Cnet reviews the ZEN X-Fi

Cnet's Jasmine France takes a look at the Creative ZEN X-Fi. She made a mistake at 1:05 where she said that the Premium EP-830 in-ear earphones are only bundled with the 16 and 32GB version. That is incorrect as all the versions - including the 8GB one - will have the EP-830 earphones.

The good: The Creative Zen X-Fi is an incredible value given its low price and laundry list of features, which include photo, video, Audible, and subscription music support; an FM radio and voice recorder; an SD card expansion slot; WiFi capability; multiple EQ settings; X-Fi sound enhancement technology; and upgraded EP-830 earphones. Sound quality is top-notch, the screen is lovely, and the rated battery life for audio is impressive.

The bad: The Creative Zen X-Fi plastic construction does not feel high-quality, and the SD card content does not get integrated into the general libraries. Videos often need to be transcoded through the included software, and the button pad can be confusing at first.

The bottom line: The Creative Zen X-Fi's plastic design leaves a little to be desired, but that doesn't detract from the fact that the player is an incredible value overall: for an extremely competitive price you get a boatload of features and great sound quality.

http://www.nothingbutcreative.blogspot.com

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Creative
• Technology
• ZEN
• X-Fi
• portable
• media
• player
• Wi-Fi
• MSN
• Chat

[shadowtube111]

the x-fi is fine as it is, the only real upgrade they need is to let the sd card slot be able to intergrade with the main memory and make the text input like the ones on mobile phones. its as simple as that.

and y have 100gb if theres an sd card slot? there not much point having such a high momory player, like ipods 120gb player is practically useless unless if u want to store your whole life onto it.

well the creative zen x-fi is so much better than the ipod.

[cpahitman1]

I'm not trying to be mean, but people like me who are audiophiles. We skimp on the storage capacity and go with the extra sound quality. That's what zen beats all the big capacitied players in.

[jesusmetal92107]

my zen has a bunch of metal! (wait, did she mean the genre?)

[bubbenman]

People who buy an iPod rather then this are making a HUGE mistake.

[DJHemlock]

@cpahitman1

I couldn't agree more. I found that the headphones that came bundled with this were AMAZING and beat my senheisers any day. This is one of the best sounding players I've heard and I use it now to preview any tracks I've written/recorded before releasing them to the general public!

[tasparakis]

im in a dillema...should i buy this or an ipod nano 5g???

[MrWafflesMonster]

the other buttons are useful i use them all the time in navigation

[BigBubba891]

not to knock this player at all but why would you buy a 32gb one for $279 when you can get a ipod classic 120gb or zune 120gb for less and i do also say this for the touch to with the 16gb at $299 and 32gb at $400, you can also get the archos 5 160gb for i think the same price but i might be wrong

[PoetryRocksAlot]

Only the FM transmission seems like a universally enjoyable idea.

[sonicvybe]

PS: $200 price. Anything higher and I'd rather buy a PS3...flash memory isn't that expensive...and don't market against the ipod...we already know it's overpriced. Get it right, launch a commercial, and everyone will buy it at that price. We know you like to create stuff, but take the time to sell it too..spending less on new development. I don't want a new player every year.