The Creative Zen family album

Jasmine France, Senior Associate Editor September 20, 2007

Clearly, the Apple iPod is one very popular MP3 player: it offers a sleek design, is easy to use, and has loads of readily available content. But Apple's not the only company that knows how to produce a quality device--a handful of others are well-versed in that regard and have legacies of their own. Take Creative Labs and its Zen family, a line of MP3 players with sweet sound and slick interfaces. Indeed, the iPod's own user-friendly interface is based on Creative's invention, and I daresay the Zen's customizable UI makes it a bit more fun.

At the bottom of the pack, we have the ultrasimple, ultracheap Zen Stone, a 1GB pebble of a player with few features and a price tag to match: this one will set you back just $40. Just a small step up from there is the 2GB Zen Stone Plus, which adds a screen and an FM tuner for $40 more. Next we have the Zen V line, which includes the video-capable, FM-tuning Plus models. These compact, toylike flash players offer color screens and voice recording. At the top of the MP3 player line is the Creative Zen, a pocket-size replacement to the Zen Vision:M with up to 16GB of internal memory and an SD card slot for adding more. For those after a true PVP, Creative delivers with the Zen Vision W, which is the beast of the bunch and offers a hard drive with up to 60GB of space. And we can't forget the Zen Micro Photo, a now-retro microdrive player with a touch-sensitive control pad. This player is at the end of its life and can be found for great prices online.

More Resources

Apple iPod family album,

Archos family album,

Editors' top MP3 players,

Editors' top headphones