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Apple iPod Nano (third generation, 8GB, black)

Manufacturer: Apple Part number: MB261LL/A

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$114.99 - $239.99 at 8 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
4.0 stars Excellent
Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 76 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Product series; Accessories; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: The shape may have changed, but Apple's relentless attention to detail remains. The third generation of the iPod Nano provides loads of entertainment for a down-to-earth price.
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CNET editors' review

Apple iPod Nano (third generation, 8GB, black)

price range: $114.99 - $239.99

Reviewed by: Donald Bell
Edited by: Lindsey Turrentine
Reviewed on: 09/07/2007
Updated on:09/15/2008
Released on: 09/07/2007

The good: The third-generation iPod Nano offers crisp, bright video playback, an exceptionally thin all-metal body, above-average battery life, built-in games, and an advanced user interface.

The bad: We're not crazy about the wider body, the smaller scroll wheel, the lack of video output, and the average-sounding audio quality.

The bottom line: The shape may have changed, but Apple's relentless attention to detail remains. The third generation of the iPod Nano provides loads of entertainment for a down-to-earth price.

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iPod Nano

Editors' note: On September 9, 2008, Apple released their fourth-generation version of the iPod Nano and discontinued the older model described on this page. Our full review of the iPod Nano (fourth-generation) can be found here.

Now in its third generation, Apple's iPod Nano gets a substantial redesign to accommodate games and video playback. Despite its changes--and Apple made many--the iPod Nano is still one of the smallest, thinnest, and most exquisitely designed MP3 players on the market. It's also one of the most affordable, with a 4GB (silver) model offered for $149, and an 8GB (silver, black, red, green, or blue) model for $199. While the updated iPod Classic and the new iPod Touch are equally intriguing, the revamped Nano delivers the most bang for the buck.

Design
The redesign of the iPod Nano has drawn plenty of criticism. Its detractors call it chubby, squat, and awkward looking. We certainly had our reservations, but in the hand, the latest Nano makes the second-generation Nano look like a skyscraper.

The Nano measures a petite 2.75 inches long, 2 inches wide, and 0.25 inch thick--a significant shift from its once long and skinny shape, though it is essentially the same thickness. Matte, anodized aluminum graces the faceplate, as with the previous generation of Nanos and now the iPod Classic as well. The back and sides of the Nano, however, mimic the Video iPod's rounded, glossy, smudge-prone chrome enclosure. On the bottom edge of the Nano, you'll find the iPod's proprietary USB port, along with the headphone jack and the hold switch, which prevents you from accidentally triggering the player's buttons. Nano keeps Apple's ubiquitous Click Wheel design, although the Nano's new Click Wheel is smaller in diameter--it's only 1 inch--than the previous Nano's 1.25 inches. The much skinnier touch strip may frustrate users accustomed to the 1.5-inch wheel of the Video iPod and the iPod Classic.

The Nano's most dramatic design change is, of course, its larger, brighter screen. The 2-inch color screen packs a dense, crisp 320x240 video resolution that looks richer and brighter than that of any iPod to date. It's not often that we deem a screen smaller than 2.5 inches worthy of video playback, but with a tightly packed 204 pixels per inch, the Nano looks incredibly sharp. Unlike the Apple iPhone or the iPod Touch, however, the Nano's screen is covered with a scratch-prone plastic that will quickly show wear.

The Cover Flow mode on the iPod Nano is a little slow, but it's a beautiful touch.

The Nano's second-most impressive design improvement is its dramatically overhauled menu system. One of the most striking changes is a split-screen main menu that displays the menu on the right half of the screen and a picture related to the selection on the left. For example, highlight the Music selection on the main menu, and the right half of the screen displays a random, drifting closeup of cover artwork from your music library. This same effect accompanies menu items such as movies, podcasts, and photos. Some might write this split-screen effect off as pure novelty, but the end result is quite beautiful. The Cover Flow system, for browsing your music collection with an emphasis on album artwork, finally makes its Nano debut, although Cover Flow does lose some appeal when not on a touch screen device such as the iPhone. We also found a noticeable amount of lag when using Cover Flow. Users with large music collections to sort through will prefer browsing with the list mode or the search function. That said, Cover Flow makes for a scenic and engaging, if slow, way to browse your music.

