Creative Zen (16GB)

Manufacturer: Creative Labs Inc. Part number: 70PF216100111

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CNET Editor rating:
4.0 stars Excellent
Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 87 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Product series; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: We're hard-pressed to find anything not to like about the Creative Zen. It's a great option for anyone looking for a great-sounding, pocketable MP3 player with an excellent, video-capable screen and plenty of extra features.

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CNET editors' review

Creative Zen (16GB)

price range: $159.00 - $319.20

Reviewed by: Jasmine France
Reviewed on: 09/14/2007
Updated on:04/25/2008

The good: The Creative Zen sounds fantastic and features a brilliant color screen capable of displaying photos and video. The player offers a smorgasbord of desirable extras such as an SD card expansion slot, an FM radio, a voice recorder, and a user-definable EQ. It has a slim, pocket-friendly design; is very user-friendly; supports subscription music; and sports a reasonable price tag.

The bad: The Creative Zen only comes in black, the control pad feels cheap, and it doesn't come close to matching the max 60GB offered by the player it's replacing.

The bottom line: We're hard-pressed to find anything not to like about the Creative Zen. It's a great option for anyone looking for a great-sounding, pocketable MP3 player with an excellent, video-capable screen and plenty of extra features.

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Editors' note: The body of this review has been updated to reflect added memory options and significant price drops.

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Creative Zen

In a move that surprised many a Creative fan, the company has ushered in a flash-based replacement for its Zen Vision:M, a full-size, hard-drive player that offered up to 60GB of space. Though the news was not well-received by some proponents of carting around a large library of tracks, those who give the new player--dubbed simply the Zen--a chance will find that it's a completely worthy follow-up to its chunky predecessor. This new Zen--which comes in 2GB ($79.99), 4GB ($99.99), 8GB ($129.99), 16GB ($199.99), and 32GB ($299.99) versions--may not hold as much media as the 60GB Vision:M, but it offers the same, lovely screen in a much smaller body, and it packs in a couple of new features for good measure. Plus, it's an incredible value for the price.

It's all about sleek understatement
Creative has gained somewhat of a reputation for putting MP3 players in a vast array of colors, so it comes as a bit of a shock (and maybe a letdown, for some) that the Zen will be offered in just one: black. Still, it must be said that black does make an excellent frame for the awesome 2.5-inch TFT screen, which is capable of displaying 16.7 million colors. Also, while the design might not be as innovative as that of the iPod Touch and iRiver Clix--or as cute or as eye-catching as that of previous family members--the Zen has a certain understated elegance with its shiny face and brushed-metal backside. It's like a smaller, sleeker version of the Vision.

Despite its ample screen, the Zen is pleasantly compact. At just 3.3 inches by 2.1 inches by 0.4 inch, it's about 60 percent smaller than the Vision:M and it's definitely pocket-friendly. We're also pleased to note that Creative didn't skimp on the controls and has migrated completely to the user-friendly tactile variety. Main functions are handled by a four-way control square surrounding a center select button. This is flanked on the top by a back/contextual menu rocker and on the bottom by a shortcut and play/pause toggle. Sadly, there's no dedicated volume control, but the right edge of the Zen houses the ever-handy hold/power switch along with a standard mini-USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack. The reset and mic holes can be found on the bottom and top spines, respectively.

Fun features for all
Exploring the top side of the Zen also reveals one of the new extras we alluded to earlier. In another departure from the norm, Creative has built in an SD card expansion slot--a first for its MP3 players. We're happy to report that the slot can take SDHC cards, which currently go up to 16GB in the full-size SD variety. (Of course, at a price that exceeds the 16GB Zen itself, those are a bit cost-prohibitive at the moment.) Considering the move away from more capacious hard drive memory, we definitely think the addition of memory expansion was a wise--and necessary--move.

Another new feature to be found on this Zen is its support of unprotected AAC files, meaning it will play back iTunesPlus tracks, though you can't use iTunes to transfer them. The player can sync via drag-and-drop in Windows Explorer, or you can use a jukebox such as Windows Media Player or Rhapsody. Like its other family members, this Zen also supports MP3, WAV, Audible, and both protected and unprotected WMA tracks. Unfortunately, it also shares Mac incompatibility with the other players in its line. Photos must be in JPEG format, which Windows Media Player can convert to automatically during syncing. On the video side, the Zen plays WMV and Motion JPEG out of the box and MPEG4, DiVX, and XViD with conversion. Creative includes an app--Zen Media Explorer--which can take care of the conversion painlessly and (somewhat) quickly.

