Long before the announcement of the iPhone, when the development of the phone Apple was still out of the question, there were rumors on the network about the future “apple” player, which uses a touch screen, and the traditional wheel Click Wheel can appear in any place under the user’s fingers. This concept was never implemented in a commercial product, but its ideas were to some extent used in iPod touch – the “most amusing player” of Apple. By the way, the announcement of this gadget after the iPhone was quite unexpected and at first this product was understood not by all that is natural. After all, then there was no App Store, and functionally the device was cut quite strongly in comparison with the telephone colleague. But the years went by, generations were changing, and modern iPod touch not only turned into a combine that combines a PDA, a pocket game console and a media player, but also became much closer to its older brother. In what way is this expressed? Read on.
Unboxing
I got a brand new, fourth-generation packaged iPod touch. Externally, the packaging looks identical to the previous one, but there are differences. The device is hidden in a transparent plastic box, in which it is fixed on a separate plate. Actually, the fasteners to it are the main difference. The screen of the player is pasted with a film that resembles vinyl, and its rather long edges are threaded into the slits on the transparent plate and converge on the reverse side. The device is fixed very reliably, which can not but rejoice (its accidental dropping out during transportation in the package is excluded).
The scope of delivery is standard: a player, headphones, a cable for synchronization and recharging, a small set of recycled paper and, of course, stickers-apples. Please note: simple headphones are offered, not a headset. The microphone is on the player, but the control unit on the headphone wire would not interfere.
Learning the appearance
Like its predecessors, the player looks monolithic and it’s very thin: dimensions – 111х58,9х7,2 mm, weight – 101 g. I want to note that the thickness, reduced by more than a millimeter, is not very noticeable in comparison with the third generation iPod touch. The new form of the gadget is interesting, but the design of the previous model visually made it thinner than it really is.
The design of the top panel differs in a novelty. It resembles the one in the iPhone 4, as if raised above the surface of the metal case (less than in the phone) and edged with black solid material. In this case, the distance between the fringing and the glass in the player is slightly larger than in the phone.
In the off state, the player’s display almost merges with the surface – it’s like it. The phone is also much darker than its predecessors, but slightly lighter than in iPod touch 4.
The form of the hull has changed a little – now it is more strict. The bend of the back panel increased, as a result of which the face became more acute. It does not strain, on the contrary, it’s nice to hold the player in hands, and thin edges tactfully reduce its dimensions.
I will add that the inscriptions on the back panel and the bitten apple are clearly engraved on metal. It looks cool.
Look closely at the quality of the display
An important innovation in the fourth generation iPod touch is a new display with a significantly increased resolution (640×960 pixels versus 320×480 pixels for its predecessors), but with the previous diagonal of 3.5 inches. Assumptions that the player will get reduced in the diagonal screen, did not come true.
For clarity, the display in the new player is identical to the screen in the iPhone 4, but the matrix in them is still used different, which became known immediately after the start of sales of the player. The phone uses an IPS-matrix with wide viewing angles and significantly increased contrast. The picture is bright and warm. In the player is clearly something cheaper, probably the usual TN + Film. This is expressed in a less vivid picture and more faded colors. The viewing angles are much worse, the contrast too. When viewed at a large angle, the black color turns purple – similarly the displays in all iPhone and iPod touch of the previous generation. But in general, they had displays quite good in comparison with most competitors, and on iPod touch 4 the screen got even higher resolution.
But will the fact not be the most wide viewing angles in the daily operation of the player? No, it will not hurt. We do not look at an angle on the screen – but straight and in that case the picture in the player is good. Someone may even have a cooler range of his display like more. The screen of iPhone 4 slightly gives in yellow on a white background. Although I prefer the warm picture of the phone, I’m a longtime fan of IPS and warm colors.
