Creative Player Review

The Good

Include the same features you’d find in more well-known MP3 players; come from a company with a positive reputation in the industry; large screens for viewing videos; some models support wireless synching

The Bad

Price difference is not significant; no LCD display; some complaints about performance and customer support

The Bottom Line

If you want to purchase a Creative Player, either the X-Fi or the Mozaic are going to be your top choices. Both have had some complaints from users, but most buyers have been more than satisfied with the results. Consider the features you want and the hard drive space you need when making your final decision.

Review

Creative Labs has a strong reputation for developing accessories for computers, such as speakers and keyboards. Several years back, the company decided to jump into the MP3 player market but they haven’t really made the splash they were hoping for. And that’s unfortunate because many of the Creative player models on the market do deserve serious consideration.

Each Creative player has a wide-range of features comparable to what you’ll find with the more mainstream players on the market. Most of players include screens for watching videos, navigating your music library, and looking at photos. The Creative Zen X-Fi Wireless has the largest screen at 2.5 inches which is even larger than the screen on an iPod Nano. However, the Creative player’s screen is not LCD.

Another benefit is that the battery life on the Creative player seems to be longer than that for some of the competing models. Where the Zune and the Nano can get about 24 hours of music playing from one charge, the Creative player can get up to 32 hours.

Like the Zune, the players come with FM tuners. Like the Zune, they also don’t work with MAC systems. The newest model of the Creative Zen X-Fi also supports wireless synching just as the Zune does.

Color choices might be another factor. Although the Creative Zen X-Fi only comes in black, the Mozaic Creative player comes in pink, silver, and black. While that’s not as many choices as you can get with the Nano, the interesting keyboard design (for which the player is named) gives it a unique look.

Many of the Creative player models also have external speakers so you can share your music with other people if you wish. This is a feature also being made available on some of the newer iPhone models. The benefit is that you don’t have to isolate yourself in order to enjoy the music.

On the downside, the Creative player options do not cost that much less than the Zune and iPod models of comparable size. The 16 GB model is only about $20 cheaper.

Some users have also reported that the players have stopped working or froze up after only a short time of using them. Some users of the Mozaic have had problems with the software freezing up their computers or not working at all.

Check out my other guide on flash mp3 players and car cd player