Microsoft Zune

Ambitious but half-baked, elegantly designed but bulky, the Zune is the most promising iPod challenger yet. It boasts a bigger screen, wireless music sharing capability, an FM radio, and even a decent amount of accessories. Most important, the Zune is easy to use and easy to transfer music to, which should come as no surprise, considering Microsoft designed the player, music store, and software. But there’s promise, and then there’s execution.

 

It’s no secret that the 5.6-ounce Zune is thicker than the iPod; in fact, at 0.6 inches, it’s a bit thicker than the 4G iPod Photo. There’s a reason for that extra girth, however; stuffed inside the Zune is a 802.11 Wi-Fi connection that allows users to send tracks to other nearby Zunes wirelessly. (More on that later.) The other reward for that extra size is a large 3-inch display, versus the iPod’s 2.5 inches, one that automatically switches to landscape mode when you’re playing videos or photos. Too bad the album art is so low-res; it looks really fuzzy on this generously sized screen.

 

Available in black, white, and a self-consciously hip brown, the Zune’s design is durable and scratch-resistant. It’s also minimalist—in a good way. The controller consists of a four-way D-pad with a select button in the middle, which makes navigating the Zune’s menus a breeze. The navigation control is flanked by a back button on the left and a play/pause button on the right. You adjust the volume by pressing up or down on the D-pad. A hold switch on top is the only other design element.

 

We actually prefer the Zune’s Twist interface—which lets you switch from genres, to albums, to artists by simply pressing right or left on the D-pad—to the iPod’s, which requires a lot of backing out of menus. Our only complaint is that there is not enough tactile separation between the D-pad and select button; we sometimes clicked on an option when we meant to scroll past it.

 

Setting up the Zune software on our PC was simple and glitch-free but time-consuming, as you have to enter personal information (including a phone number) and create a Windows Live ID (if you haven’t already) along the way. Zune recommends users update Windows before installing the Zune software. You also must set up a separate Zune tag, which identifies you to other Zune owners you may want to swap songs with.

 

The software itself is spare but intuitive. The left navigation pane has icons for music, videos, and photos, and the menu running down the left side of the screen changes based on which option you select. When you’re in the music menu, you’ll see bolded links to your library and the Zune Marketplace, where you can purchase songs. The right side of the screen is where you can see what’s playing, burn content to disc, and sync songs to your Zune.

 

On our tests, we had no problems transferring tracks to the Zune, whether they were ripped from a CD or purchased using our Zune Pass, which allows you to download as many albums or songs as you like for $14.99 per month. All you have to do is plug in your player, and the software takes care of the rest. Unfortunately, you can’t download every song in the Zune Marketplace catalog as part of your subscription. For example, we need to purchase Evanescence’s latest album separately.

 

This is where things get really dumb. Next to each track is a button that says “Buy 79.” No, that’s not 79 cents; it’s 79 Zune Points. Each point (in the U.S. anyway) costs 1.25 cents (not to be confused with $1.25). And while each song costs just 79 points, you have to buy a minimum of 400 points before purchasing your first 79-point song. Confused? (This translates to 98.75 cents per song for those of you who’ve lost track.) We’re not sure what Microsoft is trying to accomplish here, but this payment system needs to go.

 

So what about that wireless capability? Well, it works. Start playing a song and press the select button, and you’ll see a send button appear. The device will then search for another nearby Zune that has its wireless sharing turned on. From there, you’ll be able to beam tracks to it via Wi-Fi, taking about 10 seconds each. The other Zune owner will be able to play that song or songs three times over the course of three days, after which time the music will expire, although you can flag tunes on the device for later purchase. We don’t have a problem with that time limit for MP3s and purchased tracks, but we think Microsoft should allow fellow Zune Pass subscribers to hold onto swapped songs indefinitely.

 

Audio playback was excellent in our tests, and the Zune pumps out a lot of volume. You can customize the sound by switching equalizer settings (rock, acoustic, electronic, and so on), but we wish you could access them without having to back out to the main menu. With the SanDisk Sansa, for example, you can adjust the equalizer while you’re playing a track by clicking on the center button. The included black earbuds are adequate, and we dig that they’re magnetic, making it easier for them to wrap around the player and find in your bag. Battery life is rated for 14 hours with wireless off and up to 13 hours with wireless on.

 

When you get sick of listening to what’s on your Zune’s 30GB hard drive, you can turn on the included radio. On our tests, the FM tuner delivered strong reception in and around Manhattan. Even better, the Zune displays the name of the station and the song and artist that is playing (assuming the station supports RBDS technology). We’d like to see the device do more with this capability by allowing users to flag songs in FM mode for later purchase in the Zune Marketplace.

 

If there is one area where the Zune completely falls flat, it’s video. As of press time, no videos were available in the Marketplace, which is a shame considering the Zune has such a large display. Meanwhile, the iPod’s video library has a vast array of TV shows available for download and a growing selection of Hollywood movies. We were able to transfer some of our own MPEG-4 and WMV videos to the Zune with little effort (the Zune software automatically retrieves files from your My Videos folder), and they played smoothly.

 

Where the Zune outshines most other iPod competitors is its collection of accessories. Microsoft sells its own accessory packs (one for travel, one for home, and one for the car), and several big-name companies have signed up to trick out this player, including Altec Lansing, Belkin, DLO, Harman Kardon, Monster Cable, and more. Whether you’re looking to stream tunes to your car stereo, protect that screen, or fill a room with sound, you should be able to find what you need.

 

One of the key benefits of the Zune is that it’s upgradeable, which means that Microsoft could add such features as over-the-air music purchases, video sharing, and other tweaks to the firmware to enhance the “social experience.” If that’s the case, though, why not just wait for a slimmer flash-based Zune or Zune cell phone with those improvements? Still, if you like the idea of having all-you-can-eat, subscription-based music (that works) and iPod-like ease of use in a single player, the Zune is worth getting now—even if you can’t find someone to share with.