Review: Apple’s Fifth Generation iPod Touch

The iPod Touch fifth generation is one of Apple’s latest products which was announced alongside the iPhone 5 and iPod Nano. The fifth generation iPod Touch has followed in the iPhone 5’s footsteps, receiving a longer/larger screen but only features an A5 dual-core processor.

The iPod Touch has always been the phoneless iPhone. It does feel that way when it has all the features you get on the iPhone, other than the ones which allow you to text and make calls. This is something which does make the iPod Touch a bit of an irregular device, because chances are you’re going to want a phone to go along side this, so why not just get the iPhone and have a two in one?

The design of the iPod Touch is really nice. It is very thin, has many colour choices and looks generally very fun. The iPod Touch has now got a 4 inch screen, not a 3.5 inch screen which is Retina Display. This means you are getting a stunning display and you can make out the difference comparing it to previous models. I put the iPod Touch 4G and 5G next to each other and there is a noticeable difference. The design of the iPod Touch also has one new feature which is the iPod Touch loop. This allows you to attach a wrist band which then allows you to take photos with the device like you would with a cameras wrist band. Whether or not this is a useful feature really comes down to how you will use it, but personally I feel the device wouldn’t feel different without it.

The iPod Touch also comes with Apple’s new Lightning connector. This means you have a nice and small connector which allows you to put in your Lightning cord both ways. The only problem with this new connector is that most of the appliances you use will not be compatible. This will require you to pay more money to get a converter.

The iPod Touch comes with Apple’s “old” A5 processor. This is the same processor generation in the iPad Mini, but this processor isn’t in the iPod Touch 4G. This has seen Apple claim that the processor is twice as fast and has seven times faster graphics than the previous iPod Touch.

You should manage to get around 40 hours of music playing and 8 hours of video playing from the iPod Touch 5G which is a fairly good number. It should get you through the day no matter what you get up to.

The iPod Touch features a 5 megapixel iSight back-facing camera. The same camera will record in 1080p HD video with up to 30 frames per second. The front camera will take 1.2MP photos and 720p HD video with up to 30 frames per second. The back-facing camera on the iPod Touch takes good photos, but as you zoom in you do begin to lose a lot of quality. The front-facing camera should give you good and clear FaceTime chats and take acceptable photos.

In the box you get Apple’s new Lightning connector, Apple’s new EarPods, Apple’s new iPod Touch loop and hopefully your new iPod Touch.

Now this is where it becomes interesting: pricing. The iPod Touch fifth generation sells for $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB. You will notice that there’s no 16GB and 32GB version listed above. That would be because there isn’t a 16 and 32GB version of the fifth generation iPod Touch, if you want to get those space options you will have to buy the fourth generation iPod Touch. Prices for that iPod Touch generation start at $199 for 16GB and $249 for 32GB of space. Depending on your budget and space needs will really be the major factor on if you buy the fifth generation or the forth. Considering that if you pay an extra $27 you can get yourself a 16GB iPad mini, really depends on if this is the right product for you. The iPod Touch is the most portable product out of those two, but some people will be compelled to spend a little bit extra and get more screen real-estate and an actual tablet.

The fifth generation iPod Touch is a great product and you can tell that Apple have put a lot of work into this device. Whether or not it’s something for you comes down to the current products you have and what you want this one for. This iPod Touch will keep you listening music till its dark, keep you surfing the web for hours but won’t keep you in contact with your friends over text. The iPod Touch is one of those interesting products which over time have become more and more useless as phones became music and video players too. In the market it is in, it is the best MP3 player out there because of the ability to listen to music, watch videos and play games. Most MP3 players don’t have a whole store full of applications and games – this product does though.

If you want an MP3 player, this is your product. If you have a perfectly capable phone, you may find it better to just stick to one product in your pocket and not two.