The iPod nano 7th Gen, Today
If you journey into the hobby (or sickness) of collecting old iPods, you’re likely to start with one of the older, more iconic models. In the case of the larger iPods, gens 3 or 4 spring to mind. Yes, gen 5.5 is considered the ‘best’ iPod you can get your hands on, but we’ll tackle that in a future post. With the smaller iPods, the mini may be the most iconic. In modern-day, its ease of modification makes it a very attractive choice. The shuffle line? We’ll just leave those on the side for now…
But I’d wager that many of you had one flavor of nano or another at some point. There were 7 generations, most with radically different designs than the previous generation. The iPod classic was the flagship line, thus only receiving incremental (but fantastic) tweaks generation after generation. On the other hand, Apple let loose on the nano line, with various shapes, sizes, and configurations. Hell, one even had a built-in camera.
But the hallmark feature of the nano was the solid-state flash storage. Traditional iPods had mechanical drives which were subject to failure. On the other hand, the nano’s onboard memory was essentially fool-proof. However, there was a very real tradeoff in the fact that flash memory only provided small storage sizes, minuscule compared to the larger iPods. Most of the nanos only came with 4 or 8 gigs of storage available. While this was more acceptable in the past, modern phone storage sizes make these devices seem entirely unusable today. And while vintage iPods and iPod minis can be relatively easily modded to use flash media of varying sizes, the nanos cannot. If you’re buying a nano nowadays, what you see is what you get.
The most sought-after nano is easily the 7th gen, the last nano Apple produced. The music player resembles an iPhone moreso than a music device; sporting a touchscreen, iOS-like interface, and even that comforting home button. Its 16 gigabytes, the largest of the nano line, means you should be able to fit a decent portion of your music library (if you still have one, of course). An in-built radio tuner can provide some entertainment if you’re not satisfied with what you manually loaded onto the device before you left home. Once-more, it is the only iPod to feature a lightning port! How’s that for future-proofing (/s)!
Of all the iPod devices I currently own, the iPod nano 7th gen has been my go-to more often than the rest. The larger storage size means my very favorite albums are always with me. The lightning port means it’s much more convenient to charge without needing to dig the 30-pin out of the cable box. Luckily for me, the battery has held up well, and I can easily get through a few days of casual listening on a single charge. Still, the device is impressively sleek, even by today’s standards. In fact, it’s the thinnest iPod of them all, including the shuffle line.
But perhaps the feature that most iPod collectors seek this model out for is the built-in Bluetooth support. Discounting later iPod touch models, the 7th gen nano is the only iPod device to support Bluetooth. This means you can use your modern headphones and earbuds (including AirPods) with this now 10-year-old plus device. However, there is a bit of a caveat; it does seem to have trouble with volume output with some headphones. Reports are mixed, but from what I’ve read and experienced, it seems like you’ll have better luck if your headphones have their own volume control built-in. Otherwise, you may suffer from rather low audio output.
The headphone port/DAC appears well-built. I’m no audiophile or electrical engineer, so take this bit with a grain of salt. But I do know that I get no hiss when listening on my rather sensitive IEMs. On most other iPods I own, I can audibly hear some hiss during more quiet music moments.
The only con with the iPod nano 7th gen? I have one, but it’s actually quite funny/silly, based on your interpretation; it doesn’t have a scroll wheel. Because it is a touch screen, it’s missing this iPod hallmark. Scrolling through a list of songs while using that circular thumb motion is one of the most gratifying reasons you’d want to use an iPod in the first place. The nano 7th gen feels less like an iPod and more like a tiny iPhone. Still, in this case, the pros outweigh this only gripe (if you can call it that).
But never overlook the power of nostalgia; it’s why some of us use iPods today in the first place. There are other benefits besides simply romanticizing about simpler times. I do think the nano sounds better than my phone, but I won’t try to prove that to you. I greatly appreciate the fact that notifications don’t interrupt my music-listening experience. And the simplified interface is actually pleasant to use, a point that shouldn’t be overlooked.
If you want the sleekest, most featured, least-hassle way of dipping your toe into the iPod world of yesteryear, the 7th gen nano is probably your best bet. Unfortunately, it is one of the most expensive iPod models on the secondary markets. And swelling, difficult to replace batteries means most devices are very real ticking time bombs. Still, it’s all kind of worth it, for nostalgia’s sake.
