How to Test iPod’s Battery?

If your iPod doesn’t seem to play for a reasonable amount of time, you should test it to get an idea of what its current battery life is.
Test your iPod by performing the following steps:

1. Fully charge your iPod.
2. Remove the iPod from the charger so that it is running on battery power.
3. Make a note of the current time.
4. Use the Settings commands to turn off the Equalizer and Backlight.
5. Set Repeat to One.
6. Select an album or playlist and play it.
7. Let the iPod play until it runs out of power. While the iPod is playing, don’t use any of its controls. Anytime you cause the iPod to perform an action, you cause it to use additional power. In this test, you are attempting to determine what its maximum life is so you can compare it to the rated life.
8. When the iPod stops playing and the low power icon appears in the display, make a note of the time.
9. Calculate the battery life by figuring out how much time passed since you started the iPod playing (compare the time you noted in step 8 with what you noted in step 3). If you iPod plays for four hours or longer on a full charge, Apple considers that its battery life is acceptable. If the iPod won’t play for more than four hours, it likely has a problem and needs to be replaced.