It pains us to find fault with such a rich, generously appointed handheld media player. But while the third generation of the iPod touch has plenty of outstanding features, they’re all mostly legacy features, and there’s really not much to celebrate in the new-and-awesome category. If you’ve been in the market for a touch, this one will please you immensely. But if you already own a touch, you’d do better to start saving up for something truly revolutionary--like maybe Apple’s long-rumored tablet.
The touch is now available in three configurations starting at $199. All sport hard volume buttons, an internal speaker, and a 3.5-inch capacitive multitouch screen. And while the high-end models add Apple’s Voice Control (more on that in a bit), all the other functions remain the same across the three configs. There is no built-in camera, despite all the pre-release chatter about that prospect.
Just like the old touch, only (a little bit) better.
The base 8GB model is identical to the second-gen 8GB model, except with a $30 price cut. The two higher-end 32GB and 64GB models, on the other hand, boast faster processors that gives them performance that’s on par with that of the iPhone 3GS. The highest capacity touch is advertised to hold a whopping 14,000 songs, though Apple bases that number on 128Kbps AAC files, which haven’t been for sale in the iTunes Store since April of 2009. Apple’s new standard is the 256Kbps AAC file, so your real-world capacity could be somewhat different if you buy lots of iTunes tracks or use higher bit rates for encoding your own media. Also, battery life is down a tad, to about 30 hours of music playback.
Speed-wise, the new 32GB and 64GB touch models post impressive improvements over their second-gen predecessors. Launching Peggle on the previous model iPod touch took 13.8 seconds, but the new touch does it in 6.9 seconds. Similar speed gains were seen when running the SunSpider JavaScript test in Safari: The third-gen touch is twice as fast, completing the benchmark in 15.2 seconds, compared to 31.8 seconds for its predecessor.
Using Voice Control features, you can now control your 32GB or 64GB touch by speaking commands into the included inline mic/remote on the earbuds. Voice Control worked well in a variety of settings, and it’s a convenient new feature for the touch, which (obviously) lacks hard playback controls.
New higher capacities. 8GB model now under $200. High-end models support Voice Control and have improved performance.
No new blockbuster features. External speak is (still) semi-useless. No camera. Battery life is down.
benet
November 10, 2009 at 10:34pm
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