Related Sections: Galleries Microsoft Reviews
Zune HD review: Excellent media player, slightly flawed
After admiring the Zune HD's slim good looks, now we've installed its software and taken it for a spin. We loaded the $290 32GB media player with music, videos, pictures and podcasts, tested out its user interface along with the Zune 4.0 software, and then we put it atop its dock and cranked out some 720p HDTV in our home theater. What did we think? Continue reading to experience it yourself.
Fantastic screen
The most arresting part of using the Zune HD is its brilliant OLED screen. We're not accustomed to this kind of contrast, and when its demo video started playing, it elicited astonishment from all who saw it. The NVIDIA Tegra processor inside cranks out crisp video on its small display, even though the 3.3-inch 16:9 OLED touchscreen is only capable of 480x272 resolution. But because the screen is so small, the video looks like HD. Indeed, that touchscreen is a bit tiny for our taste, but then, that's a sacrifice you'll have to make for such a slim music player — it's small enough to take with you anywhere.
The capacitive touchscreen is as responsive as any we've ever tested, and the user interface is the best we've seen. It takes a little getting used to, but once you learn its trick, it's easy: Instead of pushing the Back button of previous Zunes and other music players, you touch the stylish enlarged text top of the screen, and that takes you to the previous menu. The interface sprinkles niceties throughout, letting you smoothly slide through the history of media you've played recently, and control the audio by either touching or sliding your finger on the screen. We especially like the delightful screen saver that pops up when a song is playing, blending text and an album cover into spur-of-the-moment found art.
The Zune HD quickly found our Wi-Fi networks, and then we could test its excellent web browsing capability. Even though it's a variant of Internet Explorer, it's first rate, but like the iPhone, it can't play Flash video, including the Pandora website. Maybe someday.
Media monster
We're also fond of that Zune 4.0 desktop software, which quickly finds your media, adding album cover art and generally making itself as helpful as possible. Too bad it's only Windows-only for now. We're also delighted to find a nascent app store in the making, new for Zune. So far, there's only about a half a dozen apps in Marketplace, including an advertiser-supported Texas Hold 'Em application, a calculator, and a couple of basic games. Still, it's a start, and we can't wait to see what happens when this tiny acorn grows into a mighty oak.
There's a catch if you want to play the Zune HD's video in actual HD — you'll need to spring for that $90 HD AV dock, an expensive accessory that lets you connect HDMI, optical audio and component media into a display or receiver. It comes with an excellent remote that's quite powerful, not requiring you to point it directly at the dock for it to work. That dock can also function as a charging stand if you want to keep it next to your PC. However, when your Zune is plugged into this dock, you can't go online and buy movies directly from there, a slight disappointment. Nor are Microsoft's own Windows Media Center recordings supported in the Zune HD yet. Weird.
Home theater player
We downloaded a handful of HD videos from the Zune Marketplace, and took them into our home theater where we had installed our dock with its HDMI output. The videos showed up in all their 720p glory, playing smoothly and looking barely compressed. Nice.
There were a couple of disappointments, though. One was the lack of any surround sound. Microsoft confirmed to us that it's only stereo for now, no Dolby 5.1, no surround at all. And, we had an HDMI handshake issue when we connected the Zune's dock to our Sony AV receiver. An HD movie we rented from the Zune Marketplace refused to play on our HDTV when we routed it through our home theater receiver. Plugging it directly into the HDTV, it played flawlessly. That's a downside of digital rights management (DRM), because all the other HD videos we loaded played perfectly through our HDMI-equipped AV receiver.
We were also disappointed in the lack of codec support, where only Windows Media Video (WMV), MPEG-4, and H.264 are supported. What happened to DivX and Matroska files? Come on, Microsoft. Audio support is slightly better, with Windows Media Audio-standard (WMA), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), and good ol' MP3 supported.
Music box
There's also HD radio on board, and reception was good, but we just can't get excited about radio these days when there are so many Internet stations and Pandora available. But then, none of those are possible on the Zune HD, yet.
Bypassing the radio for the most part, we thoroughly enjoyed the centerpiece of the Zune HD, its audio playback. To us, it made our variety of music files sound as good as they've ever sounded on any Apple product. Of course, this is not lossless audiophile quality audio, but it'll do.
