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Physical Controls (6.00)
There are only four two physical controls on the Touch; the home button on the front, the power button on the top and the volume buttons on the side. The last two are new in this version of the Touch; the previous one only offered an on screen volume control.
Display
Screen resolution (7.84)
The iPod isn't a slouch when it comes to resolution. This big beauty is capable of displaying images at 480 x 320 resolution. A resolution of 480 x 320 is quite a few pixels: more than 150,000, in fact. This is quite a step beyond the average media player, which sports a 320 x 240 resolution. This means the iPod Touch's screen will be able to display a lot more information than smaller displays with lower resolutions.
Screen size (8.75)
The iPod Touch's screen size is about 3.5-inches long, which is really big compared to other media players. This allows for a good sized viewing window for videos. If you plan on getting a media player for video playback, the iPod Touch's display will certainly accommodate your needs.
Pixels per inch (5.15)
Pixels per inch, interestingly enough, refers to the number of pixels per every inch of screen. Low pixel density means washed out pictures and blurrier lines. The iPod Touch has a giant screen, meaning its resolution might be spread a little thin. This means, compared side-by-side with a device that has higher pixel density, the Touch won't appear as sharp, or vibrant. While the typical user probably won't notice the difference, if you care about good picture quality, you could do better than the iPod Touch.
Screen brightness (9.11)
The Touch was capable of an impressive 462 candelas per square meter. Since this number is likely meaningless, just rest assured that as long as you have your Touch you'll always have a half-decent flashlight. Also, you'll be able to see the screen even on a bright day.
Built-in Speakers (7.77)
The iPod Touch is the only iPod at this moment blessed with speakers. We test speakers by playing a test sound on it with the device turned all the way up. The Touch output 86.50 dB, which is a good volume for a small quiet place. Typical cell phones, at max volume, output 100 dB. We don't think the Touch will be able to double as a Boom Box, and there's no way you'd be able to hear it at a party, but the simple existence of the feature is more than most iPods have.
Cable Connectivity (5.00)
The Touch has two ports: a standard 1/8-inch headphone jack and a proprietary data/charging port. We don't award points for proprietary ports. If the cord breaks or gets lost, it's harder to replace since you'll have to go through Apple. Many devices utilize a standardized USB connection, such as mini USB.
Internal Storage (6.97)
Our review unit of the iPod Touch was a 16GB model, and it had 14.52GB of available space. Apparently the Touch OS takes up 1.48GB. The 16GB model is the standard high-to-middle range storage capacity, with 8GB being a notch below and 32GB being a notch above. Players that focus on movie playback can have hundreds of Gigabytes of storage space. If you plan on mainly using the device for music playback, with maybe a few movies or videos, 16GB should be fine, but it will likely get filled up quickly if you are taking videos with you.
External Storage (0.0)
The iPod Touch doesn't support any external memory.
Battery Life (8.97)
For our battery life score, we set up the device with an audio playlist, set it to loop, and let the player run itself out of battery. The Touch managed an impressive time of 29 hours, 54 minutes. This was actually more than the 24 hours of stated battery life; typically media players fall far short of the standard 24-hour manufacturer-stated life expectancy. Some things to keep in mind: we kept wifi off during this test and let the screen idle and turn off. We are also testing the battery life playing back videos; we'll update this review when the results are in.
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