Hey all, been a while since I’ve written an article. Been busy with school, personal life etc. Anyway, as you all know the new iPod Touch 4G was recently released, and I was lucky enough to get one and it’s brilliant! (And it’s just begging to be jailbroken!) There’s not really much to say in this review since it’s the same thing from Apple over and over again. Hopefully next time I do a review it’ll be something BIG!

Design

Here are a few things to note about the new design.

• Apple has put a flat back on the back of the new iPod Touch and is more square-ish that before but not as square as the iPhone 4, this also made it even thinner than before.
• The volume buttons are in the same position except there is now a gap between the buttons, unlike the last few generations.
• The lock button has been moved to the right side, right above the camera and microphone and is very far back and if you’ve previously owned an iPod Touch, which takes time to get used to.
• The front camera is smack bang right in the middle on the top part on the front (obviously lol).
• The light sensor is to the right of the camera, by about an inch.
• The speaker is to the left of the docking port (Note: Sound also comes out through the USB port, so there maybe be two speakers.)

I like some parts of the new design but other parts are stupid. The lock button is fine back, though it does take a little while to get used to, the volume keys are a different story. In landscape it’s annoying to [try to] press them.

Hardware

The new iPod Touch has the new A4 processor, the same as the iPhone 4 and iPad, which is very nice and snappy. It also has a new display, I’m not sure what kind it is, but I can tell you it’s not an IPS, it doesn’t have as wide a viewing angle as the iPhone 4, but it has a wider viewing angle than the previous iPod Touch. Sadly, the RAM and back camera are a let down. It still has 256MB of RAM as in the previous iPod Touch, which is still good, but I was hoping for 512MB like in the iPhone 4.

The speakers are louder and clearer than ever, but they still aren’t as loud as I wish they would be. They are still soft but a definite improvement from the previous 2 iPod Touches. The placement is horrible though. You know when you play a game in landscape (and it’s sometimes either 90 degrees or 270 degrees, towards the left)? Yeh, well the speaker gets covered up in 90 degrees, but in 270, it doesn’t get covered but it nearly does, but I have small hands, so if you have larger hands, expect a bit of a problem there.

Though some of the new iPod is a let down, the display is BRILLIANT. Words cannot describe how good it is! It’s really clear and bright! The contrast ratio is so much better as well. The colours are more vivid and everything just looks so much better!

Camera

The back camera takes photos at a resolution of 960 x 720 (0.7MP), which is ridiculously low, even for a “dumphone”. And to make it worse, it’s fix focused. Most of my relatives aren’t tech fanatics and have dumbphones, but even those have 1-3.2MP cameras. The pictures are pretty good in well lighted areas, but, if you’re in a low lighted are, horrible, just horrible. The resolution really lets it down though. See below for some samples. The photos of the Viewty are horribly lighted; the photos of the N97 are moderately lighted; and  the photos of outside my house are well lit.

The camera also has digital zoom, which even in good conditions is horrible, the pictures are blurred, but what else can you expect from digital zoom?

But on the other hand, the back camera also takes 720p video. It’s pretty good, in well lit areas, but again, in low lighted areas, it’s not so great. The front camera, same thing: Better quality in well lit areas; Horrible in low. It also now has a microphone for when you FaceTime or record videos, which is something that should’ve been there from the start. Here is a video sample, it goes from low lit to well lit. I’ve half-sized the video here but you can get the full 720p video here. It seems to be very skippy but I don’t know if that’s because of the uploading or my browser. It plays fine in QuickTime though, so I apologize if there is an issue.

Software

The new iPod Touch comes loaded with 4.1, which has the Game Center (if anyone wants to add me, my user is hittingray), which was meant to be in 4.0 but got delayed. It’s not much different from 4.0. Also note the hefty 580MB weight of 4.1 for the new iPod, which is huge.

There’s not really much at all to say about the software though.

My Personal Thoughts

As I mentioned earlier, the new iPod Touch has been a bit of a let down. The camera should’ve been better, and it also should’ve have flash in my opinion. 0.7 MP is just ridiculous, I would’ve kept it the same thickness as the previous model, so there could be a better camera, but it’s just Apple cutting costs again. Likewise with the RAM and screen, dumbed down from the iPhone 4.

I was also hoping that it would have a mute switch. The iPad has a switch, which is currently a rotation lock, will have it’s switch function changed to a mute switch. I really don’t see the point for a switch on an iPad, as it can’t receive calls or anything. But the iPod on the other hand can receive FaceTime calls, so I really do see a need for it now. Hopefully Apple will make it better next year.

The Good, The Bad And The Conclusion

Good:

• Camera finally added
• Retina Display
• CPU

Bad:

• Lack of RAM
• Non-IPS screen
• Back camera takes low res stills

Overall it’s pretty good but could use some improvements. I would give it an 8/10 or 4 stars.