steve kwan user experience designer

Review: Creative Zen 16GB

(November 14th, 2007 - 3:35PM)

(4 / 5 stars)

Summary

I've expressed my dissatistfaction with iPods for years. Since my iPod bricked on my vacation, I took the opportunity to replace it. I recently received my Creative Zen (16GB model).

It took some time to get ahold of my 16GB Zen, as the stores up here only carry the 4GB and 8GB models. Amazon.com wouldn't ship them to Canada. I was able to order one direct from the Creative website, and it arrived in under a week. Here are my thoughts.

What I like about the Creative Zen 16GB:

Its sound quality.

My main complaint with the iPods are their sound quality. Apple's done a great job of creating a sleek and sexy music player, but has ignored basic requirements such as good sound quality. I was dismayed to hear that even the sixth-generation iPods have lousy sound quality, which was my main reason for getting out of the Appleverse.

I was happy to find that the Creative Zen has excellent sound quality, which is what you'd expect from Creative. At first I wasn't blown out of the water, but the more I listen to the Zen the more I realize its sound quality is quite good. In addition to good overall sound, the Zen has an EQ adjuster which supports both presets and custom settings. It also has a bass boost feature.

Although the Creative Zen doesn't sound as good as iRiver's players (which can only be described as "audiogasmic"), it's certainly well ahead of Apple's. Although I would have appreciated 3D audio support such as SRS WOW, few portable music players have this feature so I'm fine without it.

It can sync with more than one computer.

One of my huge gripes with iPods is that they can only sync with one computer. If you try to plug your iPod into another computer, iTunes will ask if you want to format it. I don't know if Apple is trying to prevent piracy or just make things easy, but I find this really annoying.

The Creative Zen behaves as a portable media player should: it's basically just a hard drive that can play its contents. If you plug it into another computer, you can transfer files onto or off of it without any trouble.

Its form factor.

The Zen is small, light, and attractive. It's got a shiny black front and soft back. I haven't had a chance to use it extensively yet so I can't be sure how tough it is, but it looks like it could take a beating.

The Zen manages to achieve its tiny size despite sporting a 2.5" screen. That's the same size screen as an iPod classic.

My only complaint is that the Zen looks like it was inspired by the iPod. While I understand that Apple is a trendsetter and it's wise to follow in their footsteps, it'll be difficult for any portable media player to surpass the iPod if the design goal is simply to copy it.

Its features.

The Zen is fully loaded. It plays music, video, podcasts, and audiobooks. It has an FM tuner and a voice recorder.

Its capacity.

The Zen comes in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB models. I have the 16GB model, and can easily fit all my music onto it. If that's not enough, it supports SD expansion, so you could buy a 16GB SDHC card and insert it for a total of 32GB. That's a lot for such a tiny flash player.

Its interface.

The Zen's user interface is slick, sleek and much easier to navigate than the iPod's.

Its price.

Despite being so feature-rich, the Zen is competitively priced. I purchased the 16GB Zen, a car charger, and workout armband for $320.06 (although I also got dinged an extra $56.99 for duty). Compare that to the iPod Touch, which the Apple Store prices at $399!

What I dislike about the Creative Zen 16GB:

The lack of availability.

As I mentioned before, it was quite difficult to get a 16GB Creative Zen. I couldn't find one in stores, and Amazon.com wouldn't ship them to Canada. Creative really needs to make it easier for people to purchase their premium players.

It's not as easy to use as an iPod.

I think I took for granted how easy iPods are to use. You just plug them in and they set themselves right up. They automatically sync all your music, videos, playlists and audiobooks. The Zen, although not entirely difficult to use, requires a lot more setup than that.

I was able to get my Zen working quickly, but it took several days of tweaking to set it up the way I wanted it. Compare this to the hour or so it takes to set up an iPod.

Although the Zen is a great device, it's certainly not one you should buy unless you're comfortable with technology.

It's unstable.

The Zen sync software crashes constantly. I found out that WinAMP can sync the Zen (a possibly killer combination), but unfortunately their integration was buggy too. I'm not sure if it's a problem with my computer or with my software. I suspect both.

I would recommend ignoring the Zen sync software altogether and just syncing files manually.

Its weak playlist support.

Although the Zen supports playlists, it's somewhat difficult to sort them, and I don't know if you can create smart playlists like in iTunes.

It's hard to find good accessories.

I was able to find a decent workout armband, but unfortunately the Zen doesn't have the same library of accessories as the iPod. I couldn't find an integrated car charger and FM transmitter. However, I was able to set up an acceptable solution.

The screen is smudge-prone.

This isn't a huge problem, as wiping the screen will clear it up.

Conclusion

Although the Zen isn't an iPod killer (I think the Zune is better suited to that title), its form factor and feature set make it a great portable media player. Although it has its flaws (most pertaining to stability and ease of use), it addresses all the problems I had with my iPod, so I'm happy with it.

I highly recommend the Creative Zen to anyone who wants higher sound quality and more features than iPods provide. However, if ease of use is your concern, you're still better off with an iPod.