We recently looked at Creative’s Zen MicroPhoto and were impressed by its quality and functionality. Today, we have its “bigger” sibling with us- bigger in pretty much every sense. Not only is the Zen Vision:M bigger is size and price but also in features and functionality.

Packaging

Creative does a pretty good job with the slick packaging of the Vision:M. The box slides out like a book from its cover and just like flipping open the cover of a book, you open up the box and see the player as well as the standard creative EP-480 earphones sitting comfortably right on top with protective sponge all around. The unit itself is also protected by a thin plastic shield.

Below the player, you have the pouch and the power supply sitting along with a white box that houses the USB cable, the dock connector and a couple of different power connectors- convenient for travelers. The user manual along with the driver/applications CD sits comfortably in a white case. The unit we received is white in color and from what we can know, different colored players are boxed in different colored boxes.

The Player

No points for guessing the inspiration behind the design of the Vision:M- measuring 2.4” x 4.1” x 0.73”,  the Zen Vision:M is identical to Apple’s latest generation of iPod in width and height but is quite a bit thicker and heavier. For reference, the 30GB iPod is 0.43” thick and weighs 4.8 oz- which is 0.9 oz less that Vision:M. We would’ve loved to show you side-by-side pictures however Apple does not allocate any review units for the Middle Eastern media to keep.

Looking at the Vision:M, you see the power button along with a headphone jack on top and the dock connector at the bottom. That’s about all the connectors present on the unit and while we appreciate simplicity, we would’ve much rather had a USB connector on the unit itself. Instead, Creative requires the usage of the dock connector which is something you’ll have to carry with you every time you plan on traveling to charge the unit. The dock connector also features the AV jack.

The front of the player has all the controls for the device along with a gorgeous 3.5” screen that can show photos and videos. Creative has changed the layout of the buttons compared to the MicroPhoto and we think that it’s a step forward as well as a step back. We mentioned in our MicroPhoto review that the touch buttons on the front should’ve been press-able to avoid any accidental touches and while creative does that on the Vision:M, we feel that the four buttons surrounding the touch pad are a bit too stiff.

However, the skip buttons on the two sides of the touch pad are perfect as far as the softness goes and, in our opinion, a six button layout with the sensitivity of the skip buttons would’ve been an ideal configuration. The touchpad certainly feels improved over the MicroPhoto and we feel that Creative has struck the right balance in the sensitivity of the touchpad- it works when you want it do and doesn’t when you don’t. Besides these buttons in the front, there is a reset button as well as a microphone built onto the unit.