Summing up, the Zune HD represents a remarkable feat of technological prowess. Its user interface is the best we've seen on a portable media player, its sound is admirable, and its HD playback is jaw-dropping with that tiny NVIDIA Integra processor inside. This built-from-the-ground-up media player portends great things from Microsoft, perhaps hinting that this tiny form factor might someday grow into something more. Zune phone anyone?
 |  |
|
By kirev at 3:32 PM ON 09/16/09
Zune portable gaming platform perhaps?
By Neotyguy40 at 3:48 PM ON 09/16/09
You know... I would respect Microsoft alot more if they didn't rush things and get a crappy version of everything out first, and then fix everything later. This happened with XP until SP 2 came out, it's still going on with Vista (Win 7 looks promising though). They don't even have MP3 support? Isn't that why they call is an MP3 player?
I'll get the ZHD when they release 3-4 more software updates for it... It looks like it could have potential, but I just wish MS wouldn't rush out their stuff before they put things people want in there.
Also, what apps does the ZHD come with built in? If it can't watch youtube videos, then I'll stick with iPod.
By whatever1 at 4:07 PM ON 09/16/09
You're a moron.
Audio support is slightly better, with Windows Media Audio-standard (WMA, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), and good ol' MP3 supported.
It IS supported.
By kmfcm at 4:13 PM ON 09/16/09
give me a call when they make one of these with 160 gigs or more.
I have no time for small harddrive space.
By cjc1103 at 4:20 PM ON 09/16/09
No company can afford to make a complicated system like this (or a modern operating system) perfect before release, in fact sometimes you don't know of problems until the device/software is released. If they tried to make everything perfect before release, their competition would eat them alive, and they would go out of business for lack of revenue. Fortunately, firmware and software updates for a device like this that be released later to fix problems or add functionality. I think the Microsoft has done a credible job with the new Zune. If you don't like it, don't buy it.
By Darieum at 4:35 PM ON 09/16/09
Good review. Indeed we are all waiting to see what sprouts from the acorn. So far so good though...
By Kaled Ali at 5:47 PM ON 09/16/09
The Zune HD player looks like a great music player, it also presents a challenge for the iPod Touch. If the Zune gets a camera, then the iPod is sunk.
By jiggygrand at 12:22 AM ON 09/17/09
I agree with cjc.... This is a respectable product.
I never respected the Zune until now!
By murc at 12:43 AM ON 09/17/09
Kaled Ai - Why the F*ck does everybody think you need a camera in everything!?
I couldn't care less if it has a camera...I own a camera, and if I leave it at home...my cell has a camera, I dont think I need a back-up for my back-up.
Is that really what it takes to sell you something?
I have an old pair of shoes I'd like to sell you, I know you will love them because I taped an old camera to the front of it, so now you will have another camera wherever you go! whoohoo!
By Drew at 1:27 AM ON 09/17/09
Excellent review, Charlie! Really enjoyed the read.
All in all, it sounds like a pretty solid device. However, some of the software quirks mentioned such as the hdmi to Sony receiver DRM issue, and the inability to buy movies when docked are puzzling.
By dining room table at 2:12 AM ON 09/17/09
Good review! It looks like a pretty device!
By EnOne at 12:38 PM ON 09/17/09
I would find this more useful if it included Contacts, Calendar and tasks. It's all Microsoft so it could sync to outlook.
I don't mean for it to be a PDA but a music player that also let me keep track of these three pieces of information would be great. Listen to music on your way to a meeting or at the grocery store, or going to the post office.
By Neotyguy at 4:20 PM ON 09/17/09
Most likely not EnOne, if Microsoft does bring a version of outlook to the ZHD, then it will cost at least $10 as an app.
The ZHD sounds stable, but it's not a match for the iPT... Not even close... Here is where I think Microsoft went wrong on this:
No Hype - Microsoft didn't bring out anything revolutionary. Most people have iPods and won't give those up, just because they haven't heard much about it. I asked my roommate, family, and friends if they were going to get a Zune HD, and guess what? None of them even HEARD of it. Infact, I most likely wouldn't have even heard of it if I didn't come to DVICE frequently. It was also not a good idea to release it right after Apple's media event.
iTunes - Although this wasn't MS's doing, since Apple banned all other music players from connecting to iTunes, it still will hit the ZHD hard. 11 out of 12 people who own an mp3 own iPods, and over 24 million people use iTunes for their music. People tend to stick with what's familiar, and I highly doubt they will ditch iTunes for a new MP3.
