Yeah, we know we're a little late with this one, but we see the
iPod touch as a pretty major turning point for Apple's iPod line; when it was
announced, we finally thought we'd found an iPod we could really get behind. For years technology enthusiasts pondered the possibility of an Apple-made widescreen, WiFi-enabled portable media device, and they finally did just that -- even throwing in a few things that, prior to the iPhone, we might not have expected, like a full-fledged web browser, internet video player (YouTube), multi-touch interface, etc. But after playing with the touch for a few days, it's become pretty clear that Steve was right when he declared that the iPhone is still the best iPod. Read on to find out why.
Late last year. iPods had fallen into a rut: the features were stale, the form factor of the flagship device basically stopped progressing, and it started to seem like Apple didn't care or understand where portable media players were headed -- or at least didn't seem to realize what such devices were capable of. So it came as no surprise that as soon as the iPhone was announced, people began demanding that same device, sans phone. And why not? Not
everyone hates their cellphone, or wants to switch to AT&T, or lives in America (or select countries in Europe) -- and from a media player standpoint, the iPhone made the iPod technologically respectable again. Only a handful of other devices, like the
Archos 604 WiFi, come equipped with that specific bundle of features (web browser, touchscreen, and WiFi).
Fortunately for that rather sizable group of potential buyers waiting for the phoneless iPhone, it was clear that Apple had invested an enormous amount of effort (and money) into creating its mobile OS X platform, and that all those development bucks weren't going to live on in only one product -- especially not a device that is ultimately beholden to deals with cellphone carriers. So the iPhone without the phone -- the WiFi-enabled widescreen iPod -- finally started to seem more like an eventuality than some distant hope. When it was announced a couple of weeks ago, the surprise was less that Apple had been working on this device after all, and more the myriad iPhone features unexpectedly absent. We'll get to that shortly.
Media
Thankfully, as far as media playback goes, all the best stuff from the iPhone made the cut in the touch. It shares the same audio, video, and photo apps as the iPhone, which is a good thing since we still love the new Apple mobile media interface every bit as much as we did when we first reviewed the iPhone. The
iTunes WiFi Music Store works exactly as advertised; search is fast, sampling tracks and downloads are easy, and syncing tracks back to your host computer is effortless. Apple really nailed this. To date, most over the air music downloads on a portable media devices have been tedious, if not completely impractical.
Also unchanged are our primary complaints about said media playback, the same complaints we've had about the iPod for years: we don't like managing our media through iTunes, and we don't like being limited only to those few codecs Apple supports (AAC, MP3, H.264, and MPEG-4). In fact, if Apple gave us greater codec support (or even just the option to add additional codecs ourselves) and mass storage support for drag and drop while adding media, we'd probably be able to overlook the other, smaller things that ail us about iPods.
Software
Since the touch is an iPhone at its heart --
really -- comparisons on the software end of business were immediate and inevitable. We're going to assume you're at least casually familiar with the touch's progenitor, but if you didn't read over our
iPhone review or haven't much used one yourself, we're happy to say the touch remains a rock solid device on the software end. We experienced far fewer crashes now than we did with the v1.0 iPhone firmware; the rest of the interface is just as responsive and reliable.
Apple has also since made a number of improvements to the touch which have yet to carry over to the iPhone. (We're expecting the iPhone to be brought to parity with the touch in its
next firmware update, due in the next week or so.) One major annoyance, about which we took umbrage in our iPhone review, is that periods are unnecessarily difficult to type. No longer: the touch takes the BlackBerry approach, where pressing the space bar twice types a period automatically. This is a godsend.
Also improved: many of the clicks, chirps, and other system sounds have been tweaked, most often with the result of being slightly less grating than the noises of the iPhone. And, of course, the addition of international support in menus and keyboards means you don't have to be a US American to use the thing.
But it isn't what's
on the touch that caused us to sit up and take notice so much as what's
not on it. The iPhone's suite of apps set certain expectations for what the touch should include. Granted, we understand why the iPhone's mobile email app was omitted from the touch. While we still would have liked to have the option to email over WiFi, its intended purpose is as a portable media player, not a mobile communicator, so we can follow that line of thought. But why leave out its notes, weather, stocks, and Google maps apps? We know the portable doesn't include the same constant connectivity as the iPhone has with EDGE, but it's not like downloading music over the iTunes WiFi Music Store is a practical application in ways that checking for weather, or jotting down a quick note are not. The touch is still a connected portable device, after all, and what we see is Apple mimicking the limited feature set of the old, stale iPod line instead of fully realizing the touch's potential.
