Digital Trends

Creative ZEN Stone June 3rd, 2007 | by Nino Marchetti

Design and Aesthetics

The Creative Zen Stone is designed to look like…well, a skipping stone. It is compact in size measuring 2-1/10” x 1-2/5” x 0.5”, and weighs a mere 0.5 ounces. It is rectangular in design, with smooth round edges. The black unit we reviewed (other color choices include white, red, blue, pink, and green) has a slightly glossy finish which seems to show fingerprints smudges very easily.

The general layout of controls on the Zen Stone seems to be well thought out. The front side of the player houses a four-way control circle which lets you manage volume as well as track selection. Central to this control is a play/pause button, which doubles as the on/off switch. All of these buttons offer a solid tactile response as you push them, with no lag time or feeling like the player didn’t get issued the appropriate operating command.

Running along the top of the Zen Stone, you’ll find a three-way switch for skipping from one stored music folder to another as well as options for repeating or shuffling music. There’s also a small reset button and headphone jack. On the bottom side, you’ll find a mini-USB port, used to connect an included, somewhat short, cable to your PC for charging and file copying.

Returning to the front of the player, you’ll find also an LED. This light blinks to let you know, among other things, when the battery needs charging, when you are playing music, and when it’s reading freshly imported music files. It blinks a lot, actually, making use of three colors that each has their own corresponding multiple blink patterns. You’ll want to quickly get to know what each color/blink pattern combo means so you don’t run out of battery juice while enjoying your tunes.

One notably absent feature of the Creative Zen Stone is a built-in clip. This standard feature of the iPod shuffle is a nice touch, and it would have been pleasant to see it in Creative’s offering as well. There is, however, an integrated lanyard hole, though Creative fails to supply a lanyard in your packaging. What were they thinking?

Image Courtesy of Creative