Creative ZEN Reviews

8.5 out of 10

Creative ZEN

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from 196 sources in 33 countries.

Best Price: $59

User Score (394)

8.2
Expert Score (41)

7.9
Design (9)

9.7
Value for money (40)

9.0
Features (48)

9.1
Ease of use (34)

8.7
Performance (2)

9.0
Sound quality (37)

9.4

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WikiFreak Description

Creative ZEN

The ZEN portable media player from the Singapore-based Creative Technology was unveiled in August 2007 and is largely considered as the successor to the ZEN Vision:M. When it was launched, this flash memory-based device came in 4, 8 and 16 gigabyte capacities while the 32 gigabyte unit was announced in December. The 32 gigabyte ZEN was the first flash-based player to reach that storage capacity. It is also the first portable media player from Creative to feature an SD card slot for SD and SDHC memory cards. An optional adapter will enable the use of both microSD and miniSD cards.

The Creative ZEN is about the size of a credit card, measuring 3.26 x 2.16 x 0.44 inches and weighs in at 2.3 ounces. It sports a 2.5 inch backlit LCD screen running at 320 x 240 resolution and displaying 16.7 million colors. Powering the device is a non-removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery lasting up to 25 hours when playing music and up to 5 hours when watching videos.

Audio Player

The ZEN supports most audio formats out there including AAC, lossless WMA and WMA-DRM, WAV and Audible formats. The player’s equalizer comes with 8 presets and a customizable 5-band EQ. Other notable features include FM radio tuner and a built-in microphone for voice recordings.

Video Player

The vibrant screen of the Creative Zen is suited for video playback. It natively supports the following video formats MPEG4-SP, WMV9, DivX, XviD, MJPEG and, via transcoding, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 formats can also be played back. Creative’s included Video Converter software handles all the conversions of video files for optimal playback on the ZEN.

Photo Viewer & Personal Information Manager

Extra features include a photo viewer supporting JPEG formats natively and others via transcoding. The ZEN can also serve as a simple personal information manager. It can import contacts as well as calendars and tasks from Microsoft Outlook.

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Manufacturer's Specs

Size WxHxD:

5.67" x 3.18" x 1.06" (144mm x 80.7mm x 27mm)
Weight:

12oz (340 grams) with battery
Display:

3.8", 320 x 240 pixel resolution, backlit LCD Display
Capacity:

20GB Hard drive(1)
Battery Life:

Up to 22hrs continuous audio playtime(2) Or up to 7hrs of continuous video playtime(2)
Interface:

USB 2.0 (backward compatible with USB 1.1)
Supported Digital Media Types:

Plays: Windows Media Video and Photo Story files (.wmv, .asf) at a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels and at a bit rate less than 800kbps Windows Media Audio files (.wma) MP3 audio files (.mp3) JPEG image files (.jpg, .jpg, .jpe, .jfif) Compatible(3) with: Windows Media and Photo Story files (.wmv, .asf) at a resolution higher than 320 x 240 pixels and/or at a bit rate higher than 800kbps Microsoft Recorded TV Show file (.dvr-ms) MPEG movie file (.mpeg, .mpg, mpe, .m1v, .mp2v, .mpeg2)(4) Windows Video file (.avi)(4) Windows Audio file (.wav)

Review Summary

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Manufacturer's Description

A dynamically slim media player with a 2.5" LCD screen that plays back popular MP3 and AAC music formats, and comes equipped with a SD expansion slot.

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Expert Reviews

Creative Zen Review

Reviewer: CrunchGear
04 August 2008
Creative’s Zen line of media players hasn’t stolen much thunder from the iPod, but it has been more successful than many. The latest, dubbed simply the Creative Zen, is a flash-based player that does video on a 2.5-inch screen and rocks a full-size SD card slot. It’s not bad-looking, and it resembles the Zen Vision in many of the right ways. But its boatload of features and attractive interface — not to mention reasonable price — are offset by a few flaws. Then again,... Read more
Creative Zen Review

Reviewer: CrunchGear
23 July 2008
It’s a shame they didn’t make the Zen Mac-compatible or give it sweet earbuds like Sony did with the Walkman A818, but the screen size makes for almost-comfortable video watching and it’s…well… shiny. But if you don’t care so much about video, expandable storage, or AAC, you might as well go for the Zen V Plus, which is just as shiny but smaller. Read more
Gadget lover's player may lack Wi-Fi, but it has lots of other features, supports a wide array of formats, and accepts SD Cards.

Reviewer: PC World
21 March 2008

Overall 8

Design 9

Features 8

Performance 9

The Zen may lack the funky Wi-Fi functionality of Apple's iPod Touch , but it's a great choice for gadgeteers and audiophiles alike. If the 16GB's $150 price tag is too rich for your blood, buy a lower-end Zen and make up the difference with SD Cards. Read more
In a Zen-like state: a review of the new 4GB Creative Zen

Reviewer: Ars Technica
31 October 2007

Overall 6

Video playback is another area where the player shines; the Zen can handle MJPEG, WMV9, MPEG4-SP, DivX, and Xvid. Most impressive. The only downside is that the player cannot handle anything bigger than 320x240 in resolution, so it’s a good bet that most of your content will need to be reencoded to that size using one of the above file formats. The screen makes videos look good, although the tradeoff you get with this less-expensive player is that blacks tend to look ... Read more
Reviewer: ComputerShopper
16 October 2007

Overall 8

It's not the most eye-catching player out there, but the Creative Zen still has lots going for it: a beautiful screen, excellent sound quality, and good battery life. Read more