And let's not forget the touch calendar controversy. Why allow users to indulge in some PIM basics, like editing and creating new contacts, while not others, like editing or adding new calendar appointments? When we
confirmed that Apple had indeed dropped calendar editing from the touch, we were floored. Not even because it's that essential a function, but because we can't possibly fathom why anyone in Cupertino thought to take something of value, however small, away from for no apparent reason.
For a company that continually emphasizes its software as being the core of what drives great consumer electronics, we just can't understand why Apple chose curb the touch's capabilities right at the outset.
Hardware
With the touch, Apple's hardware is, as usual, striking when compared with many of its competitors. Ever so slightly wider (about 1mm) and significantly thinner (8mm, which is no small feat) than the iPhone, the touch has far harder, sharper edges on its facade, and a sloping, almost difficult to grip rear. It even manages to leverage that space with a large enough battery to put out more than its advertised 5 hours of video playback -- we got about 5.5 - 6+ hours. But despite its impressive thinness, after the last few months of using the far more functional iPhone, the touch left us in want. It may be the ideal size for a device of this kind, but it omits many of the simple hardware niceties we've grown used to in the iPhone.
Hardware volume controls were highest on the list of things we miss. We could just as easily live without a mute switch on a media player, but losing the hard volume buttons is rather disappointing. Granted, Apple has made it easier to get to the media controls and volume when the device is in sleep mode; just press the home button three times (once to wake, two more times to bring up media controls without unlocking it). But what's wrong with a real volume switch, too? With no hardware controls, doing something as frequent and essential as changing the volume necessitates removing the device from your pocket. Furthermore, without hard volume buttons, you can't adjust the volume at all while playing music in landscape (i.e. Cover Flow mode). This is pretty basic stuff that drives us up the wall.
Also missing -- and missed: an external speaker. Yeah, we know not every media player has one, and it probably would have added some bulk to a device so slim as the touch. But sharing samples of songs, a bit of video, or -- duh -- YouTube now instantly necessitates friends adventurous enough to use your funky headphones each taking a turn watching Chocolate Rain or the Hipster Olympics. We know in the long run it's a relatively minor thing, but it's still disappointing.
But that's not all. While we appreciate the aesthetic sacrifice Apple made in in adding a proper WiFi antenna to the touch, the odd, asymmetric black corner on the rear looks off and misplaced. We wish Apple have just placed the antenna behind the touch's face, or possibly along the top or bottom of the unit, where its sleep / wake button or headphone jack is. It's a relatively minor aesthetic nitpick, we know, but Apple obviously holds its hardware design in the highest regard, and to us the antenna seems uncharacteristically out of place for an iPod product too pristine to even have hardware volume controls.
Then there's the matter of the display. Ours happened to be one of the
"small number" of touch units with the faulty screens. It's difficult to capture in a photograph or even explain in text (so far the best shots we've seen came from
Apple-Touch), but the result is dark shades -- especially black tones -- look almost inverted. At very least it's distracting, and at worst it makes some darker video almost unwatchable. We hope Apple gets these units fixed on the double, because for us this janky screen teeters on the edge of a return-your-unit-forever dealbreaker.
And then, finally, there's the shiny chrome back side, which is just as easy as ever to keep pristine and unmarred, provided you store your iPod in a vacuum or cover it in armor. We still don't get this. Yes, people like shiny gadgets, but the glee of that first five seconds of
ooh pretty hardly outweighs the lifetime of fingerprints and scratches that the iPod's rear mirror finish accumulates. We thought Apple had learned its lesson when it gave the iPhone a matte aluminum back side. Guess not. We can't be alone in thinking chrome doesn't patina like an old pair of jeans. To us it just seems to look worse with time.
