Apple iPod 2nd Gen Nano Review

The iPod nano 2nd generation have been replaced. The closest product currently available are the brilliant 3rd generation iPod nano.

3rd Generation iPod Nanos available are:

The below commentary is on the older iPod nano 2nd gen.

When Apple decided to withdraw the iPod mini and replace it with the original iPod Nano, they gave us here at dukebox.com a real headache (aw .... diddums). Yes. Diddums indeed. For more than a year we had customers asking us if we could still get them the older iPod mini versions. For every customer that wanted an iPod Nano another one wanted the older ipod mini instead.

The reason was simple and can be summarised thus: Style.

If people were after more features in their mp3 player, they could always order a diferent brand of player. The main reaon why people by iPods, is style.

While our dire prediction that the iPod nanos could potentially end up bending under heat stress just like a bi-metallic strip turned out to be sensationalist and utterly wrong (we left the full article intact just so that we can show our commitment to sticking by what we say, and if we're wrong we'll admit it) the take-up rate among consumers was much slower than expected. Customers that wanted the Mini were expected to migrate to the 1st gen Nano without a 2nd thought. It didn't quite happen like that.

Apple had inadvertently given themselves a problem because the older Mini iPods were more stylish than the newer iPod Nanos. In the style war, Apple was losing. To itself, naturally.

Enough background "information". What are the new iPod Nanos like?

They're like a pretty love-child of an iPod mini crossed with a Nano, keeping all the best features of both.

It's everything the last version of the Nano should have been.

Everyone who wanted a Nano will want one. Everyone who wanted an iPod Mini will want one. That set of people is about 90% of the entire human race. We can fairly confidently predict product shortages (or at least product shortages 'scares') around Christmas 2006.

Starting with the basics - as with most iPod updates, the new nano has become smaller (thinner) and lighter than its predecessor.

The screen has been improved too, to give clearer, brighter pictures and images

The scratch-catchy nature of the last nano's face has been replaced. The new nano has the same shiny metal alluring aluminium casing that the old iPod mini had - it's brilliant, and it looks class.

The iPod mini's HD has been replaced by the RAM only storage in the nano (same as the old nano), so you can enjoy high impact sports with your all-rush-mix-playlist buzzing in your brain, without fearing that the music will 'skip'.

The 2nd gen nano will play AAC, AAC Lossless, MP3, AIFF, and WAV. Of those the one that most people use most of the time is MP3, still.

Absent friends

No video - no surprise; you wouldn't really want video in a device this small. No FM tuner - boo! Not great search function - (as is the apple standard - Boo!) Absolutely no recording features built-in. These are all standard absentees on Apple products. Video only made it on to the nano's bigger brother in 2005, 4 years after some other brands.

New standards

Nice clock features (world clock, stop watch, etc.) and security features (screen lock PIN) maintained in this latest nano range.

Battery News

The battery is, of course, locked-in (boo!! free the battery!), but with the new model you can expect about 20 hours of music playback with out needing a recharge. That's enough to get you on a flight to the far side of the planet (on a plane, not the nano) and still be listening to your music if you're too scared to sleep.

Our Verdict

We really wanted to see a hybrid cross between the older iPod mini and the last generation of iPod nanos. In fact, that's what disappointed us the most about the last generation nano. This machine ticks all the boxes. It is fabulous. Its the best of both worlds. It still lacks some features that you get in other brands, and the 8GB version is about the same price as a video iPod (at Q3 2006), but the smaller 2GB and 4GB capacities offer both value for money and completely killer design. The 2G iPod nano is the mid range MP3 player of the year. Just look at it. Buy One.

The models available are:

Silver 4GB iPod nano Black 8GB iPod nano