iPod I'm happy with my 7th gen. Should I even consider the iPod touch?

[lepidotós]

I love my iPod. It was a birthday present from my older sister back when I turned 15, and it's been valiantly serving me ever since. It's been rockboxed for basically as long, and I've been loving it. I'm not in any way considering letting go of that iPod. Sounds great, used to get stinking long battery life (though it has started to slip down to about 5 hours), and plays flac, aac, ogg, all that good stuff.
I've also been considering getting an iPod touch recently. Besides not knowing if there will even be an 8th gen, let alone how different it will be (using a more modern, larger design would probably kill the appeal for me), I've been considering dipping my toes back into the iOS ecosystem ever since my jumping off point of iOS 7.1.2 on an iPhone 4S because I've been increasingly annoyed with Android recently.
Is there any killer advantage the touch has (better DAC, Opus support, longer lasting battery)? I don't use streaming services, even for free, that aren't YouTube, so it's not to be found there.​

 

[appltech]

Nope.
And I recommend looking at some Android flagships (past 2 years) They aren't such expensive and the audio will be in better quality (audio transmission chips at least newer, and my opinion after comparison - better

 

[TehFalcon]

Nope.
And I recommend looking at some Android flagships (past 2 years) They aren't such expensive and the audio will be in better quality (audio transmission chips at least newer, and my opinion after comparison - better

a Fiio player would be the ideal android device.

 

[lepidotós]

Yeah, but there's a pretty wide price gap between the $399 256GB iPod touch and the $699 Fiio M11 Plus (if I don't want to pay over $1000 for an M15) and a $25 256GB SD card. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind a Fiio, but they're not exactly in the budget if you get what I mean.​

 

[GMShadow]

If you wanted something newer I would have recommended the Sony Walkman NW-A55, but it seems they've recently been discontinued with no plans for replacement (at least outside of Japan). They don't require you to use any Sony software, you can just treat them as USB Mass Storage, and they support microSD for additional storage.


The 7th gen Touch is fine, but it's hard to deny that it's getting a little long in the tooth, and iOS isn't designed with a 4" screen in mind anymore.

That said, Apple did have refurbs go live last week for the first time in months (and still have a pair of 256GB units) https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/ipod which do make the price a little more tolerable.

 

[irishtike]

The touch battery has been pretty sub par for a few generations, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, it drains. I’ve had 2 5th gen iPod touches and 1 6th gen, only 1 5th gen still works and works well. The other two died earlier than expected.

If you want a iPod touch like experience, with a headphone jack. Maybe pick up a used iPhone 6s. Anything newer would not have a headphone jack, which I assume is desirable. It will give you better battery life.

 

[06tb06]

The Sony High-Res players look pretty interesting, but I have never owned one.

I would like to get back to listening to music on a 1st gen iPod nano. I bought one when I was a freshman in high school (my first Apple product) and clearly remember specific events during that time when I had my iPod. I sold it to a classmate for a few old PC games (a decision I still regret to this day). I will probably try to find a used one that's in decent condition and buy it for nostalgic reasons, but still use it and take it on roads trips or whatever.

 

[lepidotós]

Way better than streaming IMO. $0 a month, you get to know your music will be there forever until you don't want it there, no reliance on cell signal, and you can use some really good headphones with some really high quality tracks. Plus, the battery lasts way longer and it doesn't eat up into the battery on your phone. Personally, I'd recommend Rockbox for wider format support including Ogg Opus and the ability to use themes that make it easier to see in the sun with the backlight off, but some people aren't into that, so...​

 

[aevan]

Yeah, but there's a pretty wide price gap between the $399 256GB iPod touch and the $699 Fiio M11 Plus (if I don't want to pay over $1000 for an M15) and a $25 256GB SD card. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind a Fiio, but they're not exactly in the budget if you get what I mean.​

Why not get an iPhone SE instead?

 

[lepidotós]

No headphone jack (I want to run my K240s through it), and I don't know a ton about iOS anymore, plus an iPhone SE at 256GB is $580 already, where the iPod can be had for as low as $330 at that capacity, and at most $400. I may get an iPhone SE if I do decide I like iOS more, but for now, I figured I'd try it out with an iPod touch and get an LG V20 for my phone since it has a pre-built version of the /e/ ROM. I hate stock Android, so I'm going to give that a shot first.​

 

[Tim Cook's Pool Boy]

I'd opt for a refurbished iPhone 6s+ to be honest. Bigger screen, bigger battery, headphone jack, has the A9 which is still a decent processor especially if you are just going to use it primarily as music player and can still be updated to the latest IOS if you wanted to. Granted it maxes out at 128GB but still, a decent refurb runs about $150 or so....give or take. It's been awhile since I looked.

 

[sracer]

Yeah, but there's a pretty wide price gap between the $399 256GB iPod touch and the $699 Fiio M11 Plus (if I don't want to pay over $1000 for an M15) and a $25 256GB SD card. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind a Fiio, but they're not exactly in the budget if you get what I mean.​

I was going to recommend a Fiio too. I bought a new M7 on Amazon for $99. Love it. Well worth the price, IMO. But they're no longer available.

As for recommending an iPod Touch, it depends upon how you use your media player. If you don't mind the touchscreen being the primary interface for interacting with your music, then it'll be fine. If media is stored on the device (rather than streaming), you can put it in airplane mode and get acceptable battery life out of it.

I used to use my iPod Touch on a daily basis, but since I was using it primarily for streaming my favorite internet radio station, the battery life was terrible. I switched over to an iPhone SE (2016)... it was my daily driver phone but I repurposed it to be a dedicated portable media player. Although the phone is nearly 6 years old, the battery is still excellent.

(I repurposed by wife's 2016 SE to be a dedicated point-and-shoot camera with a dedicated camera case... but that's a story for another time)

 

[lepidotós]

Yeah, I would be storing all my music locally -- hence why file support on par with or surpassing Rockbox could be a selling point. I hate the idea I have to rent all my music -- I never went to Blockbuster as a kid, and now it seems going to Blockbuster is the accepted default way to listen to music.​

 

[MattA]

Getting an iPod Touch 7th gen is the same power as an iPhone 7. It's adequate, but needs to be revised. That said, for music it will work just fine. You'll be able to copy your stuff over and use it like a standard iPod or use Apple Music. Battery life on it when you start doing other stuff isn't great, but it's very small and light. I actually think the smallest storage option is pretty much a bargain at $199. When you start getting into the large storage options, the price quickly goes crazy and it makes more sense to just use your phone.

 

[lepidotós]

Assuming your phone has a headphone jack and you don't mind getting calls in the middle of your music.​

 

[Apples555]

If you wanted something newer I would have recommended the Sony Walkman NW-A55, but it seems they've recently been discontinued with no plans for replacement (at least outside of Japan). They don't require you to use any Sony software, you can just treat them as USB Mass Storage, and they support microSD for additional storage.


The 7th gen Touch is fine, but it's hard to deny that it's getting a little long in the tooth, and iOS isn't designed with a 4" screen in mind anymore.

That said, Apple did have refurbs go live last week for the first time in months (and still have a pair of 256GB units) https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/ipod which do make the price a little more tolerable.

That's the path I took. I love my A55, darn shame it was discontinued because Sony. It's still available from Japan.

 

[th0masp]

The two earlier iPods I had (one a last-gen Nano with a touchscreen, the other some older gen model with a clickwheel) were both acting up if the display or clickwheel got moisture on it. Switching tracks by themselves, not hitting selections or randomly altering the volume. Infuriating. ?

That's something the Touch does better in my experience. Rain or shine, it keeps on trucking.