Wrap-up It's hard to argue that there isn't beauty in simplicity, especially when it comes to consumer electronics. But there's such thing as
too simple -- and sometimes too simple can turn into crippled. Most of our complaints about the touch have to do with what it lacks -- not in general, but when compared its big brother, the iPhone. Had the iPod touch come out first, the lack of a hardware volume switch, integrated speaker, and all those apps might have been perfectly passable, but now the expectations have been set, and we can't see how taking things away from users can possibly add value. Everyone in this industry is trying to give their customers more, but with the iPod touch Apple gave its customers
less in what should have been the best iPhone alternative on the market. This time around, in Apple's obsession to edit, they managed to leave some of the best stuff on the cutting room floor.
posted September 22nd 2007 9:31AM
Hey, you can't complain about that the iPod does'nt have such things like Google Maps and Stocks.
Who needs them?
If they're so important, just use the Safari browser and go to maps.google.com to check the maps.
And to check the stocks, just check the stocks when you're at home or in a wifi network.
It's unfair to compair the iPod Toch to the iPhone.
Greets from Sweden!
As hip and insightful as Engadget is, it's amazing to me how naive you are when it comes to marketing. I know of no product category where product managers don't add/subtract features to position products in their line. You may not like it, but it happens with everything from cars to toasters. Features are disabled. $500 options are activated by adding a $2 switch. Apple is enjoying so much success because they have managed to combine compelling industrial design, appropriate technology and extraordinary marketing, down to the experience of opening the box.
You can't have it all. If Apple allowed technology to run their marketing their product lines would be a mishmash and they would not compete effectively.
Charlie
I was thinking of just buying the iphone without the AT&T service. but when i called the apple store to see if they had any in stock they told me " you do know that you have to have service or get service to get the iphone." now i guess im gonna get the ipod touch. so for all those ppl who wanna get the iphone without the service, you cant. because you need to have or get service with AT&T.
yeah ,um, that review sucked.from now on i think we should take engadgets reviews with a "huge grain of salt".
Why would anyone with any common sense at all buy any product that won't allow you to swap out the battery? Would you buy a Toyota if it had to be returned to Japan for a new battery? I don't think so!
Jobs is a total moron but the people buying the i phones and i pod touch are even more stupid!
Maybe it is the best ipod ever. But right now it has a double role.
1st as ipod. 2nd as the best alternative to the iphone.
As an ipod its good.
But for all the folk in another country who were waiting for the best alternative to the iphone it doesnt deliver. Now we have to either wait for the iphone to arrive. (2008 in japan and only a maybe) Or we have to buy another makers device. I want to buy apple so it syncs flawlessly with my macs, but the touch is just an ipod. I need those missing apps. I dont wanna wait 1 or two years for the phone to get here...
To be honest I was dissapointed when it was announced that the iPod Touch would be introduced in 8 and 16GB versions but decided to get a 16GB version any way. In real standards this is what I have on so far. 13 playlists (17 albums) - 249 songs, 14 television shows (12 @22 mins, 2@43 mins), 7 full length feature movies, 3 documentaries, 616 photos and a little over 2.5GBs left. Granted it is not my entire library but it is fairly substantial. Although I look forward to future reditions with more memory and features, I will mantain it more often than my 4GiPod but I am very happy with the touch. The technology put in the Touch and the iPhone stands alone. If I didn't like my phone carrier and plan I have currently I would have considered the iPhone, but the Touch suits me just fine.
wow ,what a horrible review ."apples hardware is flawless as usual, but the calender sucks" oh no!!!!!!!!not the calender!!!!!!
sarcasm
Ok. Everyone is comparing this to the iPhone. It might have a touch screen but it doesn't mean that it is better than an iPhone. This is a great prduct. And it sure looks like one of the best mp3 players, not the best but its up there. If you dont like it don't buy it, there's is no need to criticize a good product.
This is another incomplete product that requires those that purchase the product to buy the next incomplete but more complete product eight months from now. It is quite pathetic that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have done this for the last twenty years so successfully.
I feel comfortable hating on Apple for further locking down the Mobile OS X platform and giving the touch such a piss-poor OOB experience. Don't know about you guys.
You think iPod touch sucks because it doesen't has this:
Calendar (add events), Weather, Stocks, Maps, Mail and hard-buttons to the volume. Maybe the last thing is a little and annoying problem, but not so bad that you wouldn't buy it? Weather, Stocks, Maps and Mail can just be replaced by Safari, it nothing else, that a web-app couldn't deliver.
