Apple's iPod Touch (2010) Review, Not a Poor Man's iPhone 4
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 9, 2010 12:38 AM EST- Posted in
- Gadgets
- Apple
- iPod Touch
Good Audio Playback Quality, no GPS
As was the case with the previous generation iPod Touch, the new model is fully capable of running all supported apps in the iOS App Store. While personally the appeal of iOS apps are their integration into a device I already carry, a smartphone, the iPod Touch brings the entire platform to users who don’t want an iPhone or maybe even a smartphone in general. The email, web browsing and iOS experience is identical to what you get on the iPhone.
The iPod Touch does ship with a Music app that behaves just like the iPod app on the iPhone. There’s not much to say here other than it works, although I personally find myself using the Pandora app more than listening to my own library of music. MP3 playback audio quality seemed comparable to the iPhone 4. I ran RMAA to confirm:
| Rightmark Audio Analyzer Comparison | |||||
| iPhone 4 | iPod Touch (2010) | Zune HD | |||
| Frequency Response (from 40Hz to 15kHz) | Excellent | Excellent | Good | ||
| Noise level | Very good | Very good | Very good | ||
| Dynamic range | Very good | Very good | Very good | ||
| THD | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | ||
| THD + Noise | Good | Good | Average | ||
| IMD + Noise | Excellent | Excellent | Very good | ||
| Stereo crosstalk | Excellent | Excellent | Very good | ||
| IMD at 10kHz | Very good | Excellent | Very good | ||
| General Performance | Very good | Very good | Very good | ||
We haven't seen many results from RMAA on the Zune HD so I thought I'd throw some in here. RMAA shows an advantage over the Zune HD, although in practice you'd be hard pressed to hear a difference.
Frequency Response - iPhone 4
Frequency Response - iPod Touch
Frequency Response - Zune HD
Noise Level - iPhone 4
Noise Level - iPod Touch
Noise Level - Zune HD
Stereo Crosstalk - iPhone 4
Stereo Crosstalk - iPod Touch
Stereo Crosstalk - Zune HD
I believe we've hit a ceiling for PMP audio playback quality. Despite the excellent RMAA results, the iPod Touch is admittedly less of an iPod and more of a general purpose iOS device that happens to play music.
Like the previous generation Touch, the new model lacks a GPS receiver. The device ships with a Maps app but it uses WiFi to figure out your local.
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gbrayut - Thursday, September 9, 2010 - link
I very much appreciated the objective audio quality review and comparison with Zune HD. Most Apple product reviews are very subjective, so having a hardware level perspective with benchmark numbers is a breath of fresh air.Keep up the great work!
kmmatney - Friday, September 10, 2010 - link
Bye - Don't let the door hit you on your way out.SadTouchLover - Monday, September 13, 2010 - link
What a tool. I read the first paragraph of your "novel" and just stopped. This was exactly the kind of review that you claim to enjoy from AT. They blew the whistle on a consumer product that was being hailed as much more than it actually is. Again, you are a tool."I only like a website that reviews obscure, third party RAM modules and boutique GPU manufacturers." Good riddance you loser.
tipoo - Thursday, September 9, 2010 - link
The previous Touch was far from the best sounding device (try a Sony Walkman), does this statement mean that the new one has substantially better SQ?watzupken - Thursday, September 9, 2010 - link
I suppose the reviewer did a great job of pointing out the shortcomings of the product. At the end of the day, I think it is still a decent product and improvement over its past gen iPod Touch. Apple is also not likely to make this a better alternative over their iPads by giving it a good screen, and more memory. Although the iPad has a bigger screen, the iPod Touch is still capable of cannibalizing the sales of iPad, especially when it is much cheaper.tipoo - Thursday, September 9, 2010 - link
I'd be really interested to see some web benchmarks on this device. We know it uses the Apple A4 chip, but, like the iPhone 4, we don't know the clock speed. Comparing benchmarks may give us an estimate.Also note that the iFixit teardown shows that it uses half the RAM the iPhone 4 uses, I'd like to see how that impacts it.
tipoo - Thursday, September 9, 2010 - link
I must be losing my sanity, all of those things were on the front page. Nevermind this here bumbling idiot!anactoraaron - Thursday, September 9, 2010 - link
Yet there is no direct link to this "gagdets" section of the website... a minor oversight...El_Capitan - Thursday, September 9, 2010 - link
Frequent reader, first time poster.Usually posting a comment for an Apple product usually incurs a wrath from Apple fanboys, but it just distills to me their ignorance and distain of constructive criticism. I've had an Apple Classic from way back in the day, a Video iPod from 5 years ago, and gave my girlfriend an iPod Touch version 3 a year ago, so I'm not an Apple hater. I also used Macbooks on occasion, but am primarily a PC/Laptop/Server builder/user.
I've been waiting a while now to update my Video iPod, but haven't decided on what I want. I played with my gf's iPod Touch, and it's nice with all the apps, but then there's the Zune and it's OLED display. Granted, what I'd be using it for is listening to music, watching videos, playing games, and browsing the web when connected to wi-fi, but I have my Blackberry Bold 9800 that can handle all the functions of an iPod Touch minus the touch features and apps, while my Nintendo DSi has a great selection of games. While my Video iPod can still play music and videos, it's not as great for videos.
For my choices:
1. Watching videos - Zune HD or PSP Go or iPod Touch
2. Playing games - Nintendo DSi, PSP Go, or iPod Touch
3. Listening to music - iPod Touch, Zune HD
4. Browsing the web - iPod Touch
Now, while the iPod Touch does all those things, the only thing holding me back is that the display isn't the best. There's fun to be had with all their apps, but there's funner games to be played elsewhere.
I would have definitely gone in to buy an iPod Touch 4, but they're still lagging behind on the display. Instead, it looks to me that they want to cash in on just upgrading the aesthetic appeal, and hope that being a 4th gen gets people to upgrade, and not the reality of what the real benefits are.
I was close to purchasing a Zune HD, but so far am faring well with my trio of Blackberry Bold 9800, Video iPod, and Nintendo DSi. I guess with the letdown on the iPod Touch 4, I'll still be waiting until something better comes along.
gbrayut - Thursday, September 9, 2010 - link
I purchased a 32GB Zune HD and absolutely love it for playing music or watching videos (mostly podcasts). The form factor is about half the size of an iPhone or iPod touch, which makes it easier to use when jogging or working out, and it retails for about $50 cheaper than the iPod touch.It definitely has its short comings: the mobile browser is pretty bad, doesn't have very many apps, and no wifi updates for podcasts when outside your home network (suppose to be fixed in Windows Phone 7 and next gen Zune HD). Also while it has the potential to be a great gaming platform using XNA there just aren't a lot of developers working on games right now (again hopefully will change with Windows Phone 7 release).
I would highly recommend Zune HD as a Personal Media Player, but don't buy one hoping for a good web browser or a ton of games. I do however look forward to the next Zune release and will evaluate Windows Phone 7 when it comes out.