iPod Nano 5G Review

I am lucky enough to have had a decently long time with the latest iteration of the iPod Nano, the best selling music player of today. It boasts many new features, such as a video camera, speaker and an FM Radio. The radio does only work if you plug in the headphones, which is a bit annoying.

The main difference in this version of the Nano over the previous one is the screen size. The 4th Gen had the same size of screen as the 3rd, but portrait as opposed to landscape in the 3rd Gen. In this nano it is bigger than the 2" present in the previ0us two generations at 2.2", and it does make a difference. What it also means is that the scroll wheel is slightly lower down than in the 4th Gen, but I actually prefer it in this position.

The larger screen doesn't let down on the battery life. It is a claimed 24 hours of music and 4 hours of video, the only difference from the 4th and 3rd generation is the video one hour lower, although that is bound to be because of the larger screen.

There is a video camera present in this version, and no, it cannot take stills. I don't understand why, but that's the way it is. It is cool in the sense that it adds no bulk or weight to the iPod and also has some nice effects. The placement of it is a bit strange, because your finger usually covers that area of the device, but hold it landscape and everything is fine. Playback is improved by the fact that there is a speaker on board so you don't need a headphone splitter.

The FM Radio only works when headphones are plugged into the device which isn't the end of the world, the reception is good but there is one amazing feature. Only available in the US (at the present moment) you can find out the information of a track you like, by tagging it, then when you plug it back into iTunes it will find that song on the iTunes store for you. Another nice feature of the radio is the live pause function which lets you pause the radio live and continue from where you left off, useful in a number of different scenarios.

Overall, this is a great music player. But not just that, now a multi-tasker with video and radio included. Prices start at £115 for the 8GB, and £135 for the 16GB.