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iPod iPod Nano 5G vs 6G?

B

belltree

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Feb 17, 2008
395
60
Tokyo, Japan
Those of you who own or have used both the 5G and 6G iPod Nano. What are you thoughts? Which one wins out in your opinion?

I personally am teetering on picking up a 5G Nano while they are still available as I feel the new Nano is simply a iPod Shuffle Pro. The new Nano, IMO, has had most of its great features (video recording/playback, voice recording, etc) removed so I cannot justify the purchase. This is, of course, just my opinion so I would like to hear from you all. Thanks.
 
If you want a device to play music, the new Nano does the job in a smaller form factor. If you need a low resolution camera and voice recording, and think watching video on a (albeit larger than the new Nano) small screen, and need a click wheel while not minding a larger form factor, the older Nano is for you. However, if these functions are served by another device (e.g. smart phone, iPod Touch) one should question the need for duplication of services.
 
belltree said:
Those of you who own or have used both the 5G and 6G iPod Nano. What are you thoughts? Which one wins out in your opinion?

I personally am teetering on picking up a 5G Nano while they are still available as I feel the new Nano is simply a iPod Shuffle Pro. The new Nano, IMO, has had most of its great features (video recording/playback, voice recording, etc) removed so I cannot justify the purchase. This is, of course, just my opinion so I would like to hear from you all. Thanks.
Click to expand...

My opinion? If you really want the functionality that the fifth gen loses, buy a touch. It's not much bigger and it's going to do everything the fifth gen nano does far better (plus more). Anything the fifth gen did that my sixth gen did, I didn't use cause I have an iphone that goes with me wherever I'd use that functionality. I'd only use the functionality the fifth gen has if it was the only thing I owned that was portable that did that (I'd use my laptop for video viewing over it cause the places I'd want that the laptop goes).

If you want something small and portable to play your music, particularly on walks or excercising, the sixth gen is awesome (particularly if you buy or have a pair of headphones with remote). It is not redundant for me even with me having an iphone cause it's far more portable and fits in small places or just clips on places than the iphone.

So, it really depends on what you want. Honestly, I'd say if you really wanted the multi function though, I'd go with a touch rather than the fifth gen.
 
If you want the video cam, obviously the 6G is out.

If you like to exercise with it, the 6G is a real winner.

6G doesn't do video.

5G has a bigger display for more info, but doesn't seem that big of a deal.

The 6G has volume buttons, which are actually kind of nice.

We can probably assume we'll get more "apps" on the 6G.
 
I prefer a small, straight up music player. The 6G works great for this. Unfortunately they priced it high enough that's it is out of impulse buy territory. I've got an iPhone and an iPod Classic, so though the 6G would be handy to have.. I won't be buying.

The wife wanted one to replace her shuffle, but in the end the price difference was too great for her too. The FM radio reception was the main draw for her, but not worth the extra $100 over a shuffle just for that.
 
brentsg said:
I prefer a small, straight up music player. The 6G works great for this. Unfortunately they priced it high enough that's it is out of impulse buy territory. I've got an iPhone and an iPod Classic, so though the 6G would be handy to have.. I won't be buying.

The wife wanted one to replace her shuffle, but in the end the price difference was too great for her too. The FM radio reception was the main draw for her, but not worth the extra $100 over a shuffle just for that.
Click to expand...

it doesn't cost anymore than the 5g did.
 
Well I just got my 6th gen nano today (brought from Amazon so it took some time)... and I also own the 5th gen nano as well.

My primary use of the nano is to listen to music and audio podcasts during my workouts and commute to work. I upgraded from the 2nd gen nano to the 5th gen and I thought that all those added features in the 5th gen made the nano a great little package. I originally used the video feature for the first couple of weeks but I found watching video on such a small surface not really worth it. The camera was never used, since I usually have my iPhone4 with me anyway.

Well things I like about the 6th gen over the 5th gen:
- I like the touch screen interface to jump to the podcasts and music... Now I just have 2 icons to click on with no scrolling up or down on the wheel. There were many times in the past where I would scroll a bit past the choices. Also, since the interface is icon-based you can chose the order the icons are presented to you.

- The navigation seems pretty snappy and scrolling up and down the lists seem very easy and natural. I do not miss the wheel here.

- The size is great...


Things I do not like about the 6th gen (I could be wrong...)
- Lack of physical controls. I know the common answer to this is to get headphones with a remote. I have headphones with a remote and I tried to use the remote for control.... The remote is great for my commute, but using the remote is not good while doing cardio (like running). The remote is much harder to tether properly so it doesn't sway as much. You'll probably end up pulling out your headphones trying to get a hold of the remote (if you use ear buds).

