Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #595 in Consumer Electronics
• Colour: BLACK/CHROME
• Brand: Creative Labs
• Model: Creative ZEN X-FI 2 8GB
• Released on: 2009-10-08
• Dimensions: .47" h x 2.20" w x 3.94" l, 4.41 pounds

Manufacturer's Description

Engage the sense of touch with Creative's first ever touchscreen digital media player - the ZEN X-Fi2 8GB MP3 and video player.

Touch the sound of perfection
The ZEN X-Fi gave you the sound of perfection. Now we’ve gone ahead and made it better. No buttons involved, simply let your fingers work their magic across the 3" TFT LCD screen and access all the player's features instantly.

ZEN Xi-Fi2 now allows you to experience the sound of perfection even with your stored movies and FM radio - with X-Fi technology that restores audio to even higher levels of clarity than before. Immerse yourself in a natural listening experience as the state-of-the-art X-Fi technology intelligently moves the earphone stereo source away from your ears, simulating an audio experience from a pair of high-end stereo speakers.

The latest player from Creative is a step up from its predecessor, the popular ZEN X-Fi. Besides a bigger screen size, the ZEN X-Fi2 supports multiple audio formats including the much desired Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), which delivers audio without compromising on its original quality as well as iTunes Plus (unprotected AAC format), which compresses audio data much more efficiently than older formats. Indulge in true pristine audio where you hear your music played the way it was meant to be heard.

The ZEN X-Fi2 also supports RSS feeds offline, and video out where you can share your videos and photos on your TV. If you need more than 8GB of internal memory, the ZEN X-Fi2 also comes in 16GB and 32GB versions.

Take in rich detail from nifty guitar strumming and crisp cymbal clashes and complete the whole experience with the bundled EP-630 in-ear earphones. These premium earphones are designed to block out external noise and even come with three different sizes of ear tips to offer you the most optimum comfort.

Touch and go
The ZEN X-Fi2 is the first touchscreen digital media player from Creative. You can navigate with ease on the intuitive 3" TFT LCD touchscreen. There are no tricky buttons involved, just one touch is all you need to access all the media content from the home screen. One tap of the finger will take you through to your, music, movies, photos, radio, and many more features. It also makes controlling your music or movies easier. Once you have opened the movie application, for example, the controls for it appear on the touchscreen. So it is even easier than previous X-Fi players to play, pause, skip or control the volume. The screen has 262,000 colours and a 400 x 240 pixel resolution making it perfect not just for touchscreen navigation, but also for watching movies or viewing photos.

Pump it up with X-Fi technology
ZEN X-Fi2 now brings the power of X-Fi to bear on more types of entertainment. Building on the ZEN X-Fi, ZEN X-Fi2 now allows you to experience the sound of perfection even with your stored movies and FM Radio -- with X-Fi technology that restores audio to even higher levels of clarity than before. The adjustable X-Fi Crystalizer allows you to experience the very essence of music perfection as it intelligently restores detail lost during file compression with just one touch. Also included is the X-Fi Expand technology, which brings the most acoustically natural sound staging in headphone audio available from a media player. X-Fi Expand creates more depth to your music by moving the conventional left/right stereo source away from your ears. As a result you will feel as if you were listening to your music from a pair of high end speakers.

Supports multiple audio formats
There are no worries about having a library of audio files in different formats, as the ZEN X-Fi2 supports multiple audio formats. Relax and listen to your MP3, WMA, AAC, Audible4 and FLAC files with ease. Pre-loaded into the ZEN X-Fi2 is the Creative Centrale software which makes it easier to rip, transfer and manage your media content. If you prefer, you can even transfer files by simply dragging and dropping them. The 8GB ZEN X-Fi2 can store 2000 MP3 files (approximately 4 minutes per song at 128kbps), but if you need more internal memory the ZEN X-Fi2 also comes in 16GB and 32GB versions.

