iPod Touch

In an era of tablets of all shapes and sizes, or smartphones of varying degrees of tablet-approaching vastness, what room is there for a device like the iPod Touch? I'd say "the humble music player," but the Touch is no longer that, nor has been for...

The 2012 fifth-generation iPod Touch has an excellent set of features: better front and back cameras, 1080p video recording, iOS 6, and a 4-inch Retina Display just like on the iPhone 5, in a design even thinner than the iPhone.

The iPhone 5 still beats it on performance. The Touch lacks any phone functions, and there are tablet competitors that beat the $299 Touch on price and screen size.

The latest iPod Touch is the best iPod ever, and as close to a phoneless iPhone 5 as you can get -- but its high price makes it a tough call versus cheaper tablets with larger screens.