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More…With its latest iteration of the iPod Touch, Apple has added two highly coveted features--external volume controls and a speaker--and lowered prices, too. However, the Touch's physical changes are incremental, and they don't bring the device up to the level of its sibling, the iPhone 3G.
Apple iPod Touch 32GB
- Spec Navigator
- Battery
- Display
- Disply
- Features
- General
- Included Hardware
- Included Software
- Interface Connections
- Software
- Storage Included
- Storage Media
- Supported Audio Formats
- Supported Image Formats
- Supported Video Formats
Features
| Equalizer Settings | 22 |
| FM Recording | No |
| Plays For Sure | No |
| Replaceable Battery | 0 |
| Video Output | No |
| Video Support | Yes |
| Voice Recording | No |
Interface Connections
| Firewire | No |
| Headphone output | Yes |
| Line Out | No |
| Microphone input | No |
| USB | No |
| USB Host Adapter | Yes |
Storage Media
| Compact Flash | No |
| Memory Stick | No |
| Memory Stick Micro | No |
| micro SD | No |
| mini SD | No |
| SD card | No |
| Smart Media | No |
| xD Picture Card | No |
- Lab Tested
- How We Test MP3 Players »
Pros
Includes a Web browser and Wi-Fi
Beautiful design, easy to operate
Cons
Expensive
Bottom Line
The iPod Touch remains the class of the field, with beautiful design, useful apps, a touch screen, and built-in Wi-Fi.
iPod Touch (Second Generation)
iPod Touch 32GB Review, by Melissa J. Perenson, PC World September 11, 2008
To be sure, the lower prices make the Touch a more attractive purchase than before, coming in at $229 for 8GB (previously $299), $299 for 16GB, and $399 for 32GB (down from $499). The prices are more in line with what Apple and AT&T charge for the iPhone 3G: $199 for 8GB, and $299 for 16GB. (You don't have to pay a monthly fee to use the Touch, though.) While the amount is still more than what you might pay for competing media players, you get more with the Touch, too.
Let's begin with what stays the same. This version of the Touch continues to share many characteristics with the first-generation Touch and with the iPhone 3G. All have a bright, gorgeous, 3.5-inch, wide-screen multitouch display with 480-by-320-pixel resolution at 163 pixels per inch. All have 802.11b/g wireless support. And all sport the same operating system software that allows for easy navigation, a host of useful apps (Safari Web browser, calendar, e-mail, contacts, Google Maps, YouTube, weather, clock with multiple alarms and stopwatch, ordinary and scientific calculators, and notepad), and the ability to expand your device through Apple's App Store.
Playing music remains a breeze. Press the home button below the display to activate the screen, and then select Music from the dedicated buttons along the bottom of the screen. In vertical view, the music's cover art dominates the display; orient the player horizontally, and it switches to Cover Flow view, which lets you page through the cover art as if you were viewing a flip book.
In addition to easily setting playlists on the fly, you can now use the new Genius autoplaylist creation feature directly from the Touch. First you must enable this feature on iTunes 8; but once enabled, it makes creating a playlist from songs in your music library a snap. Genius won't work for every song--for example, if the song is not on iTunes' radar, or it lacks complete ID3 tags--but the feature is certainly a convenient, almost category-focused addition to the iPod Touch's repertoire.
Audio sounds adequate through the included earbuds, but you may want to consider upgrading, either to Apple's forthcoming, step-up $80 earphones or to a high-quality pair from a third-party vendor. The earphone jack remains at the bottom of the Touch, just as on the first-gen model; that's in contrast, oddly enough, to the iPhone 3G, which places the jack at the upper left of the unit.
You have good reason to upgrade your headphones: According to our tests, the second-generation iPod Touch improves its audio output dramatically, jumping up a notch to receive a rating of Superior on the PC World Test Center's suite of audio tests. The Touch, together with its new Nano sibling, are our new leaders in our audio output results.
According to Apple, the new Touch's battery life is significantly better for music playback: 36 hours, as compared with 22 hours for the first-generation model. Video playback is only a bit improved over the previous model, rated for 6 hours versus 5.
The Touch's physical design is slightly altered. The original model measured 4.3 inches tall by 2.4 inches wide and 0.33 inches deep; the new edition retains the height and width but shrinks the depth by a barely perceptible 0.03 of an inch (or half a millimeter). The new Touch is a smidgen lighter than the old, coming in at 4.05 ounces versus the first gen's weight of 4.2 ounces.
Leading the new hardware features for the Touch are the external volume controls. The rocker-like buttons are positioned along the upper-left side of the Touch, just as they are on the iPhone 3G. On this device, however, the buttons are made of a sharp, inexpensive-feeling black plastic. Though they're a welcome addition, I wish they better matched the overall feel of the metallic Touch. (Another button gripe: The home button feels chintzy when pressed, as it makes a clicking noise. The iPhone 3G's button operates far more smoothly, with no noise.)
The second-generation Touch also adds a speaker to the base of the unit, much like the iPhone 3G. But, again, the Touch is subpar in comparison: The sound is tinny and thin next to the audio emanating from the iPhone 3G; whether that is due to the iPhone 3G's differing construction (the iPhone has a plastic back, and is slightly deeper than the Touch) or owing to the speaker itself is unknown.
The third new hardware feature sees the integration of the Nike + iPod software and receiver (for capturing your movement data) into the Touch itself. Simply add the extra-cost Nike + iPod Sensor for your shoe, and the Touch becomes an appealing workout companion.
Still missing from the Touch are an integrated camera and GPS--both features found on the iPhone 3G. Also, it still lacks a voice recorder (a feature added back to the new iPod Nano) and--like all iPods--an FM tuner, although you can download apps (some at extra cost) to fill the voice-recording void and to gain Internet radio support (when you're connected over Wi-Fi).
