Zune HD Review
With technology advancing faster than even the manufacturers of these products expected, it really is a rarity when a product makes you sit back and say "Wow, I really like this." Even rarer is when a company known for failure in a given market that has, to say the least, a clear-cut leader decides to go after the high-end rather than pick off the weakest of the pack. And actually putting up a fight is truly something special.
Something special is certainly appropriate when describing Microsoft's newest media player, the Zune HD. On paper, the device borrows from other successful media players in adopting a capacitive touchscreen and an interface to make use of it, a single Home button gracing the front of the unit, a selection of downloadable applications to expand its feature set, and a built-in web browser to make better use of its wireless capabilities. Lurking under the hood, however, is a finely crafted experience that should help Microsoft's Zune brand garner some some much deserved attention.
Roughly half the weight of the iPhone 3G, shorter and narrower than the iPod Touch (almost half an inch in both cases) and just a hair wider, the Zune HD is a marvelously small device. The casing is a brushed metal with exposed tri-wing screws on the back giving it an industrial look, a stark contrast with the solid body of the Touch. The glass-covered OLED display takes up most, but not all of the front, the lower portion is the same metallic finish as the back. Sandwiched between the front and rear is a black plastic layer that holds the media button and power button. This layer detracts, slightly, from an otherwise gorgeous exterior. One of the biggest draws to the new hardware is the 3.3" 480x272 pixel OLED display. Compared to traditional LCDs, Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screens require no backlight for bright images, feature a larger color gamut, higher contrast ratio, and can display truer blacks. The relevant tradeoff for the Zune HD is that the display can get very difficult to read in bright light. That and power consumption of OLEDs is far more variable. While a black screen uses very little power, a white screen sucks down far more than a comparable LCD. For the Zune HD, the UI uses white text on a black background, so the worst case scenario is unlikely. The important thing to note is that it is simply stunning. If you have a Best Buy near you with a demo unit, check it out. You may have noticed that the resolution, 480x272 is hardly at the level of high definition. Although the Zune HD can hold and play 720p video, it will be downscaled to 480x272 to match the display. To output in the original resolution, the HD AV dock is needed, though even the downscaled video looks awesome on the OLED screen.
Formats supported by the Zune HD include WMV, H.264, and MPEG-4 Part 2 for video with WMA, WMA Pro, WMA Lossless, AAC (unprotected, including iTunes Plus purchases) and MP3 for audio. Notable exclusions from the compatibility list include DivX, XviD, LAME, FLAC, OGG Vorbis, and any other container format such as MKV. Photos must be JPEG. It may be possible for other formats to gain support via firmware update in the future, but that can be filed under wishful thinking. Despite the fact that these formats should be supported, many Windows-based conversion utilities exist in the freeware/shareware domain.
The user interface (UI) has been redesigned from that featured on the older touchpad (and button array)-based Zunes. The touchscreen serves as the primary control point, swiping to scroll through lists and touching an item to select it. In addition to navigating the menu tree, swiping right on the main menu cycles forward the Quickplay menu that lets you immediately open recently viewed items, items newly added to the Zune HD, and anything you've pinned there so far (think desktop shortcuts to a video, song, or playlist). The touch controls are responsive and the Tegra hardware is smooth as silk. While playing, the screen saver pops up, featuring a pulled photo of the band currently playing with text floating past in all directions with the band name, track name, album name, and duration. When locked, the image is static, but user-selectable; swiping up on the screen unlocks the player. There are only two complaints I have with the interface. First is the media button. Without physical controls for even volume control, all adjustments have to be made via the touchscreen. Either touching a non-button on the unlocked display during playback or pressing the media button even when lock brings up the control overlay with the option pause/play, fast forward, rewind playback, increase or decrease volume, and toggle shuffle and repeat. It isn't awful, but it seems to be more effort than it should be to perform such simple and important tasks. The other knock is backtracking through the menu. While the home button instantly returns you to the main menu, moving to a previous screen elsewhere in the menu tree is inconsistent. On some screens, there is a clear back arrow, on others you have to press the intentionally out-of-focus text (it is part of the theme) at the top of the screen, the previous selection, and on the control overlay, the tiny "EXIT" button resides in the upper left, easy to overlook. It takes a little getting used to, but nothing to worry about.
