So for years, I have had a critical opinion of Apple products. Considering how they only seem to sell through marketing hype, I've always told people to steer clear of the brand. Then I decided to put my money where my mouth is, and plummeted $200 on the newest iPod Touch (and $60 for AppleCare). I figured if the claims of a quality product were true, I would soon find out.
Turns out I didn't. Though before I get into why this device is terrible, let me try to paint a picture of its strengths.
1) It has the same A5 processor as the iPhone 4S did. The dual core may be underclocked to 800MHz, but it's still on par with the 1.2 GHz dual core in my LG Optimus Fuel. And it does have half a gig of RAM, which is also on par with my Optimus. Where it beats the Optimus is in the inclusion of a 5GHz wireless card, a 5MP camera, a 1.2 MP front camera, a really bright LED on the back, extreme thinness and a better battery.
2) It can run iOS 8, meaning that it has access to the new iTunes Radio, Podcasts, FaceTime, Messages, and compatibility with the SmartWatch that will come out in a year. The design is very simplistic, but everything complements each other and that's a good thing. Android, in comparison, is the Frankenstein of tech, so I understand the appeal of seamless integration.
3) Push Notifications actually work well. On the Optimus, I had to root the device to install PNF, which allowed me to manually set Push Notification settings so I wouldn't miss messages. Apple's iOS seems to handle that just fine on its own, so I can't really complain.
Unfortunately, that is where the high points seem to end. Here are all of the things Apple has gotten wrong with the device:
1) The microphone and speaker are placed in the most godawful layout. They put the speaker on the bottom right of the device. Because I'm left handed, my end finger will end up covering it 60% of the time. Furthermore, the improper placement forces the device to treat every VoIP call (be it FaceTime, Skype, or Hangouts) as a speakerphone call. The only way to prevent this is to put headphones in. They could have easily used the same layout that they use on the iPhone; that they chose not to makes no goddamn sense.
2) If something does break, YOU CANNOT FIX IT. There is literally no settings menu for 90% of the apps you install. Most of the time, you are only allowed to change the notification settings or the refresh settings. You can't force kill apps, can't track RAM usage, can't selectively clear app caches. If you want to do ANY troubleshooting on this device, your only options are to restart the device or to factory reset it (which would delete everything). And considering iTunes Radio has already bricked itself once in the WEEK that I've had this thing, I can tell this it going to be a recurring irritation for me.
3) iOS does not support MTP or MSC. Everything has to be done through iTunes, meaning every file you want loaded onto the device has to be transferred into iTunes first. And no, there are no workarounds.
4) The touch screen is actually really, really terrible. Now, this is the last thing I would have expected from an Apple product, but the top corners of the device have horrible touch detection. If I'm trying to post a tweet, I have to tap the button several times. I thought maybe the device was slowing down, but tapping over areas of the screen worked just fine. Same thing happened in Opera Mini, so it's certainly not the apps themselves causing this. It's hilarious because every Android device I had a flawless touchscreen (with the exception of the Huawei Glory).
5) The only security features you get on the device are PIN and Password. Android at least allows a Pattern lock.
6) There is NO LONG PRESS. NONE. I have not seen long press options on any app. Many apps also don't allow gestures, though iOS 8 is starting to get into using them. It makes nearly every app I use a lot clunkier compared to similar apps on Android. Apple's Mail app is probably the clunkiest mail app I have ever used, and that's saying something.
7) Why doesn't the iPod Touch have Vibrate? It would have cost nothing to build into the device.
8) Google Hangouts may work on iOS, but half the functionality is blocked because Apple really, REALLY doesn't want to give permissions out. I can answer SMS texts in Hangouts, but I can't start new SMS conversations. Additionally, it refuses to sync to my contacts properly because of, you guessed it, blocked permissions.
Now, most of you probably think I am being unfairly critical of Apple at this point. I just want you to consider one thing. The LG Optimus Fuel is a CDMA version of the LG L40 marketed at $60. The Barnes and Noble Nook HD+ 9-inch tablet was $150, can be rooted to run Android 4.4 KitKat, and has a gig of RAM. This device, which has so much less than the two aforementioned devices, was TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS. I paid three times as much as I did for a phone that can do far more. I paid 33% more as I did for a tablet that can do more and is three times as big.
Apple is a waste of money. It will always be a waste of money. You are literally paying more in order to receive less in terms of functionality. So while I do hope to get a few years out of this device, I will never buy another one, and I will never buy another Apple product.
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