- Sleep / Energy Saving mode - I have not been able to find a way to prevent the nano from going into the sleep mode. This is a pain because this prevents you from doing some controlling of the nano without looking during exercising, which I have been accustom to in all my previous ipods.

- Due to lack of controls, I have a feeling that the screen will not work when my fingers are sweaty. But that's common issue with touch-based devices, even with HRM-watches like the Garmin Forerunner 405.


Reasons not to get a 6th gen:
- If you have big fingers... the navigation may be a little hard

- If the missing features are that important to you, but you may realize later that you never use those features anyway.


Reasons to wait:
- I believe that the 6th gen is a transitional generation. Obviously Apple really wanted to redesign the form factor. And with the form change, Apple needed to change the navigation paradigm. I think ultimately a version of iOS will be put on the nano (it may be stripped down). So some of the software features will probably come back like contacts. I believe the OS that is currently on the 6th gen is a stop gap OS, that is way the functionality is rather basic. But I like it, since I hate "bloat"-ware.

- Also this extends to the hardware end. As more and more features become embedded on chips, I would not be surprised that some form of video playback may come back while still maintaining a small form factor.
 
I used iPod nano5, compare with it, I prefer to 6 Generation, mutil touch screen is so great, and the shape is just good!
 
Brucewl said:
I used iPod nano5, compare with it, I prefer to 6 Generation, mutil touch screen is so great, and the shape is just good!
Click to expand...

only problem with the shape is that i keep trying the press the buttons on the wrong sides after i change the orientation and forget i did!
 
I have somewhat larger hands and I find that my 6G Nano doesn't really have a place to hold it comfortably and access all the controls. For the 7G Nano, I hope Apple makes it a 2.5" size and can play videos/pictures etc. Hopefully in a year, the technology will have improved enough to make the 7G Nano sort of like a "mini" version of the Touch in both features and size. I was disappointed that Apple didn't package its headphones+remote with it like they did for the 3rd gen Shuffles... then again, all I needed was a music player (I use my Blackberry for everything else) so the Nano fits the bill perfectly. I love the clip!
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm still not sold on the 6G Nano and think that Apple should re-brand it the "Shuffle Pro". Who knows, this may end up doing so come next year and by then we will see a real new Nano.

In the meantime I am now wondering if I should go iPod Touch 4G or Nano 5G. :confused::confused:
 
I recently was lucky to buy a brand new ipod nano 5g. I also own a 4g and I love them both. The 6th nano it's not a nano. I really don't like that you cant see a video podcast on its screen. The new nano is all about fancy stuff and not functionality. I hope that apple will eventually reconsider its current policy and create a more capable nano in the future. For now I'm proud that I selected a 5g over the 6g. I'm a guitarist and I even use nano 5g for draft recordings.

PS: As for the small screen, I think when you're in a train or bus, using nano is better than using an ipod touch or iphone. I'd really like a 7g nano on my wrist that can display video podcasts and also has its own camera and microphone.
 
Last edited:
ixthy said:
I recently was lucky to buy a brand new ipod nano 5g. I also own a 4g and I love them both. The 6th nano it's not a nano. I really don't like that you cant see a video podcast on its screen. The new nano is all about fancy stuff and not functionality. I hope that apple will eventually reconsider its current policy and create a more capable nano in the future. For now I'm proud that I selected a 5g over the 6g. I'm a guitarist and I even use nano 5g for draft recordings.

PS: As for the small screen, I think when you're in a train or bus, using nano is better than using an ipod touch or iphone. I'd really like a 7g nano on my wrist that can display video podcasts and also has its own camera and microphone.
Click to expand...

how much did u buy a brand new 5g waS?
 
If I could buy a 5G for the price of a 6G, I'd buy a 5G. The strange thing about Apple products is that their discontinued models cost double and triple of what their new models cost.
 
Merkava_4 said:
If I could buy a 5G for the price of a 6G, I'd buy a 5G. The strange thing about Apple products is that their discontinued models cost double and triple of what their new models cost.
Click to expand...

Thats because Apple isn't making them anymore, but many people still prefer them to the new model. So demand would be high, which, coupled with a limited number of devices out there, leads to a price spike ;)
 
With an armband the 6th gen is a better music player its small and the armband eliminates the drawbacks of the touch screen in my opinion.

As far as features go the 5th gen is the way to go and depending on what you pay, the better value.
 
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