Review of Creative Zen X-Fi
Creative's newest flagship product is the Zen X-Fi, a high-capacity flash-based digital media player that adds Xtreme Fidelity (X-Fi) sound technology, a built-in speaker, a few wireless functions, and a whole lot of extra buttons to the company's original ZEN device.
Do these new features take what was already a solid device to new heights of excellence? Read my full review to find out.
This review is based on the Creative Zen X-Fi running firmware version 1.02.01.
System Specifications
Capacities:
8GB, 16GB, 32GB
Expansion:
SD card slot
Supported audio:
MP3, WMA, AAC4, WAV (ADPCM), Audible
Supported video:
MPEG-4, WMV, DivX, XviD, MJPEG
Extras:
Wi-Fi (16GB/32GB only), photo viewer,
FM radio, organizer, voice recorder
Display: 2.5” TFT (320 x 240, 16.7M colors)
Dimensions: 3.3” x 2.2” x 0.5”
Weight: 2.4 ounces
Colors:
Black
Box Contents
Included in the reusable plastic container are the Zen X-Fi, short USB 2.0 cable, mini software CD, quick start guides and other paperwork, and Creative EP-830 noise-isolating IEMs with three sizes of silicone tips. Additional accessories, such as an armband, leather case, and TravelSound speakers, are available separately.
Design
A sleek blend of glossy black and both matte and shiny silver makes the Zen X-Fi one of the best- and most sophisticated-looking players Creative has ever made. Although the casing is made of plastic materials and the entire face is covered by a hard glass-like plastic that is anything but smudge-proof, build quality is excellent.
The company's build quality has always been good, but it's exceptionally good here. It's 0.3 ounces heavier than the first ZEN, but the added weight makes the player feel more expensive and better in the hand.
Size
Like its predecessor, the Zen X-Fi is about the same size as a credit card.
It looks rather big in the promo ads and marketing materials (without reading the specs, you'd almost think it was a full-size PMP like the Zen Vision W or something from Archos), but as you can see above, it's actually quite small and compact.
Here it is beside the original Creative ZEN:
And hanging out with some other players:
Clockwise from top left: SanDisk Sansa View, Samsung P2, Toshiba gigabeat T400, Creative ZEN, Creative Zen X-Fi, and iriver clix 2.
Display
The Zen X-Fi is equipped with the same 2.5-inch 16.7M-color QVGA display as the ZEN, so everything looks fantastic on it.
The rich, accurate, and bright colors make viewing photo slideshows, watching videos, and doing anything else that requires looking at the screen an absolute pleasure. The entire face of the player is a tad too reflective for my tastes, but it doesn't affect visibility too badly and is easy enough to look past.
Controls
The back/menu (top left), option (top right), My Shortcut (bottom left) and play/pause (bottom right) controls from previous Creative players make a reappearance on the Zen X-Fi, but they are greatly overshadowed by the raised set of round metal buttons between them.
Used to adjust volume, move through menus, and select items, the nine buttons add such little value to navigation that the reasoning behind implementing them over an analog stick or standard directional pad is, at the very least, questionable. The buttons are easy to press, provide good feedback, and are spaced out enough to prevent mis-presses, but I don't understand their value. They literally do nothing that can't be done with a more traditional control.
While the X-Fi's controls may not be what anyone is accustomed to seeing on a media player these days, the unit's ports and other buttons/switches are very commonplace.
First up are the reset button, USB 2.0 port, 3.5mm standard headphone jack, and LED power/charging indicator on the right side.
Below all of that, on the back of the player, is a sliding power/hold switch.
SD Card
At the top of the X-Fi, next to the microphone at the corner, is an uncovered, spring-loaded SD card slot.
As with the first ZEN, content stored on an SD card is only accessible through its own menu item and not integrated with media on the internal memory. This was one of the biggest complaints voiced by original ZEN owners, so it's sad to see that Creative hasn't done anything about it.
Speaker
At the bottom of the Zen X-Fi is a built-in speaker that can be turned on/off through the My Shortcut button or context menu.
Sound quality through the speaker is better than expected and more than adequate for personal listening. Maxing out the volume (there are 25 increments) doesn't result in very loud sound (the Samsung S5's speakers are louder), but it doesn't distort playback either.
User Interface
With the exception of two new menu items (X-Fi and Online), the Zen X-Fi's patented user interface is identical to the one used on the ZEN.
So indistinguishable are the two UIs, in fact, that I'm just going to direct you to the "User Interface" section of my Creative ZEN review and call it a day.
If you don't feel like clicking over, here's the copy-and-pasted version:
The patented user interface (UI) found on other Creative players has been cosmetically enhanced for the ZEN and features oversized glass-like icons and submenu overlays.
Beneath the makeover lies the same well organized, straightforward, and easy-to-use UI that Creative fans have come to know and love (and that Apple paid $100 million to continue using on iPods), so navigation is a breeze. Paired with the self-explanatory tactile controls, the UI has virtually no learning curve.
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