In addition to its media capabilities, the Zen includes Creative's usual impressive array of features, though it's worth noting that there is no line-in recording for audio or video (the latter in particular would have been a nice touch). You do get voice recording and an FM radio with autoscan and 32 preset slots. There's also basic PIM functionality: you can sync contacts, tasks, and calendar info from Outlook to the device. Plus, you get the usual shuffle and repeat playback modes, handy contextual menus, and the ability to search for artists and songs as well as rate songs on the fly and set up to 10 bookmarks. Nine preset EQs, a five-band, user-definable mode, and a bass boost function ensure that you can adjust sound to your liking.

But it's the fun visual display option that set the Zen line apart. Album art can be viewed as a thumbnail or in full-screen mode on the playback display, and Creative includes various themes for interface customization. You can also set any image on the player as wallpaper, and the photo-browsing experience is great: there's a 5x4 thumbnail grid and each one magnifies as you scroll over it. Naturally, you can view photos and slide shows while listening to music. There's even a nifty, semi-split-screen deal on the main menu that cycles through album art, photos, or video image clips, depending on which media type you are browsing.

Shining performance
No two ways about it: the Zen's screen is fabulous. Photos look vibrant and bright, with excellent color saturation and good detail. Videos are similarly impressive--clear and bright with no noticeable pixilation (though we did notice the occasional blurring around some sharp edges)--and the viewing angle from side to side is excellent. Even the interface looks stellar, right down to the transparent icons on the main menu. It's a nice screen to look at for sure.

Frankly, we've come to expect stellar audio quality from Creative's MP3 players, and the Zen did not disappoint--once we swapped in the Shure SE530 headphones. (For their part, the included headphones were passable.) Perhaps the best thing is that all genres of music sound equally great. The bass of Zeb's disco house track "Disco Patel" was tight and enveloping without overshadowing the sparkle of the high hat and minute ting of the triangle. In the Bangles' high-end heavy intro to "Hazy Shade of Winter," the detail of each instrument was crystal clear, and the relatively quiet Spanish guitar was not lost among the frantic chorus of the rest of the track. Overall, music was rich, warm, and detailed...and it just made us happy.

The Creative Zen also boasts plenty of volume to drive a full-size set of 'phones--we only had it up to about a third with some noise-isolating buds. The rated battery life of 25 hours for audio and 5 hours for video is solid, and CNET Labs pretty much matched these estimates at 24.7 hours and 5.6 hours, respectively. It may not be the longest-lasting battery on the market, but the Zen certainly offers a good value with its lovely screen, nice sound, and good combination of features

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Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 87 reviews
My rating: 0 stars

Showing opinion 1 to 10 out of 87

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8 stars

Another winner from Creative - so far

by methos1979 on November 2, 2007

Pros: Excellent audio quality, nice screen, easy to use, great software

Cons: Worried about buttons, front cover could be better

Summary: First up some caveats: I LOVE Creative products. This is my fifth Creative Zen player. I bought a Zen Micro for my oldest daughter and loved it so much I ...

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Summary: First up some caveats: I LOVE Creative products. This is my fifth Creative Zen player. I bought a Zen Micro for my oldest daughter and loved it so much I bought one for myself. A year later I bought my youngest daugther a Zen MicroPhoto. Shortly after that I bought my son a Zen V Plus. All have worked flawlessly. I just replaced the battery on my Zen.

Second caveat: I HATE absolutely anything, and everything iPod. I hate Apple, Mac, all of it. While I think a lot of their MP3 players are the bomb looks-wise, their crappy sound and even worse, their proprietary everything just annoys the crap out of me. I loved the look of the new Nanos and if they worked with music subscription sites like Napster-to-go or Rhapsody I might have broken down and bought one. But no.

This was a three pronged approach to this purchase. I was finally jumping on the subscription music bandwagon and was looking for a new MP3 player. I always come here for unbiased professional and - even more important - your reviews. I eagerly awaited the new 16GB version and have had it a couple days now. I haven't done video with it - and I don't know if I ever will. I'm into the music so that's what I use it for. So let's go there.

