Creative Zen Micro Review

[Nick F]

Okay, I have been meaning to do this review for quite some time now seeing as I think this device is a cracking, and well worth the money over other similar priced hard drive MP3 players.

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Having owned a Ipod Mini for the best part of 6 months I was getting constantly fed up with the not only annoying but appalling battery life. I decided to get myself another hard drive (HD) mp3 player. After much research I opted for the Creative Zen Micro due to its size, price and style. I knew I would be in for something special after hitting the 'Confirm Order' button after once being the proud owner of a Creative Zen.

Key Specs:
5GB Hard Drive
FM Stereo
Microphone
Recorder
Contacts/Task lists

When the product arrived it was well packaged, and I was pleased with the delivery time (ebuyer) the creative box was actually quite big compared to how small the unit was meant to be.

The Creative Zen Micro comes in 10 different colours, of course I went for the black one like any normal person would but here are the other colours that are available.

The main components of the package are the player protective case, desktop stand and belt clip. All three have an extremely high build quality and are meant to last. The player case provides access to the player controls and ports at the top meaning you don’t have to remove it from the case to transfer tunes which is great.

The headphones look cheap and I was a little worried that I might have to buy another pair but they fit the ear really well. I have worn these for two hours + and they don't hurt or fall out like other brands I have tried. The sound quality is also amazing, everything sounds like it should. The base is really good as well which a bonus was for me since I like hip-hop.

Here you can see how small the unit is compared to my rather battered C500. This player is tiny! The buttons take the form of a laptop mouse in that you have to slide your fingers over them to move up or down. This may seem a strange way to do it but you quickly and easily get used to it. There are three different sensitivity settings as well to help you adjust.

Here you can see the player in the case using the desk stand. This doubles the player up as a great device to take to parties or a mate’s house to hook up to their speakers and can easily be used as a stand alone device.

Creative have just released a wired remote which costs just over £12 from the creative site. This is well worth it and stops the need for you to keep on getting your player out. The remote also has a 'change function' and key lock button on the other side which also come in handy when you want to switch between your mp3s and the radio (yes it even had a radio)

Here is the best part, when the player is in use it provides a fantastic blue glow! This glow slowly fades in and out and looks really cool at night time. It even does this whilst charging.

I think that this blue glow would easily look best with black and as you can see from the picture it looks pretty cool.

The player has several different functions on it all of which work really well. The player uses data from the songs ID3 tags to sort it into either album, artist or genre. You can easily create playlists and import them from the pc with the included software provided by creative.

Creative have also included a FM Stereo radio which was the major selling point for me. The radio reception works really well and even does a autoscan for you to pick up any stations in your area. I find the quality is best when you keep the player close to your body.

The player also some ships with a built in microphone which you can use to record and notes you may have. The built in recorder can also record of the radio and will create an mp3 file for you.

Transferring music from your PC to the player is very easy, it’s a simple case of dragging and dropping your favourite tunes in to the player which shows up as a removable hard drive in My Computer.

I can’t really think of anything else to say about this little mp3 player apart from Creative are going to be releasing wireless headphones for this entire range later this year. So no more wires which will be really cool. Early tests suggest the quality is flawless and I will defiantly be picking up some for myself.

Conclusion:

This is one of the best mp3 players I have ever brought and the inbuilt radio makes it 10 times better for when you just want to hear something different. I would highly recommend this player to anyone in the market for a sub £140 mp3 player.

You can buy the player from the following online retailers.

Amazon Dell
MP3 Players

[Rcb]

Great review, it's convined me to splash out a little more and get it

[Nick F]

Cheers glad you liked it. I promise you will love it.

[Merlin4458]

i have 1 of these, and i have to say they are faultless. Everything is piss easy to use and the sound quality is awsome. Size is perfect, and the scroll system is great if u can get used to it. takes about an hour to get used too. Make sure u get the latest firmware as i hear that gives u the most battery life. Enjoy lads, ps GET THE PINK ONE U SOFTIES

[Nick F]

Yeah I mamaged to download the latest firmware and I can see the difference in the battery life. I cant wait for creative to bring out the wireless headphones, they are gonna be amazing

[Merlin4458]

i know icant wait, is there any news on them, or pics or prices or release date

[Nick F]

Some tech site did a review on them a few weeks back, cant remember for the life of me though. Try a google search.

[Craig]

Any chance you would be able to take a picture of it beside a DVD case or a CD case please? I have a iPod 20GB at the moment, only using 4.2GB of it and its a bit big for my liking! Would like to see it against something i have in my house

Cheers,

Craig

[Nick F]

Will do mate as soon as I get my digi cam back from the repair shop.

[Marcos]

That record from FM function sounds like a great idea, should be the norm.

I also like how it can just use explorer to transfer songs. Smart unit

How do you find the bass? Wholesome? I usually need a lot of bass to keep me happy, probably hard to take your word for it since you use the standard earphones.

[Nick F]

I love my hip-hop and the standard ear phones are fantastic. The bass is nice and deep. The only bad thing is that bass heavy songs seem to drain the battery quicker than normal.

[barney_2k]

great review Famished

My mate has one and he loves it

especially the FM recording

Barney

[Nick F]

cheers mate, glad you liked the review. Thinking of doing a couple of new reviews on some of my new toys

[Merlin4458]

problem im finding with my zen is the fm radio can never find a good rado channel. I put in say magic 105.4 and get nothing? Is it cause my firmware is by no means the latest

[Nick F]

Upgrade the firmware and it should help a little, I find keeping the headphone wire close to your body also improves things.

[Spud1]

Good review mate, hope you enjoy your player I'll stick to my ipod for now though, ive played with a zen micro and while it sounded great musically, and has good functions, It felt really cheap in comparison to my ipod..but heh its alot cheaper so fair enough