Other features include support for FM and HD Radio, built-in wireless 802.11b/g, wireless access to Zune Marketplace, wireless syncing, a basic web browser, and support for additional apps when they become available. While a few players do offer integrated FM radio, the Zune HD does one better, allowing users to make use of the digital airwaves, where available, for clearer sound and access to substations. HD Radio is still not available in all areas, though, so people in dead zones won’t notice the feature unless they travel. Should you catch something you like, songs heard on the radio can be tagged for future download so long as the station broadcasts the necessary metadata to identify the track. The wireless adds a significant level of convenience, being able to browse the Zune Marketplace from any wireless hotspot to download new tunes or make use of Zune Social that allows you to recommend songs to your friends or see what they have been listening to. Wireless syncing has been surprisingly handy. As long as your configured PC is on and connected to your network, you can transfer downloads to and from the Zune without needing the cable, something that is particularly handy when you have the Zune HD docked in another room. The web browser is still a work in progress. It lacks Flash and Java support, but it is still fairly quick, the keyboard responsive and easy to use, and the built-in accelerometer used to toggle between portrait and landscape modes is even faster than the one in the iPod Touch and iPhone. It is hardly a replacement for a traditional browser, yet a passable alternative at a hotspot on the go.
While not specific to the Zune HD, the product’s value is heavily tied to its software and service. Far and away, the love it or hate it of the Zune product line is Zune Pass, a subscription music service specific to the platform. It carries a monthly fee of $15 that includes access to the service as well as 10 song credits that can be used to purchase songs. Subscribers can download almost any song in the Marketplace for free, the full song or album, with no download limits. These downloads are 192Kbps WMA files protected by DRM that restricts playback to the user’s authorized devices (up to three PCs and up to three Zunes) and prevents playback should your subscription lapse. All songs and video content (movies and TV shows) can be purchased using Microsoft points, the same currency from the Xbox Live Marketplace - in fact the accounts can be linked to share points - whether or not the user is a subscriber. Purchased tracks come as 320 Kbps MP3 files that are DRM-free. Zune Pass downloads can likewise be purchased for either points or for a song credit. The song credits refresh each month with no rollover; if you don’t keep them if you don’t use them. It is a little harsh, but I find that it provides extra motivation to find new music. Some of the features that make the subscription fee worthwhile are Channels and Smart DJ playlists. Channels are preselected playlists that can be transferred to a Zune player and refresh frequently. Channels are done by theme including ones for Top 40 hits, Rock, and Hip hop. Songs in a Channel that are not in your current music collection can still be transferred via Zune Pass and added to your collection if you like them. Likewise, Smart DJ operates on a similar principle but offers a lot more control. In addition to allowing adjustment of the number of songs or actual duration of the playlist, Smart DJ lets you pick an artist and construct a playlist of related music. You can choose to have it search only your collection (useful if you don’t have a subscription), only use Marketplace content, or use a mix of both. Unlike the iTunes variant, Genius, you get the full songs, not a 30 second clip, and you don’t need to pay for any songs you don’t want. Another handy feature with Smart DJ is the auto-refresh setting that will swap out a Smart DJ playlist with a new one at a user-defined interval (default is 5 days). The combination of flexibility and ease of use make the Zune + Zune Pass platform easily the best music discovery service I’ve ever seen.
Features don’t mean much if the hardware can’t do anything with them, but luckily Nvidia’s Tegra chipset is more than capable of performing. Built off of the energy efficient ARM11 architecture, Tegra has 8 processing cores, two ARM11 cores with the remaining six optimized for specific tasks like high definition decoding and audio processing. The graphical capabilities of the hardware are what allow support for 720p and will power 3D games in the future. For now, the interface is snappy and no additional artifacts occur during video playback. Audio quality is excellent and readily competes with the iPod line. The Zune HD has EQ settings, but they cannot be customized by the user. Still, I found the audio to be sufficient without. Headphones are included in the box, but I would steer clear of them if you can; they tend to drop mids in favor of bass which still sounds tinny. I switched over to a pair of Philips earbuds and some Bose earbuds and the improvement was noticeable immediately.
