If you get tired of your digital music, you can tune in to the Creative Zen Micro Photo's FM radio, which picks up even the weakest broadcast signals. The radio includes a handy autoscan function and offers 32 preset slots. If you feel so inclined, you can record FM transmissions, and there's a built-in mic for voice recordings. All recordings are saved as good-quality WAV files, though with noticeable white noise. Audiobook lovers will appreciate that the Creative Zen Micro lets you set up to ten bookmarks. We're still waiting on confirmation as to whether the player supports Audible.com content.
The Zen Micro Photo isn't compatible with Macs, but it's one of the very few MP3 players that can sync your calendar, contacts and tasks from Microsoft Outlook -- a handy feature indeed for people who don't need the full functionality of a handheld organiser. The player also works as a rudimentary alarm clock if it's hooked up to external speakers. There's a wake timer onboard that can be set to the FM radio or the music library.
Performance
We've come to expect top-quality audio performance from Creative's MP3 players, and the Creative Zen Micro Photo doesn't disappoint. With a signal-to-noise ratio of 'up to 98dB', the player delivers truly impressive detail and vocal clarity with almost imperceptible background hiss -- we could detect it through only the best of headphones. Bass response is more than respectable, and the mid-to-high ends come through nicely with no muddling, even at the loudest volume. And all this through the included earbuds -- swap in a high-end pair of headphones and sound remains excellent, perhaps slightly improved (we used the Shure E4c). Happily, the Zen Micro Photo is certainly loud enough, which can't be said of its monochrome-screen sibling. This is truly an audiophile's MP3 player.
The Zen Micro Photo's processor also does well overall. Photo thumbnails take just a few seconds to load, and the lag between standard MP3 files played on random is barely noticeable. Out of the box, the player annoyingly lagged between Janus tracks, but this was reduced when we updated the firmware -- we still think this needs more work, though.
Performance in our formal testing was also pretty good. Files transferred at a rate of 3.6MB per second, which is a hair above average. We also came close to matching Creative's rated battery life of 15 hours, squeezing out 14.8 hours of playback. It's not an amazing amount of juice, but it's definitely sufficient, especially considering that you can buy another battery and swap it in on the go.
Edited by James Kim
Additional editing by Nick Hide
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User reviews2
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rachii.x 29 November 2007
Good: plays music well, sync with your computer, easy to use
Bad: can't view pictures and listen to music at the same time
Comment: wow
I love this I have had mine for over a year and it is still going strong despite the fact it has been dropped one time too many
you can choose your own background
there isn't a lot of battery
the paint chips easily sao make sure it is in a cover
it plays music really well and doesn't go fuzzy when playing in the rain, the headphones work really well
and overall it is an excellent mp3 Love it ;)
Liam Given 23 October 2006
Good: Sound quality, FM tuner
Bad: Touch-pad is hyper-sensitive, no AM tuner, hard to see screen in lighted conditions
Comment: For me, it's all about sound quality and this is excellent on the Zen. However, having the player in my pocket and wanting to change a track, or skip fwd, is impossible with the hyper-sensitive touch-screen, a gentle click mechanism would be much better. Also, the player is prone to changing track or being paused if the 'lock' mechanism is not used, which is very frustrating. Finally, the difficult to read screen (in lighted conditions) is a setback.
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