Apple iPod nano (7th Generation)

For the first time in its ten-year stretch of yearly releases since the original iPod, Apple did little to update the physical appearance of its portable media player lineup. For the iPod nano, focus shifted to incremental tweaks of the user interface and, at $129 (8GB) and $149 (16GB), a price drop of $20 and $30 for the respective capacities. Last year, Apple completely revamped the nano, removing the video camera, video playback abilities, and scroll wheel. The new capacitive touch screen brought with it too few benefits to justify the price. This year’s minor refresh adds larger icons and some goofy-but-fun watch-face widgets, but the most welcome change is the price drop, earning this incremental upgrade an incremental rating boost.

Design 

Physically speaking, nothing has changed since the previous nano’s release. The tiny 1.5-by-1.6 by 0.4-inch, .7-ounce frame remains, the 1.5-inch display offers the same 240-by-240- pixel resolution, and the same multiple color options—metallic hues in seven bright shades are offered. In light of this, we’re going to focus less on the physical design and more on the minor tweaks to the user interface. If you’d like to know more about the nano’s design, check out our iPod nano (6th Gen.) review. The iPod nano ships with a USB-to-30 pin connection sync cable and a pair of signature white Apple earbuds, but no watchband despite several new watch-themed wallpapers.

The iPod nano was never the crown jewel of the iPod lineup, but since its inception, it always represented a reasonable choice—not too big, not too flashy, not too expensive. When Apple stripped the nano of its camera and video playback, it seemed the device was headed on the inevitable march to meld with the far less expensive iPod shuffle. It’s surprising that we didn’t see the nano disappear in favor of a shuffle with a screen this year, since both are already so small to begin with. If you must have a screen, must live in the iTunes ecosystem, and must have a small, wearable device, the nano is pretty much your only option. The shuffle is far less expensive, though, and it has playback controls built-in to its earphones. If you don't want or need an iTunes-compatible device, the SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip ($69.99, 4 stars) is our Editors’ Choice for affordable portable media players. The 8GB model is nearly half the price of the same-capacity nano, and the Clip Zip offers just about all the meager amenities the nano does, but at a price that reflects its simple feature set.

User Interface and Performance 

When we say minor tweaks, we mean it. The user interface is largely untouched. That said, the two most notable improvements are the enlarged icons, which make it much easier to see and select what you want on the small screen, and the 18 different clock faces you can choose if you wish to wear your nano as a watch. The watch graphics have a few Disney and Muppet character-themes thrown in, but mainly they're animated icons—and some are very cool-looking. But if you want to wear your nano on your wrist, you need to buy a third-party watch band.

Like the iPod shuffle ($49, 3.5 stars), the nano features VoiceOver—just hold your finger over the nano’s screen and a robotic voice describes what your finger is touching—for instance, the artist name and song title if you’re playing music. The player ships with the feature turned off, but you can switch it on in the Accessibility sub-menu of the Settings menu. Everything else, from how you return to the main menu (you hold a finger down in the center of the screen) to how album artwork is displayed (full-screen) to the integrated FM radio that requires earphones to acquire a signal, remains the same. Also, if you prefer the original layout of the user interface, which fills the small screen with four square icons rather than one, you can revert to that mode in the Settings menu.

The Nike Plus Fitness widget keeps track of your workouts with a pedometer and a workout history section. It requires no accessories, and has a few more options than last year’s nano fitness widget. The new widget is divided into three sections: Walk, Run, and History, and each have their own typical workout sub-menus, like Time, Distance, and Calories. The old widget was divided into only two sections, Pedometer and History.

Without investing in better headphones, you shouldn’t expect much in the way of audio excellence from the nano, but this is par for the course for any player that ships with earbuds. The EQ section in the menu does little to remedy this. The nano supports built-in iPod controls on earphones, it just doesn’t include a pair with controls. Oddly, the less-expensive iPod shuffle does ship with built-in controls on its earbuds.

Photo viewing remains a curious experience. The screen is quite sharp and bright, so photos actually look great—but they are so small, it’s akin to viewing thumbnails on a website. The lack of a video camera and video-playback support remains a bummer, but Apple has made it clear that there is a line in the sand separating multi-functional iOS devices (iPod touch, iPad, and iPhone) from the remaining, more simple iPods (shuffle, nano, and classic).

Apple iPod nano (7th Generation) : Front

For the first time in its ten year stretch of yearly releases since the original iPod, Apple did little to update the physical appearance of its portable media player lineup. 

Apple iPod nano (7th Generation) : Back

If you truly wish to wear the nano as a watch, you need to buy a nano watchband accessory, however. It only has a small clip on the back for connecting it to anything. 

Apple iPod nano (7th Generation) : Top

Physically speaking, nothing has changed since the previous nano’s release. The 1.5 by 1.6 by 0.4-inch, 8-ounce frame remains, the 1.5-inch display offers the same 240 by 240 pixel resolution, and the same multiple color options—metallic hues in seven shades, including a Product Red device—are offered.

Apple iPod nano (7th Generation) : Bottom

The iPod nano ships with a USB-to-30 pin connection sync cable and a pair of white earbuds. 

Apple iPod nano (7th Generation) : Angle

The Nike Plus Fitness widget keeps track of your workouts with a pedometer and a workout history section. It requires no accessories, and has a few more options than last year’s nano fitness widget. The new widget is divided into three sections: Walk, Run, and History, and each have their own typical workout sub-menus, like Time, Distance, and Calories. 

Apple iPod nano (7th Generation) : Watch Face

The two most notable improvements are the enlarged icons, which make it much easier to see and select what you want on the small screen, and the 18 different clock faces you can choose if you wish to wear your nano as a watch. 

Apple iPod nano (7th Generation) : Watch Face

The watch graphics have a few Disney and Muppet character-themes thrown in, but mainly they resembles animated app icons—and some are quite visually pleasing.