The Zune HD is not without its weaknesses. Playback of high definition video content requires an additional piece of hardware, the $90 HD A/V dock. The player does the decoding, so the requirement of the dock may come down to the physical space needed for an HDMI port on the Zune HD body. That and perhaps navigation is a lot easier on the big screen when you can make your selections from the sofa with the included remote rather than strain your eyes two feet from the television set. Another issue is that the Zune software, required to "activate" and sync the player, is only compatible with Windows, leaving the, albeit small, non-Windows user base out cold without an additional PC (or OS) purchase. Without the Zune Pass subscription, the appeal of the device is severely diminished. If you have an aversion to DRM or don’t want to be tied down to a subscription fee to listen to your music, Zune Pass is off the table. Microsoft does offer a 14-day trial to the service that does not include song credits if you want to try it out first. HD Radio is still relatively new and adoption is not universal. You should check the HD Radio website tool to see what stations are available in your area before including it as a reason for purchase.
Conclusion: From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the Zune HD is a winner and the OLED is worthy of high praise. Lacking the immense library of apps that the iPhone OS platforms offer, it is difficult to give an unqualified recommendation of the Zune HD over the Apple alternative. If apps are a primary concern, the Zune HD, as it currently stands, will disappoint. Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition should be released later this fall, providing the first real taste of the Zune HD’s 3D gaming prowess as well as hint at the possibilities for future apps. We should also start seeing some new apps hit the Marketplace around the same time, so it may be a wise move to hold off on your PMP purchase to see how it develops, saving the Zune HD for the early adoption crowd. As a pure media player, however, the combination of the Zune HD hardware and Zune Pass outpace anything Apple has in its arsenal.
Priced at $219 for the 16GB model and $289 for the 32GB, the Zune HD is just outside the range of impulse buy. If you are comfortable with your current media player, you probably won’t be inclined to make the switch. If you love music and want to expand your choices, at least give the Zune Pass trial a go. If you like it, you’ll certainly enjoy a Zune HD. If not, it is still an interesting PMP option with a fantastic screen that will be a little bit of a stretch for the price tag.
Verdict: Buy, but try it and Zune Pass first; get the 32GB if you can afford the extra $70.
Something special is certainly appropriate when describing Microsoft's newest media player, the Zune HD. On paper, the device borrows from other successful media players in adopting a capacitive touchscreen and an interface to make use of it, a single Home button gracing the front of the unit, a selection of downloadable applications to expand its feature set, and a built-in web browser to make better use of its wireless capabilities. Lurking under the hood, however, is a finely crafted experience that should help Microsoft's Zune brand garner some some much deserved attention.
Roughly half the weight of the iPhone 3G, shorter and narrower than the iPod Touch (almost half an inch in both cases) and just a hair wider, the Zune HD is a marvelously small device. The casing is a brushed metal with exposed tri-wing screws on the back giving it an industrial look, a stark contrast with the solid body of the Touch. The glass-covered OLED display takes up most, but not all of the front, the lower portion is the same metallic finish as the back. Sandwiched between the front and rear is a black plastic layer that holds the media button and power button. This layer detracts, slightly, from an otherwise gorgeous exterior. One of the biggest draws to the new hardware is the 3.3" 480x272 pixel OLED display. Compared to traditional LCDs, Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screens require no backlight for bright images, feature a larger color gamut, higher contrast ratio, and can display truer blacks. The relevant tradeoff for the Zune HD is that the display can get very difficult to read in bright light. That and power consumption of OLEDs is far more variable. While a black screen uses very little power, a white screen sucks down far more than a comparable LCD. For the Zune HD, the UI uses white text on a black background, so the worst case scenario is unlikely. The important thing to note is that it is simply stunning. If you have a Best Buy near you with a demo unit, check it out. You may have noticed that the resolution, 480x272 is hardly at the level of high definition. Although the Zune HD can hold and play 720p video, it will be downscaled to 480x272 to match the display. To output in the original resolution, the HD AV dock is needed, though even the downscaled video looks awesome on the OLED screen.