The clarity of small text in the case of the iPhone 4 is slightly higher, but this is noticeable only in direct comparison. In general, the phone’s display is brighter, more colorful and more contrasting. But if you can not compare these two screens directly, and compare, for example, touch the third generation and the 4th, then the display of the latter is very user-friendly. By the way, there is no oleophobic coating on the protective glass, that is, fingerprints are harder to erase than with the iPhone 3GS / 4. I consider this an unjustified “savings on matches” from Apple. The presence of such a coating has a very positive effect on the experience of operating the gadget, it would not hurt the mirror on the rear panel of the player.
Controls
Controls remained the same and are located almost in their usual places. Only the screen blanking button moved to the right, where it was always on the iPhone. I think it’s good, although, maybe I’m just so used to it, because I always used only Apple phones.
The shape of the Power button and the volume rocker changed. Rather, now it is no longer a rocker, but two separate keys. Earlier they were ribbed and angular, now they got a rounded shape with a smooth transition, which is clearly connected with the changed shape of the hull.
It seemed that it would be inconvenient to press the Power button, it is painfully located cunningly, directly on the bevel of the face, in fact it is not. It is pressed well when the player is in both the left hand and the right one. But about the volume buttons, I can not say that. When the player in the right hand, then, in principle, the index finger can be more or less sure, but it is desirable that the opposite side of the device rested against the thumb. If the unit is in the left hand, then the attempt to change the volume may end badly: the player simply pops out of the palm of your hand.
The Home button is a bit smaller than the phone’s size, it does not have a snap, but it’s generally nice.
Speed
By the speed of the new player is similar to the iPhone 4. That is, you can expect a slightly faster launch of applications in comparison with the third generation iPod touch (32/64 GB models, since 8-ka is a re-marked touch 2G) and increased performance in particularly demanding resources 3D-games, like Hero of Sparta 2. But do not forget about the increased fourfold load on the processor when processing images, the resolution is higher. Let me remind you that the device uses the SoC-system Apple A4, first applied to the iPad. The only pity is that the memory is installed only 256 MB versus 512 MB in the iPhone 4. Basically, judging from the experience of using the iPad, where there is also 256 MB of RAM, this will only affect the browser – pages will be reloaded more often if many tabs are open. On the other hand, there’s nothing to stop using an alternative browser. iCab Mobile is very good in this respect, it can launch open pages from the cache at startup, in case of lack of RAM warns about it, and not just will fly to the desktop, as Safari does.
Sound
The speaker in the new player became better than in the previous device. Slightly louder, slightly more bassy, but it’s somewhat worse than that in the iPhone 4 (even more bass, volume and sound seems to be bigger).
As for the player itself, in comparison with the iPhone 4 it sounds no less good, and maybe even better. At a minimum, the headphones of iPod touch 4 “swing” more strongly, that is, at a similar level of loudness produces a stronger sound signal. By the way, Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10vi was used for the test. According to my purely subjective sensations in the player, the sound is more bassy, assertive, while in the phone it is slightly higher than its clarity. In any case, both phones sound for the environment of the statistical user, not burdened with high musical materials, very well.
Camera
The player has a camera, even two, and only this fact it surpasses the predecessor, in which there was not one such module. As for the quality of these components, the front camera, judging by my impressions, is clearly similar to the one in the iPhone 4, and the rear one, naturally, is worse. Basically, it focuses only on video recording and taking photos there only for a tick – too low resolution pictures.
In general, the module is written normally, slightly more snowy than the camera in the iPhone 4, but as an addition to the rest of the player functions will come down. I basically never seriously took phone cameras, no matter how many megapixels there were. Any relatively decent soap box for $ 150-200 still makes the pictures better.
Everything is closer to the phone
So, the player came very close to the iPhone in terms of functionality. In fact, in comparison with the current generation phone, iPod touch is deprived of only GSM-module, GPS-receiver, digital compass and flash in the camera. Apple has divided these two products not functionally, but qualitatively. She used a display and a speaker in the player, the photomodule was more modest and did not cover the protective glass with an oleophobic layer.
But the company offered something special for the player – FaceTime. Now iPod touch is able to call, you need only access to Wi-Fi and an iTunes account. And video calls are supported not only between the player and phone or player and player, but you can also contact the owner of the Mac, because Apple released FaceTime for Mac OS X. Do not forget about Skype.
