iPod Nano 6th Generation Review

One of the shocking refurbishments made by Apple on its line of iPod is the iPod Nano 6th generation – after the total overhaul with something entirely different.

Believe it or not, the Nano is very small and light, measuring 1.48 inches x 1.61 inches x 0.35 inch, and weighing 0.74 ounce only. You can affix it to clothing or anything else with the use of the clip at the back.

The device only has 3 buttons, one for the power/screen lock, and two for adjusting the volume up and down, while the touchscreen controls everything else. The 1.5-inch screen is bright and colorful, offering clear texts.

It is easy to familiarize with the basic usage. On the home screen are four icons coupled with clear labels. To view the other options and load more icons, just swipe to the left or right.

However, when it comes to browsing for songs, it only shows 4 songs on the screen at once. And even though Nano jumps quickly to a letter, it’s still difficult to find what exactly you are looking for.

Nano also allows users to do various tricks with its touchscreen. Twisting with two fingers rotates the display, swiping to the right takes you back one screen, and tapping and swiping in the radio and music menus bring up extra features such as live pause.

The quality of music is good, and the built-in FM radio is pretty reasonable. To tune in, one must press the arrows displayed on the screen to find signals, or manually find a frequency by swiping a bar at the bottom of the screen. As you listen to the station, the device displays whether the signal is good enough.

One feature that is cool here is its ability to pause a radio station for up to 15 minutes and skip forwards and backwards through the recording.

iMainGo X Portable Speaker System for the iPhone and iPod Review

The iMainGoX from Portable Sound Laboratories, Inc.

It’s a cliche, but ‘the best just got better!’ On opening the designer packaging you expect something new and brilliant and you will not be disappointed. The most noticeable additions on the ‘X’ are a rechargeable battery and a small external panel with an on/off switch and jack-plug access. This is a real advance on the iMainGo2 which, until now, was unsurpassed in terms of highly-portable, battery-driven iPod, iPhone and MP3 player speaker systems.

Before going into any further detail, let’s just say that the sound from these stereo speakers (an incredible 4.2w in total) is truly amazing, it will astound you over and over again. The system gives a deeply full resonance, combining a highly tuned good bass quality without losing treble, which we all know can happen even on larger mains-driven systems. In fact, this excellent ‘balance’ of sound is another one of the advances in the iMainGoX which even supersedes its own previous versions.

For those new to this iMainGo type speaker system, the compact unit is just 14.5cm x 9.6cm x 6.1cm and you can either zip your iPod or MP3 player into it via the gold-tipped jack-plug, still with complete control over anything with a touch screen because of the clever see-through film on the back (this also makes a pretty good cover for your iPod or MP3 player, as the iMainGo is tough and rigid) or, with the new iMainGoX, you can actually plug your device in externally; a new and helpful feature. This means that when it is used with an iPhone you can hold conference calls using the stereo speaker system whilst still utilising the microphone on the phone.

There are, in fact, four external jack-plug sockets. These include a dedicated headphone outlet that conserves the units’s power by working directly from the music player, a second headphone outlet which is also an auxiliary-out to play through other devices (including the possibility of ‘daisy-chaining’ through further iMainGoX’s to make a phenomenal amount of sound!),  an amazing microphone socket which can be used with electric guitars and karaoke machines, etc. and, of course, a charging port for the rechargeable battery pack that can last as long as 12 hours, depending on volume. We have found that this is one of the really excellent features of the new ‘X’ version. Now you can just plug in and recharge the lithium-ion battery-pack with the charger cable supplied and there are no more sound problems caused by batteries that are losing power. There is a useful led light on the panel to let you know when the system is on or off and this also appears red when charging and green once the battery-pack is fully charged.

Accessories included in the iMainGoX are firstly everything needed to make sure your iPod or other player is securely fastened into the system when zipping it in. This is much simpler with the ‘X’ than previous versions of the iMainGo. All you do is clip in a plastic cover and the device is held  solidly in place with a foam backing; the time-consuming velcro straps previously used have gone. Other accessories are an extremely well-made carrying pouch, a wrist strap and an adjustable carry strap. The iMainGoX itself weighs only 9oz.

Every generation of iPod except the latest shuffle will fit into the case and of, course, it can be used as an auxiliary device for the iPad or portable gaming devices, etc.

It is so good that iMainGo have not just sat on their laurels, knowing that so many of us already considered this device to be the best portable system ever. Instead, they have gone to the trouble to make it an even better design, with more usable features and, most importantly, truly the most impressive sound quality we have come across in a portable system, challenging even larger, mains powered systems.

Soulra (Solar Panel Powered) iPhone and iPod Speaker Review

This will be the second iPhone and iPod speaker/ dock with a solar panel attached we have reviewed. The whole concept of having an iPod and iPhone speaker system/ dock with an equipped solar panel, excites me. If it worked like a solar calculator indoors it would be even more exciting but we’re a long way off that.

The exterior of the Soulra is made out of a rugged plastic. It feels very versatile and this is of course manufactured and designed this way due to the solar panel being on the Soulra which will make us want to take it outdoors into the sun where all kinds of bumps and scrapes can occur. It’s also splash proof for those days on the beach and out by the pool. On the back back of the Soulra a very easy to get at handle built into the body of the Soulra has been placed, this is must for such a light weight device and makes it truly portable.

The Solar panel is placed in the middle of the two opposing speakers.

It’s on a flip mecha-nism so you can cover your iPhone and iPod which sit inside under the flap while playing music indoors and when out you can flip it up into the tall air to drain that sun. When the solar panel is down you see a single piece of black aluminium with Soulra written on it, slick!

Up top on the Soulra we have our control buttons for skipping tracks, pausing and playing, adjusting the volume, battery indicator button, turning the unit on and off and you can turn the bass on and off also. The buttons are nice option if you have the Soulra on your desk or in the kitchen with easy reach for your hands but if not a remote control is included. The remote control has pretty poor range which is a huge downer considering this thing is designed for the outdoors. The buttons on top of the Soulra and on the remote control are carved in an alien like manor with orange being used to see each symbol.

In terms of battery the Soulra does have one well actually it has two lithion ion batteries. Having two gives the unit around 5 hours of music playback and it charges your iPhone or iPod while doing that. To realistically charge this from the sun it will take around 8-10 hours. It will also charge under a light bulb if you put the solar panel close enough. But if you have a little bit of battery in the Soulra you can leave it out in the sun and it will convert the sun light into energy right away, which sounds like a great idea and works even better. And the conventional way of charging is also here using an AC wall outlet to charge.

The sound quality is very impressive. The Soulra doesn’t really weigh all that much which made me think from first impressions that the sound would be quiet. I was wrong of course. The sound can get very loud indeed, outside it holds up really well, even in areas which have no objects for the sound waves to bounce off. Indoors the sound is equally superb, this could easily be used as a full time music dock. The bass is very very deep which I think is a good thing but you can actually turn the bass off as I mentioned earlier on for those who don’t like the bassy sound. The clarity of all genres of music we tested were amazing, everything was crisp and clear. When the volume is turned up extremely high you won’t get any reverb which must be down to the build quality.

Overall the Soulra is a fantastic iPod and iPhone speaker/ dock. Sturdy design, excellent sound quality, portable, charges from the sun, loud volume and it’s easy to use (Remote Control, what more could you ask for?