Zune HD Review

Zune HD 32Gb "Platinum" Preliminary Review:
By: Konrad
9-15-09

I was lucky enough to get my hands on a new Zune HD 32gb "Platinum" edition while on a trip to my local Best Buy and I figured I'd share my impressions along with some photos and video.

Overall nothing ground breaking, after all there have been plenty of shots posted already, but for me this is my first encounter with a Zune. I know I'm not alone either as there have been many out there who undoubtedly have been sporting an iPod or other music player for a while and perhaps are a bit curious about this slick new device.

So far my impressions are generally good and the learning curve isn't too steep.

The packaging:










The box was compact and filled with the expected peripherals (some promo collateral, USB sync cable, earbuds and three pairs of foam earbud covers).

Setup:

The plastic sheath that encases the Zune instructs the user to connect the device to the computer off the bat. I didn't but soon found out that you can't do much without that first sync up. The reason is simply that you need to set up everything first. I.e. link your Zune/Xbox Live Account for purposes of accessing the apps and other marketplace items. There isn't any software in the box, or apparently pre-loaded on the Zune and instead your directed to go to www.Zune.net/setup. Once there you can download the Zune software with relative ease.

The download isn't huge, and it doesn't take more than a few minutes to set up initially. What I found really nice was the fact that the software automatically pulls any music you have on that PC and syncs it up with the Zune. So in this case it pulled my itunes music (Not sure if it auto converted the files or if it merely pulled the DRM free songs) into my Zune account. This saved me time and it was easy so definite kudos there.

One minor issue I had was trying to download one of the (few) apps. I kept getting an error which told me that I had not signed into my account and that I should sync the Zune with my computer to fix this issue. At first I was perplexed by this because I had logged into my XboxLive account on my PC, but I had initially skipped the option to link this account with my Zune. Hence, performing this link solved the problem and the apps downloaded with ease and surprising speed.

Use:










Everything was set up and ready to go and one of the first things I tried out was the radio. I realize we live in an age that barely remembers what FM radio is, but I've got to say that not only did I like actually listening to the "HD" radio, but I was pleasantly surprised at the fact that it would run in the background even while websurfing and bouncing around throughout the other menus.

The only time the radio would cut out is when I actually queued up a song from my library or started playing a game.










One thing that threw me off at first was the "media button" on the side of the device. I assumed it would be a volume rocker, but it isn't. Instead, pressing the button brings up an on screen 4-way hybrid display. I say hybrid because you can either tap one of the four points on the display or swipe your finger up or down to change the volume. At first I was disappointed at the lack of a volume rocker, but as I played with the interface it grew on me. Additionally, the "forward" and "Back" arrows can be used to scan through the radio stations which was helpful.










The power button on the top was simple enough to use and you tap it to bring the screen out of its hibernation mode or to put it back to sleep.










I have mixed feelings about the location of the headphone jack. Its located on the bottom left portion of the player next to the sync port and if your holding the player, then it works great. However, if you, like me use your player at the gym and tend to use cases which affix the player to your waistband, then the bottom mounted jack takes up valuable headphone cord and could lead to unintentionally disconnects or worse, a dropped Zune.










The central, bottom mounted "Home" button does what its supposed to do and takes the users back to the home screen. Sometimes theres a tiny bit of lag as you get out of a program but in most cases its a quick return.










The screen is plain gorgeous...gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous! It looks great and it responds very quickly and I found only one flaw. While leaving a comment on my facebook page, the text that I entered was strangely dulled and fuzzy looking. Mind you, it was only while typing the text in, because once the comment was posted, everything was crisp looking. Speaking of typing, the text interface is quite good. Better than many WM phones and or WM ROMs that I've used. Unlike others that use a detached "pop out" to highlight the letter being pressed, the Zune uses a "mountain" where the letter being highlighted is both larger than the neighboring letters and is located at the peak of the mountain. In this way , if the letter is at the top of the mountain, than its the one you're selecting. I found that this allowed for relatively easy one handed use because you could leave your finger in contact with the screen then scroll through the letters you want and only release once you've found the right one. Its a little different than the ipod approach, but I found it completely usable.