Arguably, beyond the price drop, the big news about the Touch has nothing to do with the hardware and everything to do with the continuing evolution of the App Store, which offers plenty of games (700 and counting) among its arsenal. With the addition of games, the Touch widens its position as an entertainment platform.
The Touch remains a tremendous and innovative device, with enticing features, unparalleled ease of use, and plenty of expandability through the App Store. As attractive as it is, though, I still believe it has room to improve. New features coupled with lower prices increase the second-generation model's appeal, but this version of the Touch doesn't supply enough incentive for existing owners to upgrade.
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PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
-
93
-
71
-
97
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar MP3 Players
93
89
85
94
Performance
| Crosstalk, Average (dB) | -63 |
| Frequency Response Deviation, Average (dB) | 0.1 |
| Maximum Usable Output Level, Average (dBV) | -3 |
| Signal-to-Noise Ratio, Average (dB) | 81 |
| Total Harmonic Distortion and Noise, Average (%) | 0.01 |
User Reviews
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: mmlsv
Strengths: 32 gb of goodess. Wifi, internet browsing, and now the Apps store!
Weaknesses: Have to pay for upgrade to 2.0 software
Overall: love the player, love the wifi and the browser is the best i have seen on any mobile device. One missing ingredient is adobe flash. come on apple get with it. Looking forward to really pushing this device with apple about to launch itouch 2.0 and the apps store
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Reviewed by: nats1956
Strengths: size ad storage-screen size wi-fi
Weaknesses: no flash storage adapter-expensive toy
Overall: pretty satified with the unit especially the wifi! Great design with a sleek thin body!!! + Beautiful 320x480 pixel wide-screen provides pleasing video viewing + Turn to the side to view video using the full wide screen width + Orientation detection changes view to landscape mode automatically when turning iPod! + Enough capacity to finally be worth replacing some of your disk-based players in earnest + Brighter screen with great contrast and crisp sharp images + Wireless access via 802.11 b/g compliant antenna (hopefully `n' will come soon) + Wireless searching and video on mode can be disabled to extend battery life + Great interface for Safari web browsing with easy Wifi hotspot setup + Headphone jack compatible with standard phones, unlike iPhone + New apps work great and give you stocks, maps, email, notes and weather + Supports both NTSC and PAL video out + Very nice size of 32GB stores good amount of video
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Reviewed by: Falcon165O
Strengths: 32gb of memory.Easy use on Mac/Windows
Weaknesses: Slow at times
Overall: I personally love the products from mac. I have 5 total iPod's. 3 touches, one of each size. I have a 16gb which I gave my girlfriend as our one year anniversary gift, a 8gb which I gave to a friend and my personal 32gb iTouch. It's personally one of the greatest products I've ever had, and it replaced my HP iPaq. I also have 2 of the older 80gb iPods which I use for DJing
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Reviewed by: jimmypowder
Strengths: Nice Interface.
Weaknesses: Everthing else.
Overall: Picked up one of these babies and coulnt be more disappointed.I really should stay away from 1st generation devices.After initial charging,I connected to to my mac and itunes would not recognize the device(i hear this is a common problem)I went through all the hoops(resetting ipod,reinstalling itunes,changing usb ports,etc.) and after the 3rd reset try it found the device and said please update the software.Well big mistake ! it tries and said it coulnt update but know the ipod touch wont turn on.Its going back and ill wait for further generations.Other observations:Wifi strength is very weak and unstable at long range.My Nokia N800 has much better range.Would not recommend for those with larger houses. Anything past 50 ft is asking too much for this device.I founf the web surfing to be rather slow at 50 feet ,much slower than my nokia n800 or my dell pda.
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Reviewed by: sononkyo
Strengths: Coverflow intuitiveness; design; functionality; super computer in a slab of metal; omits the crappy phone part
Weaknesses: Bluetooth and a camera - non-phone users still want to take pictures and exchange files; only 32gb tops...for now
Overall: I am a music junkie. I hate scroll wheels because my music collection is well taken care of (LAME MP3 3.97 VBR 4), imbedded album art -- I am browsing through pictures rather than text files. I am busy.Those statements alone define why this is the first iPod that I haven't got from the refurb store. The Nano was a iPod I could live with because of the technology - namely nike tech. When the Touch got the coverflow interface, I immediately latched on to that same kind of software ingenuity that so pervades the Apple culture. It was a love letter to people who are like me - who know their collections. I love album art and the apple touch acknowledges me. The design is very industrial and it will age well. The touchscreen haptics trumps the scroll wheel because I like to interact with my music. It's already affecting me through hearing and adding just the slight sensation of touch might seem minor in theory but so much more immersive in practice. With the SDK out soon, I know I will get marvelous programs that have been fetted by an apple review. Anything I want in addition to the core components will be there- an open platform for everyone. Finally, I love my phones to be separate. When phone tech gets to the level of Asia, then I will get a iPhone. Everything right now is too slow - EDGE included.Where is the bluetooth and camera? Bluetooth is needed so i can stream my music wirelessly and camera is such a great opportunity to tie in the iLife features. Just give me a little flash and some megapixels. Hopefully when apple release the nano iPhone, it can add these features to the touch. The size might also be a point of contention for some. It's big enough to bring my favorites but not everything but I'm one of the few that likes limit. Again this is where the practicality of technology improvements will soon solve.This is the first iPod that made me smile again. I don't care much about the video function but I love the speed of the flash disk and coverflow. That alone made this a day one purchase and a sign that Apple is getting it and not being complacent with success.
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