Formats supported by the Zune HD include WMV, H.264, and MPEG-4 Part 2 for video with WMA, WMA Pro, WMA Lossless, AAC (unprotected, including iTunes Plus purchases) and MP3 for audio. Notable exclusions from the compatibility list include DivX, XviD, LAME, FLAC, OGG Vorbis, and any other container format such as MKV. Photos must be JPEG. It may be possible for other formats to gain support via firmware update in the future, but that can be filed under wishful thinking. Despite the fact that these formats should be supported, many Windows-based conversion utilities exist in the freeware/shareware domain.
The user interface (UI) has been redesigned from that featured on the older touchpad (and button array)-based Zunes. The touchscreen serves as the primary control point, swiping to scroll through lists and touching an item to select it. In addition to navigating the menu tree, swiping right on the main menu cycles forward the Quickplay menu that lets you immediately open recently viewed items, items newly added to the Zune HD, and anything you've pinned there so far (think desktop shortcuts to a video, song, or playlist). The touch controls are responsive and the Tegra hardware is smooth as silk. While playing, the screen saver pops up, featuring a pulled photo of the band currently playing with text floating past in all directions with the band name, track name, album name, and duration. When locked, the image is static, but user-selectable; swiping up on the screen unlocks the player. There are only two complaints I have with the interface. First is the media button. Without physical controls for even volume control, all adjustments have to be made via the touchscreen. Either touching a non-button on the unlocked display during playback or pressing the media button even when lock brings up the control overlay with the option pause/play, fast forward, rewind playback, increase or decrease volume, and toggle shuffle and repeat. It isn't awful, but it seems to be more effort than it should be to perform such simple and important tasks. The other knock is backtracking through the menu. While the home button instantly returns you to the main menu, moving to a previous screen elsewhere in the menu tree is inconsistent. On some screens, there is a clear back arrow, on others you have to press the intentionally out-of-focus text (it is part of the theme) at the top of the screen, the previous selection, and on the control overlay, the tiny "EXIT" button resides in the upper left, easy to overlook. It takes a little getting used to, but nothing to worry about.
Other features include support for FM and HD Radio, built-in wireless 802.11b/g, wireless access to Zune Marketplace, wireless syncing, a basic web browser, and support for additional apps when they become available. While a few players do offer integrated FM radio, the Zune HD does one better, allowing users to make use of the digital airwaves, where available, for clearer sound and access to substations. HD Radio is still not available in all areas, though, so people in dead zones won’t notice the feature unless they travel. Should you catch something you like, songs heard on the radio can be tagged for future download so long as the station broadcasts the necessary metadata to identify the track. The wireless adds a significant level of convenience, being able to browse the Zune Marketplace from any wireless hotspot to download new tunes or make use of Zune Social that allows you to recommend songs to your friends or see what they have been listening to. Wireless syncing has been surprisingly handy. As long as your configured PC is on and connected to your network, you can transfer downloads to and from the Zune without needing the cable, something that is particularly handy when you have the Zune HD docked in another room. The web browser is still a work in progress. It lacks Flash and Java support, but it is still fairly quick, the keyboard responsive and easy to use, and the built-in accelerometer used to toggle between portrait and landscape modes is even faster than the one in the iPod Touch and iPhone. It is hardly a replacement for a traditional browser, yet a passable alternative at a hotspot on the go.
