Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2005/04/12/review_apple_ipod_mini_6gb/

Apple iPod Mini 6GB

Best iPod yet? Best MP3 player yet?

By Trusted Reviews

Posted in Personal Tech, 12th April 2005 09:53 GMT

Review In a hundred years' time, if there one object was to be chosen to represent the Western world of the early 21st Century, the iPod would be a strong contender. Once merely a music player it's become the 'must have' fashion accessory of the moment. And even with its ubiquity, there's no backlash yet in sight, writes Benny Har-Even.

Introducing the Mini was certainly a very smart move on Apple's part, and the player could be seen as the most important of the entire current iPod line-up. By moving from a 1.8in HDD to a 1in drive, Apple was able to shrink the already svelte iPod to an irresistibly cute, highly pocketable package. It opened up the iPod to a whole range of new listeners, such as girls and accountants, to whom having a tiny, cool looking MP3 player was far more important than being able to carry round their entire music collection.

Apple iPod Mini 6GB

The original Mini saw introduced the click wheel which integrated the four navigation buttons, later adopted by the fourth-generation iPod and the iPod Photo. While the original sported a 4GB hard disk, the Mini's competitors, such as Creative's Zen Micro and the iRiver H10, featured 5GB disks. Now Apple has hit back by leapfrogging them with a 6GB drive, only for Creative to respond again with a 6GB Zen Micro.

However, big news is how effectively Apple has dealt with the Mini's biggest failing: the feeble battery life. Thanks to a new, more efficient chipset from PortalPlayer, the Mini now boasts a very impressive claimed battery-life of 18 hours - a lot better than the eight hours of the original. This figure is based upon playback of 128Kbps AAC files, which is a lot more realistic than the 48Kbps figure used by Sony. Higher bit-rates will lower battery life due to increased CPU usage, but the figure is still very impressive.

The other change is that Apple retired the 'bling' Gold-coloured Mini, while changing the shade of the remaining colours. Our review sample is a rather lovely blue colour but you can also be silver, green and pink.

But it's not just about looks - the iPod Mini sounds fantastic. After comparing it with my third-generation iPod, tracks definitely sounded clearer on the iPod Mini, as if it were capable of better frequency response. By comparison the 3G iPod sounded positively muffled. A sign of PortalPlayer's enhanced audio chip, perhaps.

The Mini's packaging is as lovely as ever. The box lid slides off to reveal the mini wrapped in plastic. The box underneath is split in two halves - one for the install discs and one for the headphones, USB cable and a belt holster. As with all the new iPods there's no Firewire cable, no dock, no remote - but they are available as optional extras. There's no AC adaptor either, so you can only charge when connected to the PC.

There are other missing features that might give pause for thought, such as a radio, recording function and microphone. But if it's just a player you want these absences won't be noticed. For me the only reason I wouldn't want one is that I do want to carry my entire music collection around with me. Or at least more of it than I could fit on a 6GB drive.

The good news is that Apple is still offering a 4GB version, with all the benefits of extended battery life, at an affordable £139/$199. So if your main aim in owning a Mini is to look trendy, the cheaper 4GB version could be the way to go.

One day of course, a 20GB iPod will be this size, but for now six gigs is your limit. At this capacity it no longer loses out to the Zen Micro and H10, but while Creative and iRiver have both worked hard on improving the look and usability of their players, the Mini is still miles ahead. With its rounded sides and neat click-wheel interface, it feels right in you hand and is easy to control and use too.

Verdict

With the new iPod Mini, Apple has increased its capacity by a 50 per cent, battery-life by one-and-a-quarter times and improved sound quality. It's a pretty impressive triple whammy and as long as its capacity is large enough for you, the iPod Mini would be our recommended digital audio player.

Review by
TrustedReviews.com

Apple iPod Mini
 
Rating 90%
 
Price £169 inc. VAT/$249 (6GB), £139 inc. VAT/$199 (4B)
 
More info The Apple iPod Mini site

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