Video out in X-Fi
Watch movies or view photos with your family and friends on your TV screen by connecting the ZEN X-Fi2 with an A/V cable (A/V cable sold separately). You can connect the cable using the composite connectors on your TV (round yellow jack, and the round red jack) making it quick and easy to plug in and start enjoying. You will be able to watch your movies with X-Fi sound, or listen to the backing music you have chosen for your slide show.

Expandable memory to provide more media content
In a dilemma over what songs or movies to upload to your player? Limited media capacity is no longer a problem, for the ZEN X-Fi2 comes with a built-in micro SD card slot which enables you access more music, photos and videos in your memory card. You can aslo transfer files easily to enjoy more media content in your player.

RSS feeds download supported
RSS feeds are downloaded in entirety, including photos (not just article headlines with a few lines of text). Just sync via the USB connection and download RSS feeds from your computer and read them later on your ZEN X-Fi2 on-the-go.

Share your music out loud
If you are out and about, or even at home, you can share your music out loud thanks to the powerful built-in speaker. With up to 25 hours audio playback you can enjoy your music for hours from just a single charge.

High-quality earphones
Included with the ZEN X-Fi2 are the Creative EP-630 earphones, so you can indulge in all your favourite tunes without the noise. The in-ear design reduces background noise and sound leakage significantly while achieving optimum music playback. They are perfect for travelling or commuting where you may wish to reduce background noise, and minimise the sound leakage for the benefit of those around you. Designed to deliver deep bass with balanced tones for all music playback, the 9mm Neodymium magnet drivers enable you to listen to your audio in greater clarity. Get set to enjoy long hours of music in comfort. Three pairs of silicone tips come bundled with the earphones so you can choose the size that offers the most optimum fit. The silicone tips fit snuggly into your ears helping to keep them in place whatever activity you are doing.

A lightweight masterpiece
With its sleek curves and polished finishing, the ZEN X-Fi2 weighs a mere 75g and fits snugly in your pocket or bag. The 3 inch screen is neatly fitted into a player measuring just 102mm long, 57mm tall and a mere 11.6mm deep. It is roughly the same height a credit card but a little bit longer.

Never miss the latest hits
Be on top of the music scene and get the latest news with the integrated FM radio. Take your pick from the 32 preset stations in the player.

Record it now
Never miss out on meetings and lectures. Capture important speeches or whatever you fancy with the integrated voice recorder.

Keep your life organised
With the built-in alarm, calendar, tasks and contacts, you'll never have trouble waking up or missing an appointment again.

Box Contains

Customer Reviews

Average player from Creative - very good in some ways
When I saw this announced by Creative I had a sudden attack of fanboy. I'm not convinced it was a worthwhile purchase.

Changes from X-Fi 1:

It is even lighter, is thinner, but is a bit longer. Out go the useless wi-fi features (even when they worked the battery wasn't up to it) and the unusual buttons, and in come AV-out (a feature on previous players like the Vision:M which outputs video to a TV), better SD card integration and a touch screen.

Here's what I think about the player generally:

Positives:

It weighs only 75g (for the 32GB version) which is light compared to other players. Compare this to:

Sony X Series: 98g
iPod Touch: 115g
Samsung P3: not sure but it weighs a ton

The size and weight make a difference. I can hardly tell I'm carrying it and it packs a lot in those 75g. It feels about half as light again as the X-Fi 1 which is probably a big achievement. Any lighter and it'll be about as light as a credit card. This must be an area where Creative is trying to differentiate the X-Fi 2 from other products, and only the Cowon S9 is a similar weight.

I love the sound quality of Creative players; this player is no different and improves upon the X-Fi features of its predecessor by having a sliding scale for both "Crystallizer" (fills in mp3 loss) and "Expand" (gives music a live feel). Some won't want to use these and it sounds good even without them. There are also the usual EQ settings and equaliser. Creative players can really only be beaten on sound by more expensive audiophile products like the Cowon S9. That's how good this sounds. It makes iPods sound total rubbish, an area in which Apple is starting to lag behind the competition. FLAC (Free Lossless Audio) is a welcome codec addition which does sound really good.

