes pre-installed on the iPod touch and allows you to do such a task with other i-devices, such as the iPhone, iPad2 and of course other iPod tough 4G's. Apple have also designed FaceTime to work on Mac computers.

Of course, if you have no friends who own an i-device, you can always use other apps (such as Skype) to make video calls using the built in cameras.

I have a friend who has the same iPod as me, and I tend to use FaceTime to call him if he is at home - it saves on phone call charges or using up your mobile phone text allowance.

Other than that, I find FaceTime isn't very useful as I don't know enough people I can FaceTime with.

Image Copyright © 2011 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.

The main other cosmetic change I would care to mention is the physical size of the iPod touch 4G - which is considerable thinner and lighter than previous models. This model is a mere 4.4 inches x 2.3 inches x 0.28 inches in size!

(Please note there are some other cosmetic changes, such as buttons being moved, etc, but these aren't really important, and therefore not worth mentioning).

Overall, the iPod touch is a clean, crisp and sleek piece of gadgetry! I like it!

SCREEN DISPLAY

The multi-touch display has also undergone a radical re-development, the 4th generation now comes with Retina Display. In short, this is a display which contains 960-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 pixels per inch - this is around 4 times the amount of pixels as previous iPod touch models!

The results are very impressive - it is just about impossible to see individual pixels on this display. (However, this claim is only true on apps that support the Retina Display, not all of which do...)

The Retina Display is one of the newest displays produced by Apple, and is currently only found on the iPhone4 and iPod tough 4G - even the brand new iPad 2 hasn't been fitted with the Retina Display!

Having used the iPod for playing games and videos, I must admit I am VERY impressed with the quality of the display! A lot of the app's developers have either worked towards designing apps with the Retina Display in mind, or have brought out updates to maximise the compatibility for this.

Text is superbly clear, images are beautiful (photography skills aside!) and the screen produces a wonderfully clear refresh rate when playing videos. Basically, it's as if you have a HD quality TV in your pocket!

POWER AND MOVEMENT

The iPod touch 4th generation has undergone a radical upgrade under the skin as well, and is now powered by the A4 Chip - the same processor Apple uses in the iPhone4 and the iPad.

Quite simply, this means you can use your iPod for more than just playing music and taking photographs - with the right apps you can edit video, manipulate images and play super-slick games!

The 3-axis built in Gyroscope means you can control game movement by simply rotating or turning your iPod around. This works very smoothly and (once you get the hang of it) works very well on driving games!

Image Copyright © 2011 Apple Inc.
All rights reserved.

THERE'S AN APP FOR THAT

Without Apps (short for 'Applications' - software packages that can be installed on the i-devices) the iPod would be little more than a music player with a built in camera... (not taking into account the built in apps pre-installed on the iPod...).

You can access the Apple App Store without even requiring a computer! The iPod touch allows you to access the app store using a WI-FI internet connection, and you can search and download whatever apps you require from the device itself.

However, unless you jailbreak your i-device (which will invalidate your warranty) you can only install apps that are available through the app store.

This is one of the main reasons why some people prefer to go down the Android route, and have a device that allows you to install apps you design and create, without having to go through Apple.

However, saying that, the Apple App Store has literally millions of apps available, with new ones being developed every day.

Depending on what you are looking to do, you can find an app that will let you use your iPod touch (or other i-devices) to accomplish whatever task you need.

From addictive games, such as Angry Birds and Flight Control to image manipulation using Adobe Photoshop Express; creative video production using apps such as 8MM Vintage Camera, I-movie and Splice.

If you are into blogging there are hundreds of apps (I found an interesting article with links to the most popular blogging apps) you can use, depending on your choice of blog host.

For the more technically minded, you can even use your iPod to control a computer using Mocha VNC!

To prevent this article becoming stupidly long and dull, I will sum up by saying the Apple App Store will enable you to find an app for almost ANYTHING you can imagine doing with an iPod! 

Image Copyright © 2011 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.

BATTERY LIFE

The battery on the iPod is, sadly, one of the weakest points of the iPod touch.

Apple claim an impressive 40 hours of music playback, and 7 hours of video playback time for the iPod touch 4G on their website.

However, if you start using the iPod for anything other than listening to your favorite music or watching your favorite videos, this battery capacity is reduced significantly.

Once you start using WI-FI or playing games, you will find yourself becoming very familiar with a "Battery is at less than 20%" message.

You can recharge your iPod touch using pretty much any USB socket (I often charge mine using an XBox 360), however a power adaptor is sadly not included in the box, and is only available as an accessory.

FLASH (OR LACK OF FLASH)

One thing that is lacking on the iPod touch is Adobe Flash. There is much speculation as to why i-devices such as the iPod and iPad do not have flash available, however, in an article about the lack of Flash on i-devices, Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) is quoted as saying the reason is because: "Proper" Flash performs too slow to be useful on the iPhone... There's this missing product in the middle. It just doesn't exist.

This is further backed up by a list of reasons why Apple has chosen not to include flash within any of it's products, and after reading their decision it is quite difficult to disagree with them.

It is unfortunate and does mean that no flash content can be used on the iPod, iPad or iPhone devices. However the huge amount of apps more than make up for this lacking facility in my opinion.

OVERALL

Quite simply, I LOVE my iPod touch! In the last six months or so I have owned one, I have constantly found new and exciting things to use it for. It is the most used gadget I own!

It is the first item I pick up in the morning, the last item I put down at night and is pretty much in my hands constantly all day in between!

Image Copyright © 2011 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.

I would recommend the iPod touch 4th Generation device to anybody who is looking for a gadget that they can use for everything. The quality, design and size of the device is brilliant, and is easily slipped into your pocket when you are going out.

The audio quality is brilliant. The earphones supplied are well built, however slightly uncomfortable. Therefore I would recommend the JVC Gumy earphones as a solid replacement if you are out and about, or the Sennheiser HD202 headphones if you want very good audio at home.

The fact that the iPod cannot use Flash content restricts it a tad, however I still haven't found any content I specifically miss.

Video sites such as Youtube and Vimeo use a different encoding format, (H.264 video codec, for those technically minded of you) and the iPod plays these fine.

Other video based sites now work (or are working towards) the use of HTML5 compatible video, enabling much more "Flash" video to be available through devices such as the Apple i-devices. This content availability can only continue to increase.

The battery is the only let down I have to mention. As soon as you use the iPod for more than simply playing music, the battery life is fairly short.

However, this can be overlooked if you don't mind charging it when it's not in use.

FINAL SCORES

Design: 4.5 / 5
Ease of use: 5 / 5
Battery life: 3 / 5
Usability: 10 / 5
Overall: 4.5 / 5


- TheLittlerich