Developers - MS hasn't started off with a good developer baseline. Ergo, not many useful apps. When Apple released the app store, there were already hundreds of apps. The ZHD? 6... Now a small few developers may try to port their apps over from the iPT to the ZHD, but many apps use the accelerometer, and the resolution is slightly different (which will give them a hard time), so unless hundreds of developers rush through either porting or making something from scratch, I doubt we will see many apps soon.
Now I am not an Apple fanboy! Nor am I a MS fanboy, but to me? It seems that the only people who would buy the ZHD would be MS fanboys who attempt to attack Apple in any way possible. MS lost many customers with Vista, and they better hope that Apple doesn't make an iBox, or the xBox will lose much of it's fanbase too.
By monkeyrul3r at 1:56 AM ON 09/18/09
murc
I strongly disagree with you and support Kaled Ali more mainly cause of the processor and the gaming possibilities.. who says you need to use a camera for the purpose of taking pictures, think outside the box...
this is the main video I was talking about....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNu4CluFOcw
By jiggawho90 at 9:16 AM ON 09/18/09
tracyjump: why would you link to a website that is a preview and not a review? it came out almost a month before zune hd was release
why not gizmodo or cnet?
better yet,
http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/guide/303/microsoft-zune-hd-vs-apple-ipod-touch
side by side comparison
By Neotyguy at 8:16 PM ON 09/18/09
@jiggawho90
That review is very biased...
Pricing is better on Apple, most people that buy an MP3 are not tech-savvy people. Ergo, they will buy the cheapest they could find, and the cheapest? iPod Touch!
The battery life? The only reason why the battery life is lower on the iPod is because it has more apps! If you left it on in the front screen, barebone without any additional applications or music, the iPod Touch can run for almost 45 minutes longer.
I would contest the other ones, but I do not have the time.
By daveat at 4:29 PM ON 09/22/09
look for the next one to have a OCR text to speech camera, just point and shoot and listen, similar to the rfbd reader that is absurdly priced and sadly underpowered
By futurebogey at 12:25 AM ON 09/23/09
Booo DRM! Try the Creative Zen X-Fi 2, due out 10/02
By r4 revolution at 3:20 AM ON 09/25/09
Very nice product from microsoft. Battery life is really long and it also provide Radio tuner, all over its is very nice Mp3 player.
By Vantado at 11:09 AM ON 09/26/09
@Neotyguy You're kidding right? No hype? It was everywhere, I honestly have no idea what you read...
Secondly, I was a pretty itunes, ipod savy individual for the last few years, and when I heard about the Zune HD I was sceptical. I tried the Zune Software and it was a phenomenal change from apples iTunes. Which btw I have no idea why you think iTunes is hurting the Zune HD, I have purchased music from iTunes with no problem transfering to my Zune.
Clearly I bought a Zune, and I can not tell you how happy I am to be done with apple. I paid less, I got more for my money, and a better company is behind my product. You can say you're not an apple fan boy...but you clearly are. I liked my iPods, and I liked iTunes, but after I switched to Zune, I have to say it is farrrrr superior.
Something apple hasn't caught onto doing that many other companys (including microsoft) have, is this idea of letting you take your own music off of your mp3 player and putting them on your own computer. Call that a winning move but if I have to pick over an iPod with frozen music that can only be taken off by exerting far more effort than I want, or one which lets me use my own music where I want to...I think I'm gonna pick a zune.
In short, to directly contrast your previous statements concerning microsoft being unable to convert iPod/iTouch users...yeah they can. And they definitly won me over. I like getting more for my money.
By Kaled Ali at 6:25 PM ON 10/01/09
@murc
I never said i would buy it if it had a camera. Just cuz you think it doesn't need a camera doesn't mean it shouldn't have one. I was comparing it to the rumored iPod touch with a camera. I hate dumbasses who comment before thinking things through.
By r4 ds at 7:32 AM ON 01/08/10
I could careless about hardware advances to the Zune. Zune Pass has changed my life just as much as my iPhone has.
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
editor@dvice.com
r4 ds:
I could careless about hardware advances to the Zune. Zune Pass has changed my life just as much as my iPhone has....More »