So last Tuesday I got this wild idea stuck in my head – could a tiny, 4-inch tablet actually be useful? Like, seriously useful? Everyone’s obsessed with bigger screens, right? Bigger is always better? I wasn’t so sure. I remembered this dusty old device buried in a drawer – my long-forgotten iPod Touch 6th Gen. Pretty much a 4-inch tablet without a SIM card. Challenge accepted.
The Grand Unearthing & Initial Setup
First thing, I had to actually find the darn thing. Took like 15 minutes of digging through cables and random chargers. Found it! Battery was stone dead, obviously. Plugged it in, watched that little Apple logo pop up. Felt kinda nostalgic.
Once it woke up, it asked for an update. “Sure,” I thought. Big mistake. The update took forever. Seriously, like sipping molasses in winter slow. While waiting, I downloaded a few everyday apps: Gmail, Chrome, YouTube, Kindle, Spotify, a notes app, and a simple game. Wanted the basics covered.
My Test Drive – Putting Tiny to the Test
Okay, battery finally charged, apps installed. Time to use it like I’d theoretically use a mini-tablet. Here’s what happened:
- Reading (Kindle App): Honestly? Not terrible. Held it one-handed easily like a tiny book. Page turns were quick. BUT… the text. Had to bump the font size way up. Only a few sentences fit per page. Felt like I was turning pages every 10 seconds. Drove me mad after 10 minutes.
- Web Browsing (Chrome): Absolute nightmare. Every website assumes a giant screen. So much zooming in, then side-scrolling, then zooming in again just to read a sentence. Accidentally tapped ads constantly. Pure frustration. Simple searches were okay-ish, but actual reading? Forget it.
- YouTube: Watched a short cooking video. Okay, I could see the pan, sorta. BUT… the controls! Tiny buttons. Skipping an ad felt like performing delicate surgery. Forgot subtitles? Squinting hardcore time.
- Spotify / Music: This worked fine! Playing playlists, skipping tracks – simple interface. Didn’t really need a big screen anyway. Winner.
- Quick Notes: Needed to jot down a grocery list. Pulling out my phone would’ve been just as easy, but typing on this… what crap. My thumbs felt squished together. Constant typos unless I slow-tapped like a grandma. Took way longer than it should.
- Casual Gaming: Tried a simple puzzle game. Fingers kept blocking the view. Any action game would be impossible. This thing ain’t for gaming.
- Email (Gmail): Checking? Fine. Scanning subjects? Okay. Actually writing a reply? Let’s just say I gave up after 3 sentences and grabbed my laptop.
The Portable Test – Does Size Actually Win?
Took it out and about for one day. Used it mainly as an MP3 player & podcast machine on the bus. Here’s the thing about that small size: it disappears in a pocket. Literally. It was awesome not lugging around my bigger tablet. Pulling it out for a quick song change? Easy.
BUT… the moment I tried to do anything more? Like quickly check directions? The screen was way too small. Pulling out my regular phone felt immediately better. The pocketability was nice, but the usability sacrifice was huge.
The Final Verdict
After a week of forcing myself to use it… nope. For me, anyway. That 4-inch screen is just too darn small for most actual “tablet stuff” – reading, browsing, videos. Constant zooming and squinting gets old fast.
Who might it be okay for? Maybe… just maybe… someone who only wants a super-portable music/podcast machine they can stick in ANY pocket, and literally nothing else. Or maybe for a young kid’s first “tablet” device? But honestly, most modern phones are 6+ inches! So even portability isn’t the huge win I hoped.
It was fun dusting it off and testing it. Proves my point: Bigger isn’t always better, but sometimes tiny is just… too tiny. That iPod Touch is now happily retired back to the drawer. Size really, really matters.
