Simplicity is key

It’s not all bad news though. The Zen’s menus are very clear. The menus are also very intuitive and so there’s no real need to have the users manual lying around. Different sub-menus can also be added and removed from the main menu as you please.

The Zen’s Design- A Double Edged Sword

We think that although the buttons that allow you to browse are very user-friendly the power button is a little poorly placed. The latter is situated just below the headphone jack. It’s often awkward to use if the headphones you are using have a right angle plug. The power button itself is once more a sliding button, more awkward than a simple push-button.

Returning to the point though, the browsing buttons are simple and practical. They allow for use with just one-hand (It’s not something we recommend though, it’s just a nice feature Ed.). We also appreciate the addition of a direct access button which can be personalised. This button, present in previous Creative models, allows you to access the feature of your choice instantly.

Calm yourself!

Creative’s latest “creation” has a pretty appropriate name. Ever gotten really annoyed by delays on your mp3 player? The Creative Zen has that covered by delivering really impressive response times. It’s use is really fluid for audio and video playback which means no more need to get stressed out scrolling through menus..Its screen is also very good quality. It has a diameter of 2.5 inches and a resolution of 320 x 240 for 16 millions colours. However, the size means that it’s not really suited to watching movies.

Poor memory card support

The device has a flash memory of 4 to 16 GB according to their respective models, but it also offers an extension via a SHDC memory card. With this the user can obtain up to 48 GB of flash memory on one device. Be careful though: the files contained on the card will be completely dissociated from the rest of the files. For example if you are transferring music, it will not be included in the listing by artists, by type or by name when using the audio interface. In the same way, you can’t read files from the card and from the internal memory at the same time. It’s quite a pity really…

It looks like a Credit Card…

The Creative Zen is a really small mp3 player. It measures 55 x 83 x 12 mm and weighs only 63 grams. Its design has measurements that make it look almost exactly like a credit card. With a good looking screen and its buttons placed in a symmetrical manner, the Creative Zen is, in the end, a very nice player. Its glossy black coating only adds to the charm of the device.

A plastic finish

Plastic is a little unrefined for a top of the range mp3 player. Don’t you think? It can easily give the impression that your device is a “Toy” It’s the plastic though that makes it so very light. It’s a mized blessing really. Strangely though even with its light materials the Zen is still heavier than the Nano (which is made of metal) with 13 grams in the difference! In summary we believe that the assembly is well put together. It’s virtually flawless in terms of user-friendliness, particularly the clicking of buttons on the device.