Reflections on the topic: “Is it worth it?”
Thus, the most amusing “apple” player became also a kind of similarity of the IP-phone and videophone in one person. This is a reasonable move by Apple. It strengthened the ecosystem of its own products and tossed users of the previous generation iPod touch another reason for switching to a novelty. By the way, the big question is – is it worth it for the owners of iPod touch 3 to change it to iPod touch 4? On the speed of a serious difference between them is not, in games, visual difference can be seen only if they are adapted to the new display, but such are not enough. But unadapted toys will look a little blurry, although you quickly get used to it. The high resolution of the screen also does not influence the quality of video viewing – it is comparable. On the iPhone 4, thanks to the IPS matrix, the difference is visible to the naked eye. iPod touch 4 wins the predecessor only in case of viewing HD-video (720p pulls without problems), but in fact the size of the film will be much larger then.
Where the difference is felt and strong – this is when surfing and reading. Then the high-resolution display shows itself in all its glory. The interface looks nice too – in folders you can easily distinguish each icon, and on a virtual shelf in iBooks – really see the covers of books, not a blurry label. The presence of a camera is a pleasant addition, nothing more. It does not affect the functionality very much, but this is my opinion. I almost do not use the photo module in the iPhone 4, what can I say about the player. But FaceTime, especially if you have a lot of friends with a Mac, iPhone 4 and a similar player – it’s an argument. This function works really cool. With traditional video calls over 3G-network is not in any comparison.
As a result, for users of iPod touch of the third generation the transition to the novelty will be justified only in certain cases, depending on the scheme of application of the player. If you often do web surfing on the road, communicate in social networks and ICQ, read, then change without thinking – your eyes will say thank you. In the case where the device is mainly used for games, watching video and listening to music, you can safely stay with what is.
IPod touch users 1G and 2G have more reasons to upgrade, and one of the main ones is the significantly increased performance of the novelty. Yes, and those who still use a PDA based on Windows Mobile, I would advise to look towards iPod touch. Try, as they say, “Think Different” – it may please :).
A little lyricism at last
I have been in use all the phones of Apple and when working with all of them, except for iPhone 4, often there was a seditious thought to buy more and iPod touch – it really hurt its compactness. And now there is no such desire. Very Apple cut down the new iPod in comparison with the phone: memory, display, speaker. Attracted and the metal back panel, let it scratch, but it’s metal, not plastic in the iPhone 3G / 3GS. Now we have steel and glass in the phone. By tactile sensations and appearance – it’s a fairy tale. Yes, and in terms of size iPhone 4 has become much thinner than its predecessors. To what I’m leading. If you are thinking over a bunch of iPod touch + some phone or not take instead of them iPhone 4, then I advise the latter option, you will not regret.
In general, iPod touch as it was the best portable entertainment device, so it stayed, having acquired additional functions in its new reincarnation and becoming even more interesting, even further from the competitors, which this device basically does not have. While the industry buried the CCP, Apple revived this idea and became a monopolist. Just do not remember the openness of the WM-PDA for users, about the ability to copy files directly through any file manager and other “fragments of freedom.” For example, I mostly used the PDA for reading, sometimes games, listening to music on the go, watching a video. With web surfing did not work out – a few years ago he strongly in Windows Mobile was kryav. As experience shows, the majority of users use their handhelds for entertainment. So, on iPod touch, all this is implemented better, more convenient and more efficient. He, along with the iPhone, was the first pocket device in this format, which is really nice to surf the Web, which is easy and convenient to put software and which has a smart data backup system, when you simply do not notice the transition from one iGadget to another.
Apple is not perfect and has its skeletons in the closet. It has a peculiar pricing policy in Russia, Ukraine and other countries of the former USSR, not the best service there, it was wrong in the software, it was wrong in hardware, but it can not be denied that the company produces incredible products. Apple is not a religion. Apple is a small fairy tale that offers a bit of magic in the harsh and pragmatic world of business.
iPod touch for review provided by the store “America”