Features
The third-generation Nano's piece de resistance is its support for video playback. Like the Video iPod (now iPod Classic), the iPod Nano supports H.264 or MPEG4 video in either MOV, MP4, or M4V file formats, with a maximum resolution of 640x480 at as much as 30 frames per second. You can buy videos through the iTunes online store or import them into iTunes and convert them for playback. (Many third-party software video converters also do a great job converting videos for the iPod.) Despite its size, the Nano supports video features we seldom find on portable video players twice its size. For instance, the Nano can recognize and skip between the DVD-like chapter markers embedded in QuickTime movie files. It also does a dependable job automatically resuming video playback at the point that you last left off. As a bonus, the new iPod Nano and iPod Classic now properly launch video podcasts ("vodcasts") as videos, instead of mistaking them for audio podcasts when launched from within the Music menu.

The iPod Nano's second major new feature is support for iTunes video games. While the selection of iPod video games has grown slowly, three tried-and-true standards come bundled with the Nano right out of the box: a congenial game of Solitaire, a trivia game called iQuiz, and the brick-pummeling Vortex (think Breakout on steroids). While the games are a handy way to pass some time, don't expect the Nano to compete with the Sony PSP anytime soon.

Looking past the obvious big-ticket improvements, the new Nano includes some small touches that are easy to miss. Apple's music shuffle function, for instance, has made a subtle evolution, now letting you easily engage and disengage the shuffle function on the fly with just a few presses on the Click Wheel's center button. By placing the shuffle setting options (Shuffle Song, Shuffle Album, or Shuffle Off) in a song's Now Playing window, Apple is effectively giving you the ability to randomize songs until you find an artist you like--a lazy listener's dream come true.

Apple hasn't changed its audio file format support. Copy-protected AAC files purchased through iTunes are supported, of course, as well as MP3, Apple lossless, AIFF, WAV, and Audible files. We're happy to see that, despite the iPhone's unique file-management requirements, the iPod Nano allows for the manual addition and deletion of music and video files without the hassles of playlist syncing. The Nano can also double as a USB flash drive in a pinch.

While the iPod Nano is a top-tier product, we long for some additional features, including the ability to use the headphone jack as a composite-video output, allowing photos and videos to be played to your television set without a third-party interface. While we can understand removing the little-used AV output feature to save on construction costs, we're even more surprised that Apple has rendered all current iPods incompatible with a number of third-party fifth-generation video accessories as well. If you're hoping to use a new Nano or Classic with an existing video dock, be sure to check that the product explicitly states it is compatible with third-generation iPod Nanos. Apple's own Universal iPod Dock ($50) and Component AV Cable ($50) are guaranteed to work, of course.

Plus, there's our standard list of long-neglected iPod features: FM radio; line-input recording; SD memory expansion; custom equalizer; and native support for WMA and subscription music services. We're not holding our breath.

Split-screen menus make browsing much more entertaining.

Performance
Despite the major interface overhaul, the iPod Nano's sound quality still sounds just middle-of-the-road. Although middling sound quality doesn't seem to affect iPod sales, you'd think Apple would eventually address this chink in the iPod's armor, if only out of pride. Users do get more than 20 equalization presets to choose from, ranging from subtle enhancement to dramatic bass boosting. Compared to products such as the Creative Zen V Plus, the Cowon iAudio 7, or the Toshiba Gigabeat U, however, the iPod's sound quality still leaves room for improvement. That said, after listening with our Ultrasone HFI-700 headphones as well as a set of Shure SE310 earphones, we can say with confidence that the Nano's fidelity will certainly satisfy most users.

Much to our surprise, the Nano's video performance stole the show. We were highly skeptical that we'd enjoy watching video on a 2-inch screen, yet the Nano's superfine 204ppi screen looked refreshingly sharp and bright. We still prefer the video experience of a larger player such as the affordable Archos 405, but it's not far-fetched to imagine watching a full-length movie on the Nano.

Battery life was a big bragging right for the second-generation Nano, and the third-generation carries on this tradition. Apple rated the battery life for their third-generation Nano at 24 hours for audio playback and 5 hours for video. Our official CNET labs testing squeezed out an impressive 29 hours of audio playback and 6.7 hours of video.

Is it worth upgrading?
Considering that the iPod Classic and the iPod Nano are now nearly identical aside from storage capacity and screen size, the Nano is less a product unto itself and much more like a "light" version of the iPod Classic.