And it's only a minority who needs to check the weather, stocks etc. You buy an iPod for music and video. The rumors now are a return of Newton, buy that instead. And stop comparing iPod touch to a PDA and iPhone, it's an iPod with some nice extra features.
And us in Denmark pay about $400 for the 8 GB, so you Americans just shut up about high prices, ok? :D It's the same price in Germany and UK!
Listen, speaking of iPhone must-haves, this is the killer accessory: the iBucket.
http://smartstartup.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/09/the-ultimate-ip.html
iPhone is always connected - via mobile network or WIFI.
iPod is only connected when it is in WIFI range.
If you look at the apps which have been removed - Mail, Google Maps, calendar updates - they all require a connection.
It looks likely that for the iPod Touch release, Apple had not got around to fully implementing the behaviour to handle there being no network for an extended period of time. While the iPhone might be out of range for short periods and so annoying messages like "failed to update", might be OK - the iPod can be expected to have longer periods of no connectivity and that needs to be handled more gracefully.
Hopefully it is simply a case of Apple not yet having the software ready but having to launch in time for xmas - just like there was no DVD player on OSX as launch.
maybe the reason why they used a scratch prone metal back is that the ipod will be full of scratch for about a year so that when apple launches another model the consumer will buy it as a replacement to scratched ipods...
Sorry Sirs This is the best iPod ever made
MyMac
If everyone hates Apple so much, why is the iPod not only the best selling mp3 out there, but basically the only thing anyone thinks of when an mp3 is mentioned? I think we need to look at this in a different direction...I agree the exclusion of the click wheel is beyond infuriating, but guys...this thing has everything and more we should expect from a device we can carry around in our pockets. Internet, music and video playback, photos, aesthetics...all from just one, miniature iPod.
I have all the older ipod including ipod video 80g. I was exited about the ipod touch until now. My biggest concern is the capacity. Why 16g? for a bigger screen, Apple would think that consumers will need more capacity for video files.For 400$ i was at least expecting a 30g ipod touch. Apple just lost a value customer.
for me to put out 400$! give me calender and 40g
not sure what the negative comments are about. the ipod touch is so bad ass it is ridiculous. i haven't had the blue black problem others have had, i could care less about the black wifi antenna on the back. i don't want an iphone because at&t is garbage. first at&t, then cingular, back to at&t... i just wanted a widescreen video plyer. this little super gadget delivers in spades, plus i get safari! people get so ridiculous - oh it is missing this, that, blah nlah... People wake up!! this is a wonder gadget.. anyone that has negative things to say about the ipod is silly.
It's not a phone, it's not a PIM, it's an Ipod and a great one at that. Some people need to stop acting like spoiled brats and seeing the product for what it is. Apple are not holding a gun to your heads and making you buy it, if you don't like what they've come up with, then don't buy one, please don't wine about how you would have made it differently. If that's the case then make one yourself! I suppose you could always take a class action against Apple for the disappointment caused.
Ipod is about fun and music. if you want something with better applications for your daily routines and works, use your cell / mobile phone / PDA. It seems a lot of us forgetting the principle and the purpose of ipod.
Just got this last week and its amazing! The touch screen is fantastic, clear and precise. The iPod performs well, battery life is good, etc.
Anyway, thought it would be useful to show you how to install the iPhone apps on the iPod Touch! Also on the site was how I managed to get the iPod Touch a lot cheaper than Amazon! See here http://www.free-ipod-touch.co.uk/hackipod.html
So to sum up: with the ability to install 3rd party apps on the iPod makes this definately the best yet. Although apple has limited this natively, with the guide at http://www.free-ipod-touch.co.uk/hackipod.html
you can really unlock the potential!
I think people look way too deep into things. I also think you guys rely way too much on the latest technology and conveniences.
Ok, so the 8gb iTouch can hold 2000 songs or whatever. It can hold almost the whole of Heroes season 1. What do you always want more space? I've always had less space on my mp3 players, and got on fine. Whats the problem? It's too much effort to go back to your computer, remove some songs, and put different ones on?
The iTouch seems fine to me. Its the latest technology, although lacking in some features, and maybe apple are getting greedy, but who cares? Who REALLY cares?
This is also a terrible review. Reviews are supposed to be about the one item, without compaing it too much to others, especially a PHONE. I already have a phone!!
Anyway, i'm done. Sorry about going on, I'm bored, gonna go buy an iPod now though.
