OLED Screen
It is hard to describe how clear and crisp the screen is on the Zune HD. I watched many videos on my iPhone but after watching video on the Zune HD’s OLED Screen I would not even considering watching a 2 minute low quality YouTube video on the iPhone. I am not suggesting the iPhone screen is bad. What I am stating as 100% fact is that the Zune screen looks better in all ways. Really, it is not even fair to compare, it would be like comparing a spring shower to a monsoon, Steak and Cheese to Filet Mignon, or 4 yr olds playing soccer to FIFA World Cup.
Weight of the Zune
We have all dropped our MP3 players some place but my buddy Chris dropped his Zune HD in the gym while taking it out of his pocket. We all know this is a certain and inevitable disaster with MP3 players. The Zune HD is so light it could not generate enough energy when dropped to pull the 3.5 mm headset jack out of the device or his ears. That is light! It only weighs 2.6 oz. I am not saying don’t get a case, but you have to admit, an iPod Touch would have smashed to the floor due to the 4.3 oz weight.
The Zune is beyond light, almost to the point it does not exist. I hope Microsoft makes a Zune phone with similar dimensions, design, and user interface.
Album Art
Microsoft really hit a home run with album artwork on the Zune. Rather than being limited to a single image, they provide for any song/album a variety of pictures that will transition the screen while playing. The images are high quality so when watching on your TV via the Zune HD Dock the images are simply amazing. Not to mention it always impresses friends.
Web Browser – multi touch
The web browser on the Zune is simply brilliant. I like how it allows you to present it as either a mobile browser or a desktop browser (See Settings | Internet | Content). While Google held back on multi touch, Microsoft jumped at this right out of the gate. There is not much more you can say here except that it was a good move and creates a better browsing experience.
Wireless Syncing
My Zune lives in the Zune Dock a large amount of time as it is a great home entertainment device. From the Zune HD AV Dock it wirelessly syncs updated songs, video, playlists, and DJ Smart playlists to the device. If there was one thing I hated about the “i” things was constantly having to plug the device in to sync. As Chris would put it “I Hate Tethering when it is not needed”. This is by far is my favorite feature of the Zune
Price
The 16 GB had a $30 price reduction where the 32GB had a $50 price reduction. I bought at the peak of the market because I am an earlier adopter. If you have considered getting a Zune HD buy it from Amazon as the price is lower than on most other sites.
Sound Quality
Most people won’t care about this aspect but I like music a lot. In fact, if you are just a ear blaster (play your music in your ears to the point that other people can hear it, even though you have headsets on), then you might want to skip this. As you may recall from my article Bluetooth headsets are so 2005, Get Wired I enjoy good quality audio. Between my VModa Vibe II, Shure SE530, and home system my Zune always produces music to my ears. You can easily tell a huge difference in the sound quality of the music between the iPod and the Zune HD. The Zune HD is crystal clear.
User interface
The Zune introduced a concept of shortcut or jump menu’s. As you navigate down inside the Zune Menu for example Music | Playlists | Workout Rock you have this bread crumb trail on screen to allow you to quickly jump up to the previous menu level or the level above. There are so many things in the Zune interface that makes it an enjoyable device including multi-touch, speed sensitive scrolling.
Another thing that goes unnoticed is this, on the Zune navigate to Music | Songs. Now press and hold on the letter separators between the music groupings. What you get is an alphabet grid allowing you to select the letter you want to quickly jump to. It bolds the letters, numbers, or symbols that contains content.
If the Zune screen sleeps when your playing music you can increase the rocker button on the side of the Zune. On screen you will see the volume controls swipe your finger up or down to increase or decrease the volume respectively. Most people initially believe you have to click on the plus or minus buttons but Microsoft was one step ahead of us here.
Format Support
There are a lot of videos out there to be watched and supporting more formats is better, period. Like it or not .wmv is a highly used video format. Microsoft really went out of the way to support a wide variety of video formats with the Zune. For a list of supported video formats visit the Zune.net site.
HD Radio Support
This is a great bonus to me personally. The biggest reason why is my local stations use HD broadcasts and they sound really good. Also the fact that my gym broadcasts TV’s on different frequencies. I don’t always have to prepare content on my Zune HD for the gym. It is nice to switch up and just watch what’s on the TV while on the treadmill.