Also, the accelerometer works crazy fast when switching from landscape to portrait mode in the browser, so again kudos there.

Speaking of the browser, its not the best I've used but its clean and it will get the job done. I've yet to find a method of directly inputting a URL and instead must tap the small magnifying glass icon to do a search via Bing. This is an extra step in getting to a site but it will get you there.










The menu system was a little confusing at first as I am used to having a "Back" button to press to go to a previous screen. The Zune does occasionally have such a button, but in most cases you mere tap the translucent letters appearing at the top of the screen which are in fact the menu from which you just came from. Put another way, imagine a ladder, as you go down the ladder, you see the rung from which you just came at the top of the screen, but its partially see through so as not to intrude. If you want to go back to that upper rung, you merely tap the rung and then you are taken back to it.

So how does it all sound? It is a music player after all, so this is a major question. The supplied earbuds won't knock your socks off, but they aren't the worst I've seen. The included foam speaker covers do make them decently comfortable, but I rarely use this type of ear bud, because they always fall out of my ears. Connecting my Koss Pro 4aa headset, I considered the sound to be slightly better than my ipod, but only by a nominal degree. There are equalizer settings, but I've yet to play around with them fully.

My Wife was both irritated at my impulsive purchase but also intrigued. I handed it to her and she played around with it for a few minutes until she finally acknowledged that it was in fact a very cool little player.

I concur with her assessment. I'm not an expert on these matters, but I am an avid tech consumer. I've had several ipods and a couple of Sony players and I have to say that the Zune breaks no new ground, but it does do its job well. Is it an ipod killer? Who can really say? If you buy one I guess the answer is "Yes".

I for one like the radio a lot more than I thought I would. I have an Xbox360 and am eager to explore the interoperability that the Zune has with that system. My ipod is usually just a music player and I have a PSP for games. Plus, my Touch Pro acts as my email and websurfing tool of choice. Hence, we shall see just how much the Zune and all its glitz really matter to me.

I also purchased the docking system so stay tuned for that as I'll be discussing the HD out functionality very soon!

Update: 9-21-09: I've had the Zune HD for a few days now and I've put it though my usual range of use. This has included time at the gym, commuting and waiting for my car maintenance to be done.

So far I've been generally impressed though I do have a few complaints. First the bad;

1. Screen smudges: The screen is a smudge magnet and I know that its a touchscreen device, but I swear the smudges build up much faster than on my Touch Pro.

2. Lack of cases: There are a few options out there that I've found but the pickens are slim, still here's what I've found available online so far. I want to say upfront that I've not actually tested these cases so my impressions are currently only based on the feature set.

Incipio Underground - Felt exterior with a suede interior and a clip to keep the player in place; Although the case looks nice, I have not been able to verify whether it has a clip for attaching to a belt. By the looks of the photo, there isn't any such clip and for me, this is an important feature for any case that will be used at the gym.

Vaja Zune HD Case - Leather with several custom options; Vaja's products look pretty doggone nice, but of course, nice rarely comes cheap and the case from Vaja starts at $50.00. Further, some people on various forums have complained about a lack of protection with these cases. Still, in my opinion, these products are the best looking cases I've found to date.

DLO Action Jacket/Jam Jacket - These are two cases from DLO that are decently priced cases that offer a decent gym option as well as decent way to keep your headphones secured conveniently. I've used products similar to this one and they are ok. My problem with arm bands is that they tend to slide down my arm constantly or if they are too tight they simply start to restrict blood flow in my arm. Still, the Action jacket apparently has a belt clip option which could be the ticket. The Jam Jacket is neoprene and has a raised (presumably partially hollow) portion on the back which you can use to wrap your headphones around. I've used a similar case for my iPod classic and it was more of a gimmick for me as the headphones weren't that secure, plus there was no belt clip. In fairness, I've not actually tested this case/skin out so it may be better than the one I just mentioned.

Thats just the biggest three that I was able to find with a fairly in depth keyword search. I'm sure we'll see more options pop up in the coming months, but for now I guess, we'll just have to resort to DIY options and the like. Personally, I've been using an old HTC Touch Pro case that is just about the right height for the ZHD. The lack of accessories isn't the Zune's fault per se, though I'm sure that Microsoft could have coordinated things a bit better with 3rd party accessory manufacturers.