First up, impressions out of the box. I like the look and the layout. I'm not crazy about the look and feel of the buttons though. They seem... cheap. One guy here had both of his fail a few days after getting it, the left dial one. For some reason, all the buttons when pressed to the left seem to feel like they are rubbing on something - it's not a smooth click. It actually FEELS like it's going to break sooner rather than later. Obviously only time will tell on that. I also don't really like the super-shiny cover that ecompasses the entire top. With the black color, fingerprints are the order of the day with this and I worry also about scratches in the future. But it cleans up real nice with some of those pre-moistened lens wipes. I do like the black look and really like the brushed aluminum back. I would prefer the whole thing be like that except for the screen. Maybe next time. But CNET is right - it does look classy.

The screen color and resolution is great. Pictures pop nicely and I really like the ability to change the backgrounds, although the selections are a little limited. Of course you can always set any picture as the backgroud wallpaper so that opens things up. The menus were pretty easy to learn to use but I went into the online documentation to read up on things and it was well written and imformative.

Software installation was easy as usual and pretty quick. I did go onto the Creative site and look for upgraded firmware (done automatically as part of installation) and sure enough there was already two 'critical' updates to install. But those went on quickly also and two reboots later I was up and running.

The first order of business for me was seeing how well this player functioned with my new Napster-to-go subscription. Napster and Creative normally work very well together and this unit was no different. Napster immediately recognised my player and within a few seconds I was downloading several hundred songs and playlists to the Zen. I'm also planning on doing a user review on the Napster-to-go so look for that if you're thinking of trying it out. I for one, LOVE it. 5 million songs to choose from and more every day.

I bought the 16GB version straight from Creative the day they got them. The earbuds suck but I'm used to that and had other plans anyway - the previously mentioned third prong of this music attack. I did buy along with the Zen the leather case they offered. It was only $25 and looked pretty good but I was dissapointed with it. Truth be told, I'll carry the Zen in my shirt pocket anyway, without the leather case. I might try some of those temporary protectors they sell if I start to notice the screen getting scratched up a little. I tend to take pretty good care of my stuff but this player does not seem or feel as stout as my Zen Micro.

So I downloaded a bunch of songs from Napster and then a bunch more already ripped from my private collection on my computer. I also loaded up a few family pictures. The Zen Media software works very well and is very easy to use. But it's just a simple to go into Explorer and drag and drop or copy and paste stuff in too. Pretty basic and simple stuff.

The player also came with a REALLY short USB cable for both charging and transferring data. I actually like the short cable but I'm sure there are going to be a few that do not. I also prefer a dedicated charger and for the price think they could have and should have included one. Fortunately for me, I got one way back with my Zen Micro and it has always worked with EVERY Zen I've owned - something I am very grateful for. Kudo's to Creative for keeping the same power/transfer connectors on all their models.

Now on to where the Zen really shines - the music. Creative always get's high marks for it's audio quality and this one does not disappoint. The sound quality is AMAZING. This is helped somewhat by my third prong attack - I bought some nice Bose full ear cup headphones. I've already reviewed those at the proper place on this site. The combination of those two are nothing short of astounding. I'll never wear earbuds again. You don't even need any EQ. It's quite amazing. I bought the Bose headphones at Best Buy for $139.00. Pricey but worth every penny and you can spend a whole lot more.

There's plenty of neat features on this player too. Most I won't ever use but it's nice that they are there. The SD expansion slot might come in handy some day if I every do decide to do video but with the Napster-to-go subscription I'm pretty sure my music will be rotating a lot. And with 16GB, I won't need to move too many. I understand that some people are upset that the SD slot memory is not added to the existing memory and I think that's probably a valid point. But it's not a big deal to me because quite frankly I don't plan to carry around more than 4000 songs at any one time.

Probably my biggest thing I like about this player is the Smart Volume feature. One of my pet peeves is the different levels of loudness between older CD's and new CD's. Constantly having to bump up the volume for one song and then have to bump it back down (especially after it hurts your ears) for the next is annoying on so many levels. The Smart Volume when turned on automatically levels the playing field increasing and decreasing volume where necessary to keep the level comfortably the same. This is a God-send to someone like me, an old guy who could be listening to some Jim Croce one moment and then have Nickelback blaring the next! I tend to play the songs on Shuffle a lot so this can happen frequently. My music tastes run the gammut so this feature is the bomb.