While not specific to the Zune HD, the product’s value is heavily tied to its software and service. Far and away, the love it or hate it of the Zune product line is Zune Pass, a subscription music service specific to the platform. It carries a monthly fee of $15 that includes access to the service as well as 10 song credits that can be used to purchase songs. Subscribers can download almost any song in the Marketplace for free, the full song or album, with no download limits. These downloads are 192Kbps WMA files protected by DRM that restricts playback to the user’s authorized devices (up to three PCs and up to three Zunes) and prevents playback should your subscription lapse. All songs and video content (movies and TV shows) can be purchased using Microsoft points, the same currency from the Xbox Live Marketplace - in fact the accounts can be linked to share points - whether or not the user is a subscriber. Purchased tracks come as 320 Kbps MP3 files that are DRM-free. Zune Pass downloads can likewise be purchased for either points or for a song credit. The song credits refresh each month with no rollover; if you don’t keep them if you don’t use them. It is a little harsh, but I find that it provides extra motivation to find new music. Some of the features that make the subscription fee worthwhile are Channels and Smart DJ playlists. Channels are preselected playlists that can be transferred to a Zune player and refresh frequently. Channels are done by theme including ones for Top 40 hits, Rock, and Hip hop. Songs in a Channel that are not in your current music collection can still be transferred via Zune Pass and added to your collection if you like them. Likewise, Smart DJ operates on a similar principle but offers a lot more control. In addition to allowing adjustment of the number of songs or actual duration of the playlist, Smart DJ lets you pick an artist and construct a playlist of related music. You can choose to have it search only your collection (useful if you don’t have a subscription), only use Marketplace content, or use a mix of both. Unlike the iTunes variant, Genius, you get the full songs, not a 30 second clip, and you don’t need to pay for any songs you don’t want. Another handy feature with Smart DJ is the auto-refresh setting that will swap out a Smart DJ playlist with a new one at a user-defined interval (default is 5 days). The combination of flexibility and ease of use make the Zune + Zune Pass platform easily the best music discovery service I’ve ever seen.
Features don’t mean much if the hardware can’t do anything with them, but luckily Nvidia’s Tegra chipset is more than capable of performing. Built off of the energy efficient ARM11 architecture, Tegra has 8 processing cores, two ARM11 cores with the remaining six optimized for specific tasks like high definition decoding and audio processing. The graphical capabilities of the hardware are what allow support for 720p and will power 3D games in the future. For now, the interface is snappy and no additional artifacts occur during video playback. Audio quality is excellent and readily competes with the iPod line. The Zune HD has EQ settings, but they cannot be customized by the user. Still, I found the audio to be sufficient without. Headphones are included in the box, but I would steer clear of them if you can; they tend to drop mids in favor of bass which still sounds tinny. I switched over to a pair of Philips earbuds and some Bose earbuds and the improvement was noticeable immediately.
The Zune HD is not without its weaknesses. Playback of high definition video content requires an additional piece of hardware, the $90 HD A/V dock. The player does the decoding, so the requirement of the dock may come down to the physical space needed for an HDMI port on the Zune HD body. That and perhaps navigation is a lot easier on the big screen when you can make your selections from the sofa with the included remote rather than strain your eyes two feet from the television set. Another issue is that the Zune software, required to "activate" and sync the player, is only compatible with Windows, leaving the, albeit small, non-Windows user base out cold without an additional PC (or OS) purchase. Without the Zune Pass subscription, the appeal of the device is severely diminished. If you have an aversion to DRM or don’t want to be tied down to a subscription fee to listen to your music, Zune Pass is off the table. Microsoft does offer a 14-day trial to the service that does not include song credits if you want to try it out first. HD Radio is still relatively new and adoption is not universal. You should check the HD Radio website tool to see what stations are available in your area before including it as a reason for purchase.
Conclusion: From a purely aesthetic standpoint, the Zune HD is a winner and the OLED is worthy of high praise. Lacking the immense library of apps that the iPhone OS platforms offer, it is difficult to give an unqualified recommendation of the Zune HD over the Apple alternative. If apps are a primary concern, the Zune HD, as it currently stands, will disappoint. Project Gotham Racing: Ferrari Edition should be released later this fall, providing the first real taste of the Zune HD’s 3D gaming prowess as well as hint at the possibilities for future apps. We should also start seeing some new apps hit the Marketplace around the same time, so it may be a wise move to hold off on your PMP purchase to see how it develops, saving the Zune HD for the early adoption crowd. As a pure media player, however, the combination of the Zune HD hardware and Zune Pass outpace anything Apple has in its arsenal.
Priced at $219 for the 16GB model and $289 for the 32GB, the Zune HD is just outside the range of impulse buy. If you are comfortable with your current media player, you probably won’t be inclined to make the switch. If you love music and want to expand your choices, at least give the Zune Pass trial a go. If you like it, you’ll certainly enjoy a Zune HD. If not, it is still an interesting PMP option with a fantastic screen that will be a little bit of a stretch for the price tag.
Verdict: Buy, but try it and Zune Pass first; get the 32GB if you can afford the extra $70.