Fifth-generation iPod touch is faster, finer than predecessors

12.10.2012

I also found picture taking more comfortable on this taller iPod when snapping shots in landscape orientation. With the older iPod, my hands felt too close together and, invariably, a finger would stray in front of the lens when holding the iPod with the Volume buttons facing up. I didn't have that problem with the new iPod. My hands spread out a bit more and either because of the weight, the iPod's dimensions, or a combination of the two, it felt easier to hold the camera and snap the shutter with the Volume Up button.

Some iPhone 5 users may dispute the Apple commercial that claims the average thumb can perfectly traverse the iPhone's display from top to bottom. I fall into the group that finds comfortably accessing the entire display requires you to edge the device out on your fingers a bit more than previously and angle the device in. It's not uncomfortable to do this, but one-hand operation does change because of the taller display.

This fifth-generation iPod touch uses the dual-core A5 processor found in last year's iPhone. The 4G iPod touch has the older and slower A4 processor. While you will feel no discernible difference between the new iPod's performance and an iPhone 4S's, there's a dramatic difference between this iPod and the last one in regard to snappiness. For instance, starting each iPod from a complete shutdown, the new iPod did so in 21.1 seconds. The 4G model took 32.5 seconds to perform the same task. Apps open more quickly on the new iPod than they do with the older model--GarageBand, for example, loaded noticeably faster on the 5G iPod touch. Graphics performance in games is also improved. And this isn't simply a matter of stop watches and charts. This is a difference you can feel. Where the old iPod would hiccup, the new one marches on.

The new iPod's display is also noticeably brighter at its highest setting. Place it side by side with the 4G iPod touch, crank up the brightness on each, and the 4G iPod looks bluer and gloomier in comparison. Unlike with the previous iPod touch, the new one has no auto-brightness switch. I don't find this to be a loss, as I found the old iPod too dim when auto-brightness was engaged.