3.No "Skip shuffle": My other complaint about the Zune software is the lack of a "Skip in shuffle" functionality. At least, I've not been able to find any such option anywhere in the 4.0 software. For me this is important because I have radio plays that I don't want to hear in shuffle that aren't "podcasts" and hence are dumped into the music section.

4. Screen locks quick: The "play/fast forward, volume up/down" screen disappears a little too quickly for my tastes.

5. FM Radio: The radio is nice, but I find that the reception can vary greatly depending on the headphones proximity to my person. (I.e. if the wire is in contact with my skin, the signal is perfect, where as just a few inches away causes lots of static).

6. Freezing: I've not had any major freeze up, but every one and a while a menu takes a few fractions of a second longer to pull up than I would have thought given the processor.

7. Screen visibility: Its actually pretty bad in direct sunlight. As in, I can't make out the characters at all without putting the player up to my eyes.

8. Volume: The volume doesn't go as high as I'd like for use in the car, although its fine when used with earbuds.

So far thats about all the "bad" that I can find and those issues really don't carry the same value as the "good" that I've found. The good:

1. Sound quality: The Zune has great sound quality and apparently its not just my wishful thinking. A keyword search yields plenty of persons who agree that the sound quality on their Zunes (Specifically the ZHD) is better than on their iPods.

2. Screen responsiveness: The moment I touched the screen for the first time I was impressed with how responsive the screen is and continues to be. Even during quick and repeated gestures, the ZHD pops from screen to screen with little or no drama. (Take notes Touch Pro!).

3. Screen: While it gets easily washed out in direct sunlight, in anything but direct natural light, the screen is jewel like delivering really nice looking colors and textures.

4. Media button: At first I wasn't a fan of the media button + virtual play/FF and volume buttons. However, after discovering that it wasn't necessary to actually hit the "+" or "-" buttons I was easily able to make volume adjustments without looking at the screen. FYI, you don't need to actually hit the media button when the screen is unlocked. Rather, merely tap the middle of the screen and it will come up.

5. Wireless syncing: Sure, the iPod Touch can do this, but I still like the fact that the Zune HD has this feature but my iPod classic didn't. I hear a song on TV or similar and I look the song up and download it right there.

6. Radio: While the reception can vary a lot, I do like the fact that its there. When the reception is good, its a great little radio. I know I've said it already, but sometimes its kind of nice to just have the songs come up randomly. Plus, if you like the song you can tag it and add it to your car with one touch of a virtual button. Though another FYI, apparently you can't DL the songs tagged from the radio via the Zunepass. Unless there was something I missed, you can only DL on the ZHD the radio songs by buying them with MS points. Now, you can still leave them in the Zune's cart, connect the Zune and DL the songs via the Zunepass on your computer w/o having to actually buy them. This kind of bugged me as it seemed like an unnecessary step but I still like the radio tagging feature.

7. Zunepass: Its like Pandora + and I like Pandora, so I really like the Zunepass. I probably spend about $15/month anyway on iTunes purchases so this comes out within the realm of cost effective for me.


Update conclusion: I've been following some pretty viscous and yet simultaneously informed arguments over the "Touch v. Zune" issue and I've decided that the Zune isn't going to trump the Touch in feature terms. However, I could have bought a Touch and yet I didn't for a couple of reasons. 1. My phone serves as my primary mobile email and news aggregating platform. I get directions and movie times on it as well. Further, I've tried some touchscreen games and with a few exceptions, I'm not a huge fan. Rather, I prefer to utilize my PSP for mobile gaming, hence, for me the iTouch would have provided me with admittedly cool, but redundant features.

For music, I like to have a dedicated device and due to the superior sound quality on the Zune, the "apps" or the lack thereof haven't mattered to me. This isn't an excuse, its a decision to choose better music quality over jack of all trades functionality. After all if its about the music, then the music needs to sound its best.

So there ya go, my latest take on the Microsoft Zune HD which has hopefully been of some use to you folks out there.

Konrad

P.S. here are a couple of perspective shots with the Sprint HTC Touch Pro.