Review for New iPod Nano 5G
Officially this iPod Nano 5G is so exhausted. Someone please tell Apple to stop adding features to this thing. Remember when all an MP3 player to do was play music? These days, you practically have to write a textbook to cover all the features that get crammed into a device like the iPod Nano.
An extra 0.2-inch really does make a noticeable difference when you're dealing with screens this small.
Writer's exhaustion aside, the fifth-generation Nano is a fantastic little gadget that's one of the easiest-to-recommend stocking stuffers out there. The thing comes in a ton of colors, works with iTunes, helps you lose weight (pedometer), and might even get you to record the world's next completely unnecessary viral YouTube sensation. Sure, the earbuds are still garbage, but Sony seems to be the only manufacturer fighting that battle.
To prevent from boring you to tears, one area of the iPod Nano's performance I didn't go into exhaustive detail over is the video camera's image quality. If you're curious, I ran a few of tests over the weekend, shooting indoors and outdoors, and A/B testing the Nano against the Flip UltraHD. Aside from the obvious image quality differences, I also found problems with the Nano's tilt-sensor getting tripped-up on the camera's orientation and capturing videos sideways. Editing programs will often be smart enough to reorient the video automatically, but the glitch shows just one more way where a dedicated camcorder like the Flip gets things right.
Comparing the video capture quality.
Still, minor complaints aside, the Nano is still an exceptional itty-bitty do-it-all gadget for the price. You really have to take the Nano's camcorder with a grain of salt. It is, after all, an MP3 player.
