Before this one I had the iPod touch 3g, which I unfortunately had to replace due to a problem with socket for the audio jack. As soon as I opened the 4g version there were noticable improvements! First of all the black surround of the screen goes almost right to the edges rather than having a chrome trim like the 3g, which in my opinion looks much better. Secondly the newer version is significantly thinner than its predecessor, although only a few millimetres, for something that spends most of its life in a pocket it makes all the difference. The 4g also has both a front and rear camera (although of poor quality) which is not so much a necessity, but it is nice for features such as facetime. Another change that was not immediately noticable was the movement of the lock button from left to right, while not a major issue, it did take some getting used to.

As with all iPods the sound quality is excellent, I would be shocked if it were anything but. Listening to music is a breeze thanks to the intuitive music player (much better than the one on my HTC desire), adding playlists is simple and a double tap of the home button when locked brings up the controls. The whole interface is well designed at looks great on the 960x640 resolution screen, especially after the update to iOS5 (although the new notification bar is a clear rip off of android). Thanks to the front facing camera and the Facetime app video calls are available via wifi, this is somewhat of a novelty, but fun all the same.

The iPod is also perfectly capable of running almost any app from the app store, although it can sometimes be a bit unresponsive when multitasking i.e, playing music and a game at the same time.

One slight flaw that the 4g shares with all of the previous touches, is how easily the polished back scratches! Even with a case on it, it still seems to pick up marks. My second complaint is not so much about the iPod itself, but the accesories supplied. I was disapointed, although not suprised, that it came the same poor quality headphones that seem to come with all other iPods. When I bought my old Sony Walkman it came with fairly decent in ear headphones, and I can't understand why a company as large as apple can't supply the same. Also Apple have once again oly supplied a USB charger and not a mains adapter.

Despite these minor flaws the iPod 4g is a great portable media player that provides excellent music quality and a massive selection of apps from the app store.