Existing Nano owners drawn to the previous Nano's less-is-more appeal enjoyed not worrying about the tiny screen getting scratched if it took a tumble onto the floor and may be turned off by the need treat the device more carefully. We also found that the new Nano's wider form is less comfortable in the fist than the previous generation, making it awkward for jogging without an armband or a pocket.

We expect that this Nano will appeal more to existing iPod users looking to replace their decaying third-, fourth-, and fifth-generation hard-drive iPods with something smaller, cheaper, and leaner. Of course, the Nano would be more appealing all the way around if Apple would just make a 16GB version.

The iTunes factor
No iPod review would be complete without mentioning Apple's iTunes music software. For better or worse, the integration between an iPod and Apple's iTunes music software is nearly airtight. If this is going to be your first iPod, it's worthwhile to download iTunes ahead of time to see if it works well on your computer and is intuitive for you to use. You should also be aware that most of the music and movies available for purchase on the iTunes online store will play only in iTunes or on an authorized iPod and cannot be transferred to a non-Apple MP3 player.

Final thoughts
Apple's new iPod Nano seems to be drawing equal amounts of ire and admiration. Although we miss the slender form of the second-generation Nano, we feel the latest edition has more going for it than against it. At less than $200, the Nano offers one of the richest user experiences we've seen on an MP3 player.

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 76 reviews
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Showing opinion 1 to 10 out of 76

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7 stars

Podcast playback is frustrating!

by kamaly1 on September 10, 2007

Pros: The new nano is beautiful - I bought the red 8gb one - and I love the screen. Very clear, and feels good in the hand.

Cons: Playback of the podcasts in a group is continuous, from newest to oldest.

Summary: The podcast menu now shows how many episodes are available for each feed. When you select a podcast, the episodes are listed in reverse order, with the newest on top, ...

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Summary: The podcast menu now shows how many episodes are available for each feed. When you select a podcast, the episodes are listed in reverse order, with the newest on top, and there doesn't seem to be any way to sort them chronologically. If you play the top (newest) one, it automatically continues on to the next, but this is annoying because they are playing out of order (backwards in time). I also couldn't find any way to just play one episode and then stop.

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7 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
5 stars

iPod with an identity crisis

by JayMonster on October 26, 2007

Pros: Video and Video Pod Cast Support, bright screen

Cons: awkward size, tries to be all things and does none well

Summary: I was amazed when I saw the new iPod Nano. I thought how could Apple go so wrong? Then the reviews came, touting it as the best player ever and ...

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Summary: I was amazed when I saw the new iPod Nano. I thought how could Apple go so wrong? Then the reviews came, touting it as the best player ever and I figured I needed to rethink it. So I did, and returned to my first impression.

The new Nano takes away all of the coolness and sleekness of the Nano 2nd Gen design, and replaces it with a "do it all" (well, except for recording and FM which for some reason Apple seems to refuse to put, despite it being standard on everything else).

With a reduced screen size over the "Classic" iPod, and of course less storage capacity, the Nano is really ill-suited for video use. The split screen "feature" removes any advantage that might have been possible with changing the menus to make use of the larger screen and instead relegates it to half screen and the old look (with the same quirks remaining).

Cover Flow is a novelty that I don't get why the reviewers gush over. Sure it is a cute toy and helps mask slow menus by entertaining you with animation. And on a desktop (in iTunes) it is not detrimental, but on a battery powered DAP it is either a waste of precious time and power, or completely ignored if you are the set it and forget it type (ie those that use it at the gym or for running).

Also the new wider size makes it much less attractive than the 2nd gen for those who exercise and like to have it strapped to their arms, but not wide enough for a screen that it worthwhile for those that want video.

Sound is sound and virtually all these devices sound relatively similar, so the only way to really evaluate sound is through a decent set up ear buds (which you will need to own, or purchase separately, as the trademark white one that come with the player is junk).

So is it a too small video iPod or a too wide exercises music device? It tries to be both, but ends up not being exactly right for either.

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4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

Stunning albeit a bit wide.

by jimwarrick on September 10, 2007

Pros: Beautiful Screen, Ultra-thin, Great Sound, Stunning Video Playback

Cons: This thing looks amazing but it is a bit too wide, makes it very boxy.

