Zen Stone: Tiny sound for a tiny MP3 device

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

IT’S not surprising that Creative will try again to come up with innovative products that aim to outdo Apple, particularly in the MP3 player space.

Incidentally, for those who remember, Creative did revolutionize the MP3 player business and was actually one of the more prominent brands in the late 1990s and early 2000. That was until Apple decided to squeeze in with its iPod players that swept the world off its feet. Now, Creative must try to outdo Apple.

Surprisingly, it took Creative another three years before it realized that the business for minuscule MP3 players was particularly strong, especially after Apple introduced the extremely popular iPod Shuffle mini player that came with no more than the forward/backward, play/pause and volume controls. It didn’t need any LCDs. Apple then introduced the new form factor of the iPod Shuffle that was so small it could get stuffed down a drain. But the world still loved it.

Now, Creative wants a piece of that pie and it is willing to pay for half of that slice of the market just to get back on its feet. It recently introduced the Zen Stone, the company’s smallest MP3 player — not to mention the cheapest. It is also the first from Creative to lose an LCD, as opposed to its much larger brethren. Not even the Creative Zen MuVo could outclass the Zen Stone in size. It is also weighs in at just 18 grams — so light users wouldn’t notice it inside their pockets. It has a 1 gigabyte memory that can contain up to 500 songs, depending on the coding of each song file.

The Zen Stone may also be the best Creative MP3 player that sticks to the idea of Zen as it has nothing more than a round audio control at the front and the slide button on top. The attachment for the headset is on top of the unit while the USB-mini USB connector is at the bottom. The Zen Stone is curved in all corners and coated in shiny hard plastic that actually makes it look like a pebble. It also comes in six colors to attract a variety of users.

It also has an LED diode integrated into the casing to indicate battery life.

Speaking of the controls, these are very basic and actually look like Apple’s own round controls for the Shuffle; the forward/backward buttons are from left to right, volume is up or down and the play/pause button is in the middle. The slide control on the top of the device can either shuffle the songs or put the songs in continuous playback.

Attaching and synchronizing the unit to your PC is also a breeze, though it does require a USB-mini USB cable that comes with the box. To put songs into the Zen Stone, there wouldn’t be any need to install software. It’s as simple as dragging and dropping songs from a PC folder into the Zen Stone.

However, for better controls and conversion of songs, a user may have to download the Creative Media Lite software from the website. It’s also easy to use and would not automatically synchronize and erase files in the Zen Stone. Creative Media Lite can transform and organize files, convert some files to be playable for the Zen Stone (as well as other Creative MP3 players), and rip CDs. It can also create and organize folders in the Zen Stone that the player can identify so that it will only play songs according to preference. This is good so that the user can just flick through folders and choose the songs applicable for the mood.

Perhaps the single biggest problem for the Creative Zen Stone is its volume. While it does deliver a fairly decent sound quality, it can’t seem to go higher than half the volume of the iPod Shuffle. It may be an oversight of the makers or perhaps intentionally done to prevent people from becoming deaf while playing loud music in their players. Still it would have been good if the Zen Stone could increase the volume of the music by just a few notches.

Another problem with the Zen Stone is the lack of a clip. Whereas the new iPod Shuffle is actually a clip itself, the Zen Stone only has a small hole to fit a wrist strap. Users would have to buy a silicone skin that has its own clip, or other accessories that will allow it to stick on a person’s wrist or arm.

While the Apple iPod Shuffle may look good in more ways than one compared to the Zen Stone, the latter could still have a fighting chance in the huge market for small form factor MP3 players. It does have the same playability as the iPod Shuffle and is actually cheaper, costing no more than half the price. The Zen Stone’s price tag is already extremely low at $40 or around P2,000, compared to the iPod Shuffle at P5,000. Filipinos might want to choose the Zen Stone — if they can get past the low volume issue.

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