Creative Zen Mozaic EZ300 RP Review

The Creative ZEN Mosaic EZ300 is a reasonably priced 4GB MP3 player with a basic feature set. It is out-classed by players costing only a small amount more, and even cheaper players have better interfaces and aesthetics.

With a similar form factor to the iRiver T6 MP3 player, the Creative ZEN Mosaic EZ300 is easy to hold. The buttons — laid out in a matte and glossy checkerboard pattern, giving the player its name — are large enough to press easily, but their layout isnt particularly intuitive. For example, instead of holding the centre button to power the player on — in the absence of a dedicated power button, this seemed logical — we were confronted with a black screen. The play/pause button takes care of power functions but it is located on the bottom-right corner of the checkerboard, which is a puzzling choice.

The matte black plastic body is sturdy enough to resist knocks and scratches, but the player feels cheap and hollow. Similarly, the 1.8in, 128x160 pixel screen is acceptably bright for outdoor use but has a terrible viewing angle and a glossy fascia which catches reflections easily. A mini-USB connector joins the 3.5mm headphone jack on the players lower edge below the controls. Hidden on the players rear is the integrated mono speaker; we liked the speakers smooth sound, but it does not have a very high maximum volume.

The Creative ZEN Mosaic EZ300 is bundled with a pair of Creative-branded ear-buds. We liked the Creative EP-830 headphones that came with the Creative ZEN X-Fi MP3 player and while these bundled ear-buds arent up to that level of sound quality, theyre still fine for listening to compressed MP3 music or FM radio.

Sound quality from the Creative ZEN Mosaic EZ300 is fine for an entry-level MP3 player. We tested using the bundled earphones and some Creative Aurvana Air earphones and found the maximum volume to be more than loud enough for most situations. Theres no shortage of bass or treble and a versatile equaliser with a custom setting allows you to tailor the sound to your liking.

The interface of the Creative ZEN Mosaic EZ300 is based upon sub-menus, with each selection opening several new options. We think the iPods system of navigation does this well, but the ugly text and low resolution screen take the polish off Creatives implementation.

The ZEN Mosaic EZ300 also has an integrated voice recorder and FM radio, both of which work well. The FM radios Auto Scan feature is useful, with 32 presets that covered all the major broadcasting stations in our test. A photo viewer and video player are also included. The photo player has a useful slideshow function, but the video player is little more than a novelty given the small screen and the need to transcode files to the Motion JPEG format through bundled Creative software.

The Creative ZEN Mosaic EZ300s chief competitors come in the form of the Apple iPod Nano and the afore-mentioned iRiver T6. The iPod Nano may be $60 more expensive for an equivalent model, but we think thats a justified price increase given its far superior interface, features and control scheme. The iRiver T6 is cheaper and while it has a similar feature set and menu layout, we prefer its design and navigation scheme.

The Creative ZEN Mosaic EZ300 is a competent MP3 player if you can devote a little time to learning its controls and menus. That said, there are many other competitors which are more intuitive and more refined for similar or lower prices.

Design-7/10
Interface-7/10
Build-8/10
Audio Quality-8.5/10
Video Quality-7/10
Overall-7.5/10

Music: Selena Gomez - Naturally

Category:

Music

Tags:

• RP Creative Zen Mozaic EZ300
• creative
• xi-fi
• apple
• ipod
• nano
• sony
• samsung
• Selena
• Gomez
• Naturally

[801JuggaloSLC]

@gellibiek alright i will thanks. ive had a Creative for years. MuVo, Micro-photo, V-V Plus, Stone, Sleek Photo, Creative ZEN VISION:M.... i bought alot of their products. but not any of their newer ones

[gellibiek]

@801JuggaloSLC

try creative style or the xifi

[801JuggaloSLC]

@gellibiek nice, i want to get the Creative ZEN MX. or a newer model of Creative

[gellibiek]

@801JuggaloSLC

mine , got steal last week....still CREATIVE XIFI-2 here i come

[gellibiek]

@MonstrousMartin

im my expirience....i used philips SE9500 in ear head phone.....and change a little on the equalizer, and BOOM....expirience HD quality and stereo

[801JuggaloSLC]

i just got a Creative Zen Moziaic-hoe its durable i had a Creataive Znen Micro and it got 'recovery mode' so i just bought another and my friend said the Mozaic is good.

[MonstrousMartin]

Are the headphones any good?

[supermac117]

gettin this when it is ma birth day i shall make an unboxing

[pyradarknurse]

@LadaTheWowMan

naturally by selena gomez

[LadaTheWowMan]

what is this song