Summary: We just purchased the 8gig in green this weekend. I'd like to start by saying this thing looks amazing, really the color is beautiful, it is very thin, the ...

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Summary: We just purchased the 8gig in green this weekend. I'd like to start by saying this thing looks amazing, really the color is beautiful, it is very thin, the polished stainless back is gorgeous, it is nice rounded corners, well you get the picture!

The first impression when you look at it is it is very boxy, which unfortunately takes away from its ultra-thin form factor. In many ways it is smaller than the previous Nano but because of its shape it looks much bigger.

When you take it out of the box the first thing we noticed was it is surprisingly heavy and solid feeling. This is probably due to the stainless steel back and all metal face. It feels much more solid though, which is a good thing.

Playing videos on this Nano is amazing. The picture is incredibly sharp and bright. Much sharper and brighter than the video iPod.

CNET said the sound quality was not as good. I'm not sure why because I thought it was a significant improvement. Maybe it is just me.

All in all, terrific product. As I said before a bit too boxy but with the larger screen this may have been unavoidable.

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4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

EXCELLENT iPOD!

by D.PressDawson on September 8, 2007

Pros: Large Screen, Beautiful Screen, New Interface, New Small From Factor

Cons: New Small Form Factor, Cover Flow, Click Wheel

Summary: The iPod Nano third generation is a great product, but that's not to say it does not have "nano" sized issues. Before I write this know that I am ...

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Summary: The iPod Nano third generation is a great product, but that's not to say it does not have "nano" sized issues. Before I write this know that I am very smitten with the new iPod Nano and it is a great product for any one who wants a small mp3 player. My three cons are from the small form factor because it is nice that it is small and thin, but a con because its width. The thing is just a tad too wide. If it was just the width of the screen it would be perfect but since its not, the width gets chalked up as a con. The Cover Flow is another issue I have. Since it is so small the processing is not that good and when you want to breeze through your album art, it lags quite a bit. Another beef I have with the cover flow is that when I try to port my own album arts to the iPod some of them show up as just black squares where the art would normally be.(If you know how to fix this could you please reply with an answer.) The Click Wheel is another minor issue because it is much thinner than the previous iPods and even if you have small fingers they still do not completely fill the click wheel space. With these small issues aside I find that the new iPod Nano is a big improvement over the last who generations and a must buy for any MP3 enthusiast. A+

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6 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
5 stars

Disappointing new line of iPod nanos

by Garfield111 on September 9, 2007

Pros: Small and light though fat, easy to use like all iPods

Cons: Awkard fat shape, only 8G, no significant new features apart from video

Summary: I love my iPods and was so looking forward to a new release of iPod nano hoping for at least 10G preferrably 16G of storage plus longer battery life. But ...

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Summary: I love my iPods and was so looking forward to a new release of iPod nano hoping for at least 10G preferrably 16G of storage plus longer battery life. But no, Apple bought out video and coverflow. If I want video I would go for the larger iPod Classic and coverflow I find is a novelty I can take or leave. For this the nano has given up its previous attractive svelte form.
Sorry for this gripe - its to vent my disappointment.

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8 out of 16 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 stars

Pretty underwhelming

by b8375629 on September 27, 2007

Pros: none, really...

Cons: everything...

Summary: I already own a 2nd gen nano and when I went to the Apple store to check the new one out, I was less than impressed with it's features. ...

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Summary: I already own a 2nd gen nano and when I went to the Apple store to check the new one out, I was less than impressed with it's features.

For one thing, it's too wide and didn't feel right in my hand where I could scroll using my thumb as easily as I could with the 2nd gen.

Also what's the point of having video on something this small? Buy a 30GB iPod if you want that. All the video will do is eat into battery life and force you to put it on the charging stand more often. If Apple really wanted to do a serious upgrade, they could have improved battery life from the previous nano instead of adding tiny split screen eye candy.

And the floating album cover art is useless to me. It takes up not only precious drive space but more battery power as well.

Sound is about the same as the previous nano so there's no improvement there, either.

Overall, I was unimpressed.

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3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 stars

New features aren't enough for 2G replacement

by alpainter on September 12, 2007

Pros: new bells and whistles are cool, but not enough to replace the sleeker 2G

Cons: shape, revamped but same capacity, scroll wheel size, edges are sharper and don't feel as smooth as 2G, colors, smaller fonts, easily scratched back cover (I know a case cures this, but......)