For Apple as well as other companies it's all about money naturally. You can go on about how Apple's micro managing is losing them money, but any time I walk into any Apple store in my community the place is so packed you would think you were in the middle of a going-out-of-business sale. It's so crowded you have difficulty navigating from one part of the store to another, and there are lines at the cash register. To me the inconvieniences described in the review are minor and I can get around them, but knowing the next version will be better for about the same money may just keep me on hold. Overall though, nice product. I'd be an iPhone user right now though if not for EDGE with AT&T.
I recently just recieved my iPod Touch, and my overall impression was of disappointment. Don't get me wrong, as a whole the device is beautifully put together and a great bit of design. How you view pages on the web by zooming in and panning across the screen is fantastic. For playing music - great. Love how you can preview songs on the iTunes Store and download if you wish also. Video? No complaints, and as mentioned, the Safari browser is beautifully done.
The biggest disappointment for me was the lack of speaker to show off my new toy to my friends and family. I wrongly assumed it would be included like the iPhone. Maybe this addition would have made the device bulkier, but I would have preferred it. Strange choice.
The shiny shiny back! As I carefully lifted my Touch from the box I turned it over to notice several scratches already all over the device! And of course, it's impossible to keep clean from smudges.
The lack of apps I was expecting. iMaps? (I was really looking forward to using this) And what's the deal with the Contacts application?! Seriously though, you do almost feel a little cheated and short-changed.
Finally, the lack of support for video formats other than Apple's own, as mentioned earlier also. It's frustrating and disappointing how such a lovely looking thing which could be great, has all these little flaws.
Saying all this, I still love my Touch! Just not as much as I could have..
I know that you all love your iPhones, but c'mon, the Touch is a music player. As such, in a review, I want comments on how well it does just that: PLAY MUSIC.
I live in the UK, and as such, am a master of complaint. But it seems that this reviewer has taken it to a new level. Instead of a review for the Touch, I got a list of reasons why the iPhone is better. Maybe, just maybe, I don't want an iPhone. I want my Touch to play music and video, which it does do (I assume, since nothing in the review actually mentionned anything about the music).
Complaint after complaint about the iCalender. Why is a calendar on a music player anyway? I can understand if it is on a pda, which is the iPhone. But complaining that it is not on your music player is just greediness. Y'know, you could get out a real one and use a pen... Just a thought....
So, is it a good music player? I still don't know because it was a poor review.
Well, I've been reading almost all of these comments because I've been searching for a new music player, and I have been leaning towards the iPod Touch. I am young enough where I find that an iPhone is out of my realm and not even needed.
As I've been reading the review (and many other reviews as well) I am disappointed that all these reviews are comparing the Touch to the iPhone. Like other people have stated, the Touch as a music player, not a cellphone, so there should be a comparison to other iPods, and thus the pros and cons from that, not versus the iPhone.
Although I do agree that the Touch should have been released before the iPhone, I'm still leaning towards the Touch. I don't understand why people are complaining that the Touch doesn't have "specific features", it will just make it more like a PDA, which is not what I believe to be the intention of the Touch. The Touch is a music player and no more. Of course it would be handy to have a notepad with you, and that's about it, but nothing more.
I'm just a little surprised at all the negativity that the Touch has been receiving.
I THINK IT IS ONE OF THE GREATEST THINGS TO OWN I KNOW IT IS NOT WHAT SOME OF US EXPECTED BUT HEY THIS IS THE FIRST GEN ITOUCH LETS WAIT UNTIL THE SECOND GEN COMES OUT AND PERHAPS LETS JUST SEE THE VIRTUES OF IT NOT WHAT IS MISSING
do you people have nothing better to do than complain about something you could just TAKE back...all the ipods suck excepy for the touch and iphone./..and its an IPOD..not a computer ,so stop complaining about how it doesnt to everything a computer does
Well I have used an Iphone for the last 4 days and it is going back. Haveing being a big fam of smar phones. I had hoped that even with the apple short comings i simply cannot see where apple get off charging this kind of price for a flashy phone.
