Creative Zen 8GB

Creative’s flash-based flagship has tough competition now in the form of the new iPods, but does it come out on top? Our full review reveals all.

Pros
You’ve got to hand it to Creative – the Zen packs an awful lots of features into its compact 65g plastic shell. As well full video playback on the 2.5-inch screen, an FM radio and voice recorder, there’s an SD memory card to move your music, videos and photos around. The menu pad feels more like a digital camera control than a music player but it’s quick enough once you’re used to it.

Cons
The Zen may be small but its 12mm waistline a touch chunky compared to the Apples on test. Sound quality through the supplied headphones won’t blow you away, but brightens and tightens up significantly through some better cans. Battery life is about the same as the nano: 25 hours for music and 5 for video.

Verdict
On paper, the Zen is cheaper than the Apple nano, with a bigger screen, FM radio and microphone. In reality, though, it doesn’t offer the style or usability of Apple’s new baby player, despite perfectly acceptable sound and video quality. Well worth a try if you haven’t already loaded all your music into iTunes, but not worth the hassle of swapping systems if you have.

Usability

Reliability

Style

Value for money

Overall

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