The touch screen works well and is for the most part an improvement on the little buttons on the X-Fi 1. For the techies out there, it's not a capacitive screen, so you have to apply a bit of pressure. But it works well and feels stylish, not gimmicky like the Braille on the X-Fi 1. Sometimes the screen registers a touch with flashes and sound but the player does not respond, which is a little annoying. Hopefully this can be solved with a firmware update. The GUI looks nice and is customisable, but sometimes not very responsive. Album art is displayed where available so this will please a lot of people, though I wish there was a way of turning it off, as my library looks messy with only about 50% art.

The earbuds are quite good and deserve a mention, but I prefer Creative's other EP830 that shipped with the X-Fi 1. They have a clearer sound but less bass. They sell separately for next to nothing, but don't be fooled by the cheap prices; these earbuds are really good. It'll be a matter of personal preference as to which are best for you.

The micro SD card doesn't exactly integrate with the library, but files imported from the card are integrated, which is a step in the right direction. With the X-Fi 1 files were stored in a separate area which was a bit inconvenient. But this does mean that to integrate, for example, a 2GB card, you need to have 2GB of spare memory on the player. This small niggle doesn't really bother me as I don't use SD cards that much, but note that the card reader is for MICRO SD cards, not the "normal" size. I don't know anyone who owns a micro SD card yet, so Creative might be taking a bit of a gamble on these becoming common (but they probably will). It means that like me, if your camera uses the standard size SD for example, you won't be able to use it with this player to transfer pictures. I've just bought a Canon G10 which uses standard size SD cards, not micro. But then again the camera has a far better screen.

Negatives:

There are no dedicated volume buttons. This is unforgivable and soon becomes really annoying. There is loads of space on the right hand side for volume buttons, so why didn't Creative include some? Even the fiddly buttons on the X-Fi 1 were better for adjusting the volume. The X-Fi 2 has only one button on the front, which returns to the main menu, and a small on/off/lock button on the top. Two more buttons for volume would have been most welcome as I don't want to fiddle around with a touch screen when adjusting the volume. I want to be able to adjust the volume without having to look at the player. Don't underestimate this negative feature if such things bother you.

The firmware doesn't seem to be finished yet. My player rebuilds the library every time I switch it on. And like some other posters to the Creative forums, I've loaded files to it which don't appear in the player's menu. Some video files that ought to play don't. I just get the general feeling that the player isn't working properly and I hope things like this will soon be sorted.

Once again this player has very little native video support. The formats it claims to support are through conversion software (in this case the ghastly Centrale) which seems to take even longer to convert video than does the Creative Video Converter that shipped with the X-Fi 1 (Centrale took about 2 hours to convert a 30 minute video and my PC isn't slow). Apparently there are better alternatives available which I will eventually try out. Also I've not been able to play BBC iPlayer content on the X-Fi 2. The X-Fi 1 has no problems with iPlayer. Maybe it's a firmware thing, or maybe like the Zen MX it no longer has native wmv support. I'm not sure which at the moment, but be warned if you like the iPlayer as it might not be supported.

The screen itself is larger than the X-Fi 1 and is a widescreen. The resolution is slightly higher, but one noticeable downgrade is the number of colours. Only 262K compared to a whopping 16.7M. It doesn't look as vibrant as the X-Fi 1 screen but does look higher resolution. A matter of personal preference again but surprisingly for me I prefer the vibrant colours on the original X-Fi. The touch screen also dulls the image slightly, so coupled with the bad video support I don't recommend the X-Fi 2 for those who like to watch videos. I still use my Zen Vision for this, a product several years old which apart from the dodgy viewing angle is really good and has not been bettered in this regard by Creative (apart from maybe the Vision W but this had a lower resolution). Overall I consider the screen to be nowhere near good enough for my needs so I've listed this as a negative.