Indeed the iPhone has some fantastic features and i love them it is lacking in so many other areas I cannot see how this can compete in a market where so many other similar hardware providers are doing so much more for so much less.
no 3g, poor camera, no satnav (???) poor battery life, having to use itunes to sync my music (bleh), lack of codec support, irritating need to purchase apple adaptors to play music in my car, being forced to use apple headphones (yet more expense), the list goes on. I had considered buying an ipod touch as i cannot quantify spending 35 pounds a month plus the near 300 outlay on the iphone to have a jazzed up media player and now i read from this review there is no volume control and no speaker in the touch ? I wont touch either.
Those of you who are trendy well off fashion followers can walk the streets showing off your afluence but for me.. im happy with my pda that has everything better and easier to do and muddle along without a flashy interface. Mr Jobbs keep this up and you will be out of one.
Good review in my opinion. I have just ordered my Ipod Touch, but i think most of these complaints you guys have noted can be fixed with firmwire updates, Im no Tech guy but i assume they can add things in like adding events to calanders. As for the Chrome back, although this is my first Ipod i have purchased i have seem friends previous ipods over the years and the only other option is hoping a sleeve or cover will be released soon.
The Volume and mute controls, these can be easily overcome with either apple adding a decent pair of headphones into the package or buy some seperatly. Im talking about headphones with a volume and media control on their cord, so you dont have to take your ipod out of your pocket for changing music, volume, pausing, playing egc.
All in all, i cant wait for when it arrives at my doorstep, none of these faults really bother me. Appart from one feature i think apple should of added in. The ability to view/download a map or get a set map of directions from google maps and upload them to your ipod touch to view when you are in the car "offline". I think its a great idea they should try and add in.
I just bought the Touch and while I like many things about it, I was disappointed to learn my Apple FM radio/earphone accessory was not compatible. I also didn't like the audio quality from the earphones that came with it. I compared the sound quality to my older pair of Apple earphones (that came with the 80g video classic ipod) and it comfirmed what I suspected: the newer earphones have a brittle sounding high end and the older ones were smoother and had more lower end frequencies. I also think that Bluetooth is way overdue on these devices and it bothers me that Apple withholds these amenities to maximize its profits over a timeline of rollouts.
-Ben
F*** all of the apple Haters they have made lots of cool gadgets like the ipod and the xbox's now get over your self and buy a apple ipod touch it will change your life you fucking dousche's
Erm...
Xbox is a Microsoft product.
Hope this helps!
In all fairness to Apple, most people don't use the features almost every tech site claims are "missing"
The people who comment on engadget are probably a very small minority of the general public who actually know how to use features like bluetooth. Has anyone here ever had to teach their friends, parents, siblings, children, etc. how to use technology? I bet you have. I also bet that you know more people who don't know how to use emerging (emerging meaning going mainstream) technology than people who do. So is it really so unreasonable for Apple to omit features most people don't use?
As for accusations for Apple being greedy, Apple is a corporation. Their one purpose is to make money for its shareholders. I honestly don't see how anyone can call a company "greedy" for serving its purpose. In that sense, all businesses are greedy. If you don't like anything about a product, including its price, don't buy it.
I'm no fanboy, but I am planning on buying an iPod touch, not for its features, but for its user experience. While I CAN use products from other brands, Apple's iPods are simply more enjoyable to use. For those who still see fit to complain about missing features, where are those flying cars we were promised 30 years ago? Where's the future we were promised? Still not here. You can wait for the next best thing, but the problem with that is you're always waiting.
I think alot of you guys are being jackasses in this situation we are comparing an ipod to a smart pnone sure it has some blemishes but it is a high definition superipod the only real drawback is the lack of memory which i could live with
When I connect mine to my pc it says it can't connect due to an unknown error occured (0XE8000001. Can anyone tell me what this means and how i can fix it? I can't update it or add pictures and songs help! xxx
Haw-Haw,
Yep, I agree with someone's review it having a shiny back.
my biggest issue is it only comes with 8gb and 16gb.... whats the point of a great widescreen if you can barely store any movies on it?
and the calendar not being able to add dates? why bother! it should be like a mini PDA... for $400 that has the same 8gb as a mini... what a rip!
honestly i dont see what the big deal is. People know what they're buying. If you only need 8GB space (which i for one do, i dont need that many songs and the shows/movies would get old 4 me and i'd want to rotate so wat i have here is enough) plus there's youtube so you can watch any little short clips/videos off of there. Granted its no iphone, but for some people its all that they need.