Apple iPod Nano

The iPod Touch may be the very apotheosis of the personal media player concept, but the new Nano’s redesign is far less radical. It’s a whisker thinner than the old model, but wider with it and, it must be said, somewhat squat.

The peculiar shape is the result of squeezing in a 2” colour screen — just the thing for exploiting the Nano’s new video-playing ability. In reality, sitting through anything longer than a music video will send you cross-eyed — the screen is crisp, colours are vibrant and playback is smooth, but it’s just too small to stare at for long.

Apple has also revamped the Nano’s menu system for the big (ish) screen, but again, we’re not convinced by the changes. The nested menu structure works in the much same way as on other iPods (excluding the Touch), but it’s been relegated to the left half of the screen and the right half shows an animated preview of the selected menu’s content. It’s an awkward arrangement and when combined with the shrunken scroll wheel, it makes the new Nano a mite fiddlier to use than the old one.

One feature that does make good use of the screen is the new Cover Flow option. Albums are displayed using album art downloaded and synced via iTunes and you scroll through your music in much the same way as you’d flick through LPs in a rack.

So, while we can’t help but heap plaudits on the new Touch, the Nano is more of a mixed bag and we preferred the old model. It’s not a bad media player, but Apple is capable of better.

Specifications

4Gb capacity (8Gb costs £129), 2” screen (320 x 240), AAC, MP3, Apple Lossless Size 70 x 53 x 7mm Weight 50g