Creative Zen Stone (1GB, Blue) - Expert Reviews

Review summary: Giving the iPod Shuffle a bloody nose.

Verdict: Smart design and a great price make the Zen Stone a good option for a second player. If you already have a large capacity player, but want something more portable for those quick trips out then it's certainly worth serious consideration.

Review summary: Creative's Zen Stone is an 'us too!' attempt to knock Apple's iPod Shuffle from the throne of teeny MP3 king. At just under £30, it's half the price of the Shuffle, but is it too cheap to be any good?

Pros: Price ; sound quality ; size

Cons: No screen ; short-ish battery life ; lack of clip

Verdict: For the price, the Zen Stone is a killer MP3 player with great audio quality. Its tiny size and minimal features make it perfect for people who want a second player, for when they don't need their entire music library with them

Pros: Bargain price ; superb audio quality ; syncs easily with Windows PCs ; relatively easy navigation for a screenless design ; comes in six colors

Cons: No screen ; minimal feature set ; no built-in belt clip

Verdict: Move over, iPod Shuffle—Creative's Zen Stone offers a similar (read: bare-bones) feature set, plus great audio quality, for half the price.

Pros: Attractive design, folder support with folder skipping button, drag and drop support

Cons: Average sound quality, mediocre headphones

Verdict: The design, ease of use, folder support and low price tag make the ZEN Stone an attractive and superior alternative to the iPod shuffle.

Review summary: You'll find inner peace through frugality when pulling out your Zen Stone next to someone's iPod shuffle. This screen-less, matchbook-sized miniplayer stores a gig worth of tunes for ordered or random playback, but sells for half the price of Apple's ...

Pros: Small and light with sharp, minimalist design. Available in an assortment of shameless colors (read: no neon green). Handy "skip folder" switch. PC and Mac compatible. Supports non-subscription WMA-DRM tracks and Audible books. LED indicates battery ...

Cons: 10-hour battery life is so not impressive. Supports MP3 and WMA files only.