Review: Creative ZEN X-Fi 32 GB Video MP3 Player
"Great sound, nice upgrade to the Creative ZEN"
I bought this because I was jealous of my wife's Creative ZEN 8 GB player.
But really, I bought this because of the promised X-Fi sound quality. I have an X-Fi audio card for my desktop PC and I really love the enhanced MP3 sound quality and was hoping for more of the same in a portable unit. The Creative ZEN X-Fi does not disappoint, straight out of the box I found the sound to be full of the bass tones I love so much. The X-Fi settings add some nice quality to my tones and vibrate my little eardrums with heavy beats. With the included headphones the bass was almost overwhelming for me, but with my Bose Triport IE's I found the sound to be very satisfying.
So lets get down to brass tacks here. So far here's what I love:
+ The new iPhoney sleek look is very nice, an improvement I think.
+ The buttons have a nice tactile feel. With very little practice I can easily find the play button and volume adjustment without looking. Visually its a little harder to figure out which button is where.
+ Even better, the buttons never get pressed unintentionally. This is a big plus since I use it for working out and yard work where I'm often bending over; my clix was constantly getting paused or fast forwarded unintentionally which has been a constant source of annoyance!
+ I found it virtually effortless to hook this up to my PC, connect to my existing MediaMonkey library and download all of my songs and playlists.
+ Great sound for bass lovers. X-Fi crystallizer makes for a crisper quality if thats what you like.
+ Wi-fi connection, hooked up to my network easily and I was browsing the Creative Media Center in minutes.
+ Very lightweight compared to most of my other players.
+ User Interface: If you are familiar with Creative players then you will find the buttons easy to understand and use. I find the basic menu system easy to understand and navigate. Lots of nice background images to choose from.
+ Easy firmware update, I downloaded the latest firmware from Creative website and easily installed it.
+ Decent headphones included -- possibly the best I've ever seen packaged with an MP3 player.
+ Lightweight, easy to carry, seems to be pretty rugged construction, fits nicely in a pocket.
+ Nice battery life: compared to my Clix 2 (4 ish hours) or my iPod Touch (about same!) this thing lasts forever at about 10ish hours.
+ Big bold colorful screen, which I find easy to read even in daylight.
+ I love the way it pops right back to where I left off even after a power off, it comes right back to the Now Playing screen and resumes my playlist. Most of my other players don't do this very well so its a plus when it works the way I think it should.
But really, I bought this because of the promised X-Fi sound quality. I have an X-Fi audio card for my desktop PC and I really love the enhanced MP3 sound quality and was hoping for more of the same in a portable unit. The Creative ZEN X-Fi does not disappoint, straight out of the box I found the sound to be full of the bass tones I love so much. The X-Fi settings add some nice quality to my tones and vibrate my little eardrums with heavy beats. With the included headphones the bass was almost overwhelming for me, but with my Bose Triport IE's I found the sound to be very satisfying.
So lets get down to brass tacks here. So far here's what I love:
+ The new iPhoney sleek look is very nice, an improvement I think.
+ The buttons have a nice tactile feel. With very little practice I can easily find the play button and volume adjustment without looking. Visually its a little harder to figure out which button is where.
+ Even better, the buttons never get pressed unintentionally. This is a big plus since I use it for working out and yard work where I'm often bending over; my clix was constantly getting paused or fast forwarded unintentionally which has been a constant source of annoyance!
+ I found it virtually effortless to hook this up to my PC, connect to my existing MediaMonkey library and download all of my songs and playlists.
+ Great sound for bass lovers. X-Fi crystallizer makes for a crisper quality if thats what you like.
+ Wi-fi connection, hooked up to my network easily and I was browsing the Creative Media Center in minutes.
+ Very lightweight compared to most of my other players.
+ User Interface: If you are familiar with Creative players then you will find the buttons easy to understand and use. I find the basic menu system easy to understand and navigate. Lots of nice background images to choose from.
+ Easy firmware update, I downloaded the latest firmware from Creative website and easily installed it.
+ Decent headphones included -- possibly the best I've ever seen packaged with an MP3 player.
+ Lightweight, easy to carry, seems to be pretty rugged construction, fits nicely in a pocket.
+ Nice battery life: compared to my Clix 2 (4 ish hours) or my iPod Touch (about same!) this thing lasts forever at about 10ish hours.
+ Big bold colorful screen, which I find easy to read even in daylight.
+ I love the way it pops right back to where I left off even after a power off, it comes right back to the Now Playing screen and resumes my playlist. Most of my other players don't do this very well so its a plus when it works the way I think it should.
... find more related reviews at: Creative ZEN X-Fi 32 GB Video MP3 Player - Reviews
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