Undecided:

I've not tried AV-out but I doubt that it's as good as the Zen Vision:M due to the file resolution limitations. RSS feeds don't interest me either, or synchronising calendars. I don't use the microphone much but this one works well, and the player has a good speaker. The X-Fi 2 doesn't have as many bonus superfluous features as the X-Fi 1. Battery life seems average by today's standards and is probably traded for weight, but then the Cowon S9 is a similar weight and has way more battery life (55 hour audio versus 25 hour) but note the S9 is more expensive.

Overall I don't think this is a better package than the X-Fi 1 for my needs, it's just different. I'd highly recommend it if your priorities are sound quality, portability and a stylish user interface. If your priorities are video, ease of use and ergonomics I would advise you to look elsewhere.

Lastly I should add that my player has a small fault that might mean it goes back to Creative. I won't say what it is yet as it's likely to be particular to my player, but I'm about to find out how good Creative's customer service is. Perhaps more on this later.

Excellent
I bought this to replace an Archos 20GB hard drive mp3 player. I wanted a flash player and was attracted by Creative's reputation for sound quality.

I bought it direct from Creative, it was FedEx'd from China and was with me 3 days later on 24th Sept.

I have used it over the weekend and once you get used to the touch screen it works great, I already have on it over 2,500 songs ripped at 320kbps. Even though it is shipped with half decent Creative earphones I have been using it with my Shure E3Cs and the combination sounds great, having a slight edge over my 8GB 2nd generation Nano. The jury is out on the X-fi enhancements, it definitely makes the music louder and brighter but not sure about better.

The half a dozen you tube clips I have put on the machine so far are surprisingly watchable and clear on the 3" screen.

Overall I am very pleased with my purchase, and at 75g you can hardly feel it in a shirt pocket.

Fantastic Sounding player.
There is alot to like about this player, especially considering the price, which is very good for a 16GB device. It's most important feature for a music player, is the sound quality, and it scores very well in this respect (almost as good as my Walkman, which I consider my benchmark that I have yet to hear any other player come close to), it's well featured, with along with the usual raft of features found in most players, it's also got additional features like RSS reader, FM Radio, Microphone and speaker (so it can be used as a dictaphone), Contacts, Calendar, Task list, TV Out (you need to buy a cable for this).

Format support is also rather impressive: MP3, WMA (with/without DRM), Audible, AAC, FLAC, WMV9, MPEG4-SP, DivX4/5, and XviD.

The display is very clear and vibrant, and the menus are easy to navigate. My only niggle with this unit, is the touchscreen, it's of resistive type, and I found it hard to get it to recognize my selections and gestures, often doing the wrong thing. There is a calibration routine, but it did not really help. In the end I found it better to use my fingernail rather than my finger itself. What's unfortunate is that the touchscreen is the ONLY way to navigate this device, and it really needs to work flawlessly, which I found hard to achieve without practice. However eventually I did get it working, but never to my total satisfaction.

Like previous Creative players, there is upgrade capability, where you can add additional space using MiniSD cards, however like previous creative players, the player does not "merge" the media databases making a seamless browsing experience, you have to select the MiniSD icon in the media to see a separate list of media on the removable card. Including the MiniSD card was a nice thought, but until the software treats it as a integrated part of the player, then it's rather pointless.

The video playback works well, and has good format support. The headphones are of good quality, and the desktop software is not overbearing, it does what it needs to and does it well (although to be honest, it's just as easy to drag/drop media or use Windows Media Player to manage the music).

No proprietary connectors, it uses a standard mini-USB connector, which is welcome change. But like most players, you can't charge AND play music on it, which I still find rather bizarre.

The unit runs smoothly (there was a update that improved responsiveness, and I updated to this before I reviewed this unit), but I did see a problem where embedded some of my WMA embedded album art was not being displayed on the player, I'm sure Creative will fix this at some point.

If you can learn to live with the touchscreen, then this is a great little player, and given it's considerably cheaper (and better sounding) than bigger named touchscreen players on the market (naming no names), it certainly needs consideration for anyones shortlist.

Pros:
Great sound
Well featured
Great Price
Fantastic Display
Good range of formats supported

Cons:
Touchscreen responsiveness/accuracy
No integration of MiniSD memory.