WSJ criticizes new iPods, criticizes battery life

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
(Dang it! Title should be "WSJ reviews new iPods, criticizes battery life" -- can a mod fix please? Why can't I edit the thread title?)



The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg reviews the new iPod in Thursday's WSJ. Overall it's a very positive review, but he has some revealing things to say about the newer models' poorer battery life.



http://ptech.wsj.com/ptech.html



Excerpts:



Quote:

The new iPod does have one big drawback, however. To reduce the size of the unit, Apple had to cut the size of the battery. So, the battery life of the new iPods, while still respectable, is significantly lower than it was on the original version. The old models claimed 10 hours of battery life, but mine got 12 hours. The new models claim eight hours of battery life, but my test iPod lasted only 7.5 hours -- nearly 40% less than my old one.



---[snip]---



Even Apple's reduced claim of eight hours is suspect. It's based on tests in which some key iPod features, like the screen backlight and equalizer controls, are turned off and the volume is limited to 50%. You shouldn't have to disable key features to achieve a claimed battery life.



The company says the new batteries still will last for a full day of typical use. But if you were used to the extraordinary battery life of the old models, the drop-off will be a shock. Other than that, you'll find the new iPods to be even better than the old ones, and a delight to use.



Comments

  • Reply 1 of 2
    eugeneeugene Posts: 8,254member
    Personally, I don't think it's a huge loss. 8 hours is plenty for normal use, and for those 20 hour non-stop flights from Hong Kong to New York there's the Belkin back-up battery. I'd gladly trade the battery life for the smaller dimensions.



    I never got more than 10 hours playing mp3s non-stop on my 5 and 20 GB iPods anyway.
  • Reply 2 of 2
    kennethkenneth Posts: 832member
    According to this chart (old vs. new). I think 8hrs should be fine of most new iPod owners.



    I have never counted how many hrs on my iPod, but my problem is the life of "stand-by" since I remembered that I left my iPod inside my car for a chilling night. The battery went dead in the morning. Luckily, Apple nailed this issue on the 1.3 update.
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