In summary, I love the player - so far. If the screen doesn't scratch easily, and the buttons don't fail, and all keeps working as it does now, I'll be very happy. I gave the player an 8. Had the buttons felt better I'd have given it a 9 and had the cover been all brushed aluminum, it would have gotten a full 10. Rest assured I'll keep you posted and you'll be the first to know if something does go wrong. Okay, you'll be the second as Creative will be the first. But for all intents and purposes as of this writing - Creative has another winner on their hands!

M.

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12 out of 12 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

So close to greatness... but still excellent

by clintworld on September 19, 2007

Pros: Price, ease of use, interface, small size, excellent screen

Cons: Limited file format support (podcasts require conversion), SD card treated separately in interface creates inconvenience

Summary: This is an excellent PMP. And I've tried lots. Cowon D2 and I7. Meizu M6. Archos 605. This beats them all... except perhaps the new Sony NWZ-A800 series which ...

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Summary: This is an excellent PMP. And I've tried lots. Cowon D2 and I7. Meizu M6. Archos 605. This beats them all... except perhaps the new Sony NWZ-A800 series which I love thanks to its native video podcast (H.264) support.

Creative have done a really nice job with the user interface. Slick and pretty responsive. I like the "DJ" function, great for quick hits. The SD card however is treated as a separate storage unit and is not integrated with rest of the media. Hopefully this will change in a future firmware update.

I also like the standard mini USB cable, the shortcut key that is customizable (nice!), and the vibrant screen.

Overall excellent. Highly recommended. For those looking for video podcast compatibility - albeit smaller screen - check out the new Sony NWZ-A800 series.

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12 out of 14 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Only one flaw...

by scaryslocuda on November 2, 2007

Pros: Beautiful screen, excellent sound quality, FM radio, decent storage capacity, very good GUI

Cons: Can't record radio

Summary: I was SO excited about this player when I heard it was coming out. So much so, that I waited an extra 6 months before buying a new mp3 player (...

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Summary: I was SO excited about this player when I heard it was coming out. So much so, that I waited an extra 6 months before buying a new mp3 player (my previous player was a Creative Zen Micro). Everything I read about this player sounded fantastic, and after receiving it yesterday, I completely agree...almost. The one GLARING problem with this player when compared to my Zen Micro is the lack of ability to record FM radio. I know that other Creative players came under attack a while ago by the RIAA, but I thought those issues got resolved and that newer firmware updates re-instated FM recording. Why the newest addition to the Zen family has to go without this crucial functionality is a mystery to me.

Other than that, this is a great player and I'm just hoping that future firmware upgrades will revise this problem.

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4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

Not available yet

by nycgal on September 20, 2007

Pros: Looks awesome, Creative makes great products

Cons: Why the delay in releasing the 16GB version?

Summary: I emailed the folks at Creative to ask when the 16GB version is available. I got back a nice response saying it won't be available until mid-to-late Oct. It'...

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Summary: I emailed the folks at Creative to ask when the 16GB version is available. I got back a nice response saying it won't be available until mid-to-late Oct. It's expected to be priced at $250. For anyone that's thinking of getting it, I would recommend waiting till the 16GB version comes out - you get double the memory of the 8GB version for only $50 more. I can recommend Creative products, I own the Zen Micro 5GB version and love it, it's over 3 years old and works great! I'm only changing because of the upgrade to a color screen and more memory.

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3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 stars

NOW AVAILABLE AT CREATIVE.com

by js_maher on September 16, 2007

Pros: 4GB IS $129.99!

Cons: 16 gb not available until october

Summary: creative is selling it below thier list price...if you thought it was a bargain at 150 go to their website now and order the 4gb for 129.99

Summary: creative is selling it below thier list price...if you thought it was a bargain at 150 go to their website now and order the 4gb for 129.99

3 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 stars

Absolutely no problems with this player what so ever. Seriously.

by nedbosik on January 3, 2008

Pros: Own the 32gb unit. Excellent player. What I've been waiting for.

Cons: Don't care for the grossy finger print magnet finish,

Summary: Got the brand new 32gb unit about a month ago. Glad it's that big. Haven't had any of the problems that some users have had. Been using players ...

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Summary: Got the brand new 32gb unit about a month ago. Glad it's that big. Haven't had any of the problems that some users have had. Been using players of various types for years, so it's not like I don't know what I'm talking about. Haven't had a need to update the firmware anyway. I like to use the base memory for mp3's and the sd slot for videos so I don't have an issue with library integration. No white screen of death, lock-ups or detectable gaps in playback. Ditch the creative earbuds and get a decent pair of cans, honestly! For all the haters and pod fanboys, stick with what you want and leave the quality players with us.

