Creative ZEN X-Fi
With its sleek black gloss front and silver coated rear, the Creative Zen X-Fi is one of the most sophisticated looking players on the market, and unlike the iPod Touch doesn’t scratch so easily. Creative have added more features to the X-Fi than previous models in the Zen range bringing their flagship MP3 portable media player in line with the rival iPod Nano.
User Interface – The UI for the Zen X-Fi is well organised and can be adapted to user preference. If there is an application that is of no interest it can be removed. As for functionality, Creative have opted for push buttons rather than the traditional rotation system which doesn’t add any value to the navigation of the X-Fi and is not as user-friendly as the iPod Nano or the iPod Touch, particularly for web browsing. However, where it does have the upper hand is the ability to send instant messaging.
Display – The 2.5 inch display of the Zen X-Fi is sufficient for video games and watching films and does provide excellent visual quality whereas the iPod Nano only has a 2.2 inch display though the ability to switch from vertical to horizontal for a wider picture on Apples tidy device is a slick feature. However, neither can match the 3.5 inch display of the iPod Touch.
Sound – The quality of the Xtreme-Fidelity speakers is the best Sound Technology Creative have produced and with the noise isolating premium earphones supplied with the device, provide a clear, rich sound that far outweighs anything Apple has to offer in this category. With 25 increments, volume levels are high yet without causing distortion.
Video – Whilst the visual quality of the X-Fi is excellent, its downfall is its uncompromising refusal to playback videos that are not encoded with the standard MPEG-4 SP or ASP and do not meet the 320×240 resolution specifications. Still, the 16.7 M-colour display provides a smooth playback with crisp, vivid colours. The visual comparisons are barely noticeable with either the Nano or the Touch, but Apple has the edge over Creative with a wider range of compatible formats for video playback.
Wi-Fi – One of the more impressive features Creative as added is a wi-fi which allows you to stream and download tracks from media networks. This conveniently allows you to connect it to any music system and steam music from your PC library. The only drawback is that download speed is pretty slow.
Memory
- Creative Zen X-Fi 8GB – 2000 songs, 5 hours video playback
- Creative Zen X-Fi 16GB – 4000 songs, 5 hours video playback
- Creative Zen X-Fi 32GB – 8000 songs, 5 hours video playback
- iPod Nano 8GB – 2000 songs, 8 hours video playback
- iPod Nano 16GB – 4000 songs, 16 hours video playback
- iPod Touch 8GB – 1750 songs, 10 hours video playback
- iPod Touch 32GB – 7000 songs, 40 hours video playback
- iPod Touch 64GB – 14000 songs, 30 hours playback
Battery Life
- Creative Zen X-Fi 8GB – 25 hours audio, 5 hours video
- Creative Zen X-Fi 16GB & 32GB– 36 hours audio, 5 hours video
- iPod Nano – 24 hours audio, 5 hours video
- iPod Touch – 30 hours audio, 6 hours video
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