Review: Microsoft Zune 8GB

A couple months ago a guy from Matchstick, a ‘word of mouth’ marketing company, called me up asking if I’d be interested in reviewing an MP3 player from one of their clients. I asked which one, and he explained that it would be the Microsoft Zune.

They then went on to ask me my impressions of Microsoft as a brand on a 1-10 scale (6/10), what MP3 player I currently have (iPhone) and a few other demographic-related things. The agreement was that I’d put up my thoughts about the Zune and they’d sent me a slick little 8GB player, so without any further ado, here they are.

Packaging

Whether or not companies are willing to acknowledge it, packaging is the user’s first physical experience with their product and to me says a lot about a company, what the brand stands for, and the quality of the product. The Microsoft folks learned a lot from Cupertino in their package design, with the Zune package itself being a fairly minimal, layered construction much like today’s iPod and iPhone packages, with several exceptions. I found it really interesting that Microsoft chose to leave its name off all of the packaging. I’m not sure what this says about Microsoft - are they trying to distance themselves from the Zune, or trying to give the brand a leg of its own to stand on?

First, the package is taped shut at both ends, requiring you to wrestle with it to get it open. Second, the accessories pictured in the top photo, the AC adapter and premium headphones (neither are included with standard Zune purchase) contain a huge amount of wasteful clear plastic heat-wrap packaging which is a nightmare to get through. Major oversight in not giving the same attention to detail to the accessories as the player itself.

Design

The Zune is a nicely designed device. It’s small, is constructed from materials that feel high quality like they could take a beating, and the device feels sturdy in your hand. Despite the photo above, I’m not trying to make any comparison between the Zune and the iPhone, that’s just to give you an idea of the size. It’s thicker and taller than today’s iPod nano, which I would say is its prime competition from Apple.

Buttons on the device are quite clickly and the main way of interacting with it is the center ’scrollpad’, which you can either swipe your finger across/up-down, or click the pad itself in any direction. I found it to be quite responsive, and was a decent way of navigating through the screens.

Accessories

Headphones included with the Zune are of average quality, but sport a major key differentiating feature over its competitors - magnetically linked earbuds. Think of all the times you’ve put your headphones away, only to later discover the wires are more intertwined than a crow’s nest. I still have no idea how this happens, but Microsoft seems to have pretty effectively solved the problem by allowing each earbud to link together magnetically when not in use. Very nice.

They also included a set of premium headphones - the rubber grommet kind that form a ’seal’ in your ear and apparently give a higher quality sound. I’ve never been a big audiophile - the standard iPod/iPhone headphones sound great to me with just the right amount of treble and base - so these kinds of buds don’t do much for me. In fact, they sound much more tinny than I’d like them to be. Again though, they employ the magnetic clasps that the standard buds feature, and another bonus is that the headphone cord is made from this nice fibrous kind of material that has a really good quality feel to it.

User Interface and Experience

I’m not going to get into too much detail with this since I always have far too much to say due to my line of work. I will say though that the Zune sports an attractive looking interface that’s fairly easy to navigate. However, many menus are nested quite deep and it’s easy to get lost among the different configuration settings and aspects of your library.

One nice feature that I’ve never seen on any other media player is the ability to sync your music with the computer using WiFi. I set this up, but couldn’t for the life of me get the sync to work. The WiFi also gives users of the player the ability to share their music with their friends (albeit with a limited number of playbacks for each song with DRM). As others have said before, the WiFi in the Zune seems to be an afterthought, and is mostly a useless feature.

The Zune also features an FM radio which is implemented quite nicely - as an iPod/iPhone user it’s something I haven’t really thought about for years now, so I was surprised to see it at all. It’s done pretty well, showing song and station information where available, and providing crisp and clear audio. When I’m in a rental car or somewhere else, I don’t mind having CBC Radio (or NPR in the US) on, so this was nice to have.

Software

The bundled software necessary to sync the Zune with your computer was fairly well thought-out. It sports an attractive design and some slick animations and transitions, but mechanisms like synching your device and “monitoring folders” seemed overly complicated. That said, it would be great if Windows itself followed the same kind of nice fit & finish and attention to detail that you see with the Zune software.

The whole “social” thing is lost on me though. Clicking it in the software or on the device brings me to a page with a whole bunch of “friends” and their music. As Jake mentioned in his review, this was confusing as hell, and I don’t really care what people I don’t know are listening to.

Conclusion

Overall, the Zune is a well-designed product, but I would not recommend it. The quality is there, as is the care in design on both the device itself and in the software but ultimately, it’s a no-go product for me for several reasons.

First, Mac compatibility is not there. I don’t have a PC in my house, so my only way of using the Zune is on my work PC. This is going to become increasingly common as more people decide to go the Mac route, much to Microsoft’s displeasure I’m sure. The reality of the situation is that I, like many, many others are totally entrenched in the Apple camp at this point, and it’s not just blind devotion.

Products like the iPod touch are game changers - it’s a computing platform masquerading as a media player. With a minimal price difference between the two products (and even more competition from the iPod nano), the Zune is facing quite the uphill battle.

On top of that, with the recent launch of the iPhone in Canada convergence of media devices and portable phones is happening. I can’t in my right mind justify carrying around an extra device anymore. Then again, the majority of people I see around the city with headphones on are still using dedicated media players, so I’m sure there’s some people who are in the market for them - I’m just not one of them.

August 8, 2008 | Filed Under Writing 

Comments

  • Ry-Tron on August 8th, 2008 3:58 pm

    While I can definitely agree with ya on your review for most parts (not a fan myself), one thing was way off base. The iPod touch is definitely NOT in the same price league as the Zune, with the 8gb Zune costing $189 new (Way too much, 149 would be fairer in this market) while the 8gb Touch is $289 (both at Futureshop). That’s a 50% difference from the Zune to the Touch. Zune to Nano, much fairer comparison (same exact price).

    Creative Zen Vision:M for the win for me.

  • Homer J simpson on September 12th, 2008 4:12 pm

    ok, iPod works on Pc, but at what price?! You have to download iTunes and Quicktime! file size 64Mb!! (when it installed they come to ~ 170Mb!) both are bloated peace of junk software. And when you try to install, it adds so many unwanted files to your computer that start up automatically every time you reboot.

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