electronics Creative Zen Micro opinions and reviews

Creative Zen Micro

Creative has not quite been able to create a significant impact during its existence in the MP3 market thus far, churning out some rather ungainly stuff. But its latest offering, the Zen Micro, is definitely a welcome change.

Encompassing better hard drive capability than even the iPod Mini, the Zen Micro integrates with 5 GB storage space. (comparable to 1200 MP3 tracks)

Apart from the obvious black, Zen Micro is offered in nine other colours to try and cater to people with different moods and mindsets.

Looking at the other styling features, this MP3 player is rather small and compact though not as sleek as the iPod Mini. There aren’t a whole lot of unnecessary controls to spoil the look or the feel. You will only find the requisite options like the power switch power switch, headphone jack and USB2.0 socket for transferring music.

The Lithium Ion battery can be easily reached as it’s placed at the back of the player just the way it is for the mobile phones. Creative claims that the battery is capable of running for 12 hours when fully charged. And when it tested, the duration specified was very much spot on.

Just like elder brother, the Zen Touch, the Zen Micro also makes use of the sliding control touch pad feature. As a result, the keys are rather flat. While this does negate the superior designing features to some extent, it also ensures that too much dust does not accumulate in and around the buttons.

Display of Zen Micro is reasonably big though it looks like a complete carbon copy of Apple’s iPod. The interface is highly intuitive and user friendly. You shouldn’t have any trouble chopping and changing the playlists, songs, artists etc.

And finally, the most important aspect- the music quality. It is superb with plenty of bass on the tracks. You will be pleasantly surprised at the great audibility when using the headphone too. That’s not all; it is possible to tune the volume lower if you are among the ones not fascinated with loud noises. Some useful additions include the FM radio, microphone and also the facility to convert part of the drive into a storage area.

Among a couple of disappointments are the varying responses of the touch buttons as per the mode of player. Further, a drag and drop facility for music would also have been welcome.

But, in the end, thanks to some excellent homework done by Creative, Zen Micro seems ready to give a fight to its major competitors Rio Carbon and significantly the iPod Mini.