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2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Really good, not perfect

by jomeyertons on December 13, 2007

Pros: Small and light size, clarity of sound and vision, ease of use

Cons: Won't play Audible files on SD card

Summary: Because I am in an informal reviewer position at a college, I own a handful of MP3 players, including the iPod classic 30GB, the Treo 700P, a Zune 2nd generation, ...

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Summary: Because I am in an informal reviewer position at a college, I own a handful of MP3 players, including the iPod classic 30GB, the Treo 700P, a Zune 2nd generation, the Creative Vision M, the Creative Muvo, and an RCA MP3 player. Easily this one beats out all the others, although the Treo does a fine job for basic stuff and handles everything else as well. If you only get to buy one product, make it a smartphone, but if you can afford to also own a dedicated MP3 player the Zen is an amazingly clear and easy to use device that doesn't require much time to figure out how to use. It has many little niceties for the user that companies like Apple or Microsoft won't provide, such as agnostic support for file types, and the ability to delete files directly off the device. The controls are satisfying and easily usable by touch, which is handy in the dark, and it doesn't require me to bother with annoying slider control inaccuracies. The one area I'd suggest Creative works on is the SD card - sure there is a better way to integrate the SD card content with rest of the content on the device, and why on earth can't I play Audible files from the SD card? Still, these aren't deal breakers - nice job, Creative!

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2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
2 stars

No SD integration is a deal breaker!!!

by 55Mark on December 22, 2007

Pros: Small, nice features, nice screen.

Cons: not great battery life, and NO SD INTEGRATION

Summary: This could be a wonderful product, but for the fact that the SD slot is not integrated like it is in some Sandisk players and the Cowan D2. Do not ...

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Summary: This could be a wonderful product, but for the fact that the SD slot is not integrated like it is in some Sandisk players and the Cowan D2. Do not buy this product if the SD slot is what you find attractive about it, becase it is not integrated. This means that you cannot access file on the SD slot from the normal interface. You have to to the SD folder, and choose the file there. Your will not be able to search your music in the normal video library, and you will lose your place in the music if you turn the player off or hit the back button. Also, you will not be able to see any album art or other cool stuff like that on the SD card. For a just a little more money, you can get the Cowan D2 and have a mp3 player that is able to grow with your library.

Without the integration, this product is just another could have been. Spend your money on something else.

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2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 stars

Another amazing ZEN mp3 player!

by ronnievaz on September 18, 2007

Pros: 16.7 million colors display, best audio, SD slot

Cons: A/V-out port? where is it?

Summary: although not as touchy as ipod... zen has a VERY good video sound quality... which is why i bought the Zen vision:M instead of the Ipod 5G. i Just ...

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Summary: although not as touchy as ipod... zen has a VERY good video sound quality... which is why i bought the Zen vision:M instead of the Ipod 5G. i Just like its beautiful screen and it made me so happy with its bass boost, Excellent sound quality. SD slot was a very good and wise move.
Why doesn't it have the A/V-out port??? man
i did enjoy alot addin, watchin Films in dvd-rip AVI (good quality) in my big screen TV. Plus they could've included a touchpad instead of that controlpad on the side, and also a volume controller. tough touch has all those features and the touch screen, i still like alot the new Zen, a bit disappointed, but its V/S quality... DAMN!

I still didn't decide which one to "empty my pockets on", Ipod Touch or Creative Zen. Zens' PROS are IpodTouchs' CONS and vice-versa, its a difficult choice.
Updated
PROS:
1. best video quality (16.7M colors)
2. stellar audio quality
3. supports lots of audio formats
4. small & light ("very portable")
5. sd slot exp.
6. good interface

CONS:
1. NO A/V out port (enjoyed alot that on vision:M)
2. SD expansion doesn't merge into zen's mem... can't drag from SD to zen;
3. it doesn't support most of the video formats that vision:m does ... odd i kinda thought that with that much colour it would support lots of video formats. for example my vision:M supports wmv3 but zen doesn't. most avi, divx, xvid videos with 640x480 or more then 380x240 resolution were playable in my vision:M but not on zen; saddens me...
4. it should support far more video formats.
5. no FM recording
6. would b

Creative Zen (16GB)

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