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Creative’s latest release Zen V and Zen V Plus, addition to their flash based line pose serious threat to Apple’s iPod nano. They come with 2GB memory and the Plus version at$170 is going to give Nano line a good run for the money.
Variations on these two models include music memory of 1,2 or 4 GB capabilities. They also include a voice recorder, line in jack and a organic LED display, 1.5”. While the display is pretty good at indoor viewing is not all that great outdoors. Both lines play content from Plays For Sure subscription service and handles the standard complement of MP3, WMA and Audible file. Only the plus version plays video too.
These players have impressive sound quality as the tests with the PC World proved. These devices ranked slightly worse than the IPod Nano and Creative’s Zen Nano Plus but was within striking distance. Cross talk score were the best. A variety of high bit rate MP3 files played great with all kinds of tweaking through a 5 band equalizer during my listening tests. Creative does seem to be maintaining their audio standards!
Viewing experience of video clips on the Zen V Plus was not all that much exciting. Watching anything that runs for more than a minute on the tiny 1.5”, 128X128 pixels screen will drive you to distraction. The device ships with the Creative’s Video converter application for down-sampling clips to the right format-yet viewing is less than satisfying.
The Zen V models are shorter than the iPod Nanos, as light and easy to use. An extremely responsive interface operated through a joystick and several buttons for navigation makes browsing though your music tracks, photos and videos quite simple. You could save play-lists on the fly, choose a color scheme from several offered and use a stored image as a wallpaper.
The V plus includes a standard mini-USB on top, quite a relief compared to the various proprietary connectors many manufacturers provide. Accessories bundled with the device are a little sparse; a line-in cable, a very short USB cable and a oddly mismatched carrying pouch constitute the lot. Looked like, they retained the same pouch that came with earlier Zen Vision M device. You could, of course, buy a protective case from Creative’s site.
The V Plus is a little light on bundled accessories, 
coming with just a line-in cable, a very short USB cable, and an oddly mismatched carrying pouch. (It looks like the same carrying case that came with the much larger Zen Vision M.) Protective cases are available from Creative’s Web site.
Battery life is rated at good 20 hours of audio playback time on the Zen V. The sync time was quite slow though, it took 40 minutes to load up a 2 GB test unit over USB 2.0.
Overall these devices offer impressive audio quality and useful customization options. It should turn out to be quite a competitor to the pricier Apple iPod Nano.
- Pricing: Very Inexpensive: $80 (9/11/2007)
- Performance: Very Good: 83/100
- Features: Good: 75/100
- Design: Very Good: 83/100
My word : Don’t Look ahead ” Grab It !
Say what you will about the patent dispute between Creative and Apple, both companies make some darned good MP3 players. Creative’s latest effort–the Zen V line of flash-based player–is aimed right at Apple’s popular iPod Nano line. And judging by the 2GB, $170 Zen V Plus I tested, it offers some serious competition to the Nano.
Zen v plus a seamless integration of design and functionality…reviews are better dan of apple’s nano..
nice work done by creative..impressive..
Hi.
Good design, who made it?
I made it dude.