Summary: I love my 2G red 8GB player, and will not be replacing it. I went to an Apple store over the weekend and played with one for about an hour ...

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Summary: I love my 2G red 8GB player, and will not be replacing it. I went to an Apple store over the weekend and played with one for about an hour to see if I would get sucked in by the hype. My verdict was no.

The 2G player I have beats this one in every aspect:
- I don't need video (I have the 30GB player)
- Who cares about cover flow?
- Why release the same size capacity? I would have paid a lot more for a 10-16GB player with the same design.
- The shape reminds me of a stale graham cracker. The 2G shape feels much sleeker, and tactiley much more pleasing.
- Scroll wheel size is not good for someone with bigger fingers. I don't have Seinfeld "man hands" sized meat hooks, but I still didn't like the way it felt.

A ton of people will buy these because Apple gets to determine what is cool in the digital music world, and Steve Jobs is telling the masses this is the new "it" player to have. I didn't feel this was a must have player, and am very dissapointed. I though for sure the images on the web prior to the release had to be a joke.

It was cool, but definitely not cool enough in my opinion to convert to the next generation player (and I can get one for about $50). I just hope the people who buy them don't get hosed if a higher capacity player comes out in the next few months.

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6 out of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Good but could be much better

by pokrdad on September 9, 2007

Pros: Compact, thin and nice video resolution

Cons: Needs more memory; Can't play the games I downloaded for my iPod Video

Summary: Our family already owns a video iPod. I decided to get the new nano because I was sick of sharing the iPod video. Overall, I like it but I think ...

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Summary: Our family already owns a video iPod. I decided to get the new nano because I was sick of sharing the iPod video. Overall, I like it but I think it could be much better. I decided to get the 8 MB black model. The small profile was actually very surprising, especially finding out how thin it was. However, after attempting to sync it with our existing 30 GB iPOD video profile, I soon realized how small 8 MB really was. I had to customize my sync'ing parameters to make sure I did not exceed the memory limitations. This wasn't too unaccomodating considering I realized I did not need to download evey song, video, and photo from my computer (the fact I can do this on my iPod video is a testimony to how good the "classic" is). Probably the biggest disappointment is the fact I could not download the games from my video iPod to the new video enabled 3G iPod nano. Overall I am happy with the nano. However, if you have a lot of songs, video, and/or photos, I would recommend the classic over the nano.
Updated
Okay, there are a couple of more negatives on this next gen iPod nano. One of my biggest complaint is the location of the headphone jack. It is on the bottom next to the sync port. This forces you to unplug your headphones in order to unplug your sync cable. It may not be a big deal to most, but being a lazy guy, I see no reason why they couldn't have put the headphone jack on the top. Another big complaint is the lack of backward compatibility with the video iPod. We purchased a bunch of games for the video iPod but they do not work on this new nano. Instead, I have to shell out more money. I would definitely recommend an iPod Classic. Yeah, its bigger but you get more for the money.

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2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
4 stars

Once again....a exercise in average

by energetik9 on September 10, 2008

Pros: Sexy look, small, larger screen

Cons: Poor battery performance, no change in storage

Summary: The nano has always been my Apple of choice as I prefer a small capable player, not something like the touch that is larger than my cell phone and not ...

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Summary: The nano has always been my Apple of choice as I prefer a small capable player, not something like the touch that is larger than my cell phone and not somthing like the usless shuffle. It's coming to the point that this is a product losing it's identity. Mostly I just can't get over the fact that like all Apple's, the battery is sub-par and features never seem to make it into this product generation after generation.

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
1 stars

Nano 8GB iPod third generation.

by odiebb on February 4, 2008

Pros: attractive outer casing that is compact.

Cons: Not user friendly at all. can't use own library Won't inteface with my non mac unless I use I store.

Summary: I know Mac is known for being for the computer savy only but this is just a music carrying device. It should be user friendly and is not. The iPod ...

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Summary: I know Mac is known for being for the computer savy only but this is just a music carrying device. It should be user friendly and is not. The iPod site says click on to music to use your own library. What ever happened to step my step directions? What happened to manuals coming with the product. Too much paper ojay a quick guide to use.
I really dislike this product and will encourage anyone who will listen not to purchase it!!!!!!!

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1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

Apple iPod Nano (third generation, 8GB, black)

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