Singing a New Zune
Microsoft’s Retooled Player Marks a Vast Improvement; However, It’s Still No iPod
November 14, 2007
by Walter S. Mossberg and Katherine Boehret
Last year, when Microsoft Corp. introduced its Zune music player to take on Apple’s iPod juggernaut, the software giant struck out. While the Zune had a good user interface and a larger screen than the iPod, it was bigger and boxier, with clumsier controls, weaker battery life and more complex software. Its companion online music store had a much smaller catalog, a more complicated purchase process and no videos for sale. And the Zune’s most innovative feature, built-in Wi-Fi networking, was nearly useless and added little value to the players, which sold so poorly that Apple barely noticed.
The Zune Pad adds touch functionality for improved navigation.
But Microsoft is nothing if not persistent, and this week, the company is back with a second, improved round of Zunes. The chunky, older 30-gigabyte model remains in the lineup, but it’s joined by a slimmed-down full-size Zune that holds 80 gigabytes, and by a much smaller model that holds four or eight gigabytes. Prices range from $150 to $250. The 80-gigabyte Zune is available only in black, and the others come in red, green, black and pink.
We’ve been testing these new Zunes and find them to be notably better than last year’s entry. They are smaller, lighter and more attractive, and they include three big improvements. First is a new controller, called a Zune Pad, that combines buttons with a touch pad for scrolling. Second is a completely overhauled, simpler PC-software program and online store, the Zune Marketplace. Third is expanded usability of the built-in Wi-Fi, which allows you to synchronize your Zune and your PC without plugging in a cable and makes sharing songs between Zunes — its only function last year — slightly better.
Unfortunately for Microsoft, Apple hasn’t been standing still, either. It now has its own large-screen, wireless model, the iPod Touch, with a radical “multi-touch” interface like the iPhone’s. The screen on the Touch is larger than the one on the bigger Zunes and is much sharper. Its Wi-Fi allows you to browse the Web, watch YouTube videos and even buy music without a PC — none of which is possible on a Zune — though the Touch is $50 more and holds much less content than the new full-size Zune.
Microsoft’s new Zunes are directly aimed at the iPod Classic, Apple’s full-size, high-capacity model, and the iPod nano, its compact version. But, here again, Apple has been on the move. The 80-gigabyte Classic, which costs the same as the 80-gigabyte Zune, is slimmer than the Zune and has a flashy new interface, if a smaller screen. And the eight-gigabyte nano, which costs the same as the eight-gigabyte Zune, now plays videos and is much smaller — yet has a larger screen. Neither of these iPods includes Wi-Fi.
In addition, Apple has spiffed up its iTunes software, adding various features, including the addictive Cover Flow, which allows you to flip through all your albums with just a flick of the mouse. Cover Flow also shows up on the nano, the Classic and the Touch. Even the new Zune PC software has no interface as compelling.
And Apple still trounces Microsoft in the selection of media it sells. The iTunes store offers more than six million songs, about double what the Zune Marketplace offers, and dwarfs Microsoft’s selection of Podcasts and music videos, as well. Plus, Zune Marketplace still doesn’t sell any TV shows, movies or audiobooks, while iTunes does.
Radio Feature
Overall, we still don’t think the Zune line beats the iPods and iTunes. However, one of the Zunes, the full-size Zune 80, could give the iPod some competition, especially among new digital-player buyers who aren’t invested in the iTunes ecosystem. For the same price, it offers a significantly larger screen (albeit with the same resolution), wireless syncing and sharing, and a built-in FM radio — an existing Zune feature that the iPod lacks.
We tested the $249.99 80-gigabyte Zune 80 against Apple’s iPod Classic with the same capacity and price and then did the same for the $199.99 eight-gigabyte Zune 8 compared with the iPod nano equivalent.
We didn’t get a chance to test the battery life on the new Zune models or that of the iPod Classic and nano. But Microsoft concedes that unless you turn off Wi-Fi — one of the Zune’s key advantages — its claimed battery life is lower than Apple’s claims. Microsoft estimates as many as 19 and 24 hours of music playback with Wi-Fi on for the eight- and 80-gigabyte, respectfully. Apple claims as many as 24 hours and 30 hours, respectively, on the competitive models, which lack Wi-Fi. In the past, Apple has generally understated its battery claims, while last year, Microsoft overstated its claims.
Easier Navigating
On both Zunes, the front hosts just three buttons: the Zune Pad, a back button and a Play/Pause button. Its menus are divided into Music, Videos, Pictures, Social, Radio, Podcasts and Settings; navigating through this menu list and hundreds of songs is made easier with the Zune Pad’s touch functions. To zip through a list, we flicked a finger up or down. The top, bottom, right and left sides each work as individual buttons, as does the center of the Zune Pad.
The user interface is mainly unchanged from last year and still works very well, requiring an economical number of steps for each action.
Zune’s black, red and green colors are fine, but rather masculine — the latter reminded us of camouflage. But the pink was a glaring shade more appropriate for My Little Pony; it looks like an afterthought.
We initiated wireless syncs with the Zune software program, plugging the player into our PC the first time but leaving it disconnected each time after that. Wireless syncing took a little longer than with a cord and must be initiated by the user from within the player’s settings. One frustration: Presumably to save battery life, the Zune disconnects from the network periodically and then must reconnect the next time you want to use the Wi-Fi. Also, the Zune can’t wirelessly sync if you’re at a public hot spot that requires you to log in or pay.
Intelligent Syncing
This year’s Zunes also introduce a concept Microsoft intends to build on: intelligent, or automated, syncing. If you have your Zune set to sync only some of your music, not all, and drag an artist’s name onto the Zune icon in the PC software, the software will thereafter automatically sync every song you add to the PC from that artist. Microsoft believes many people would welcome such automation.
The Zune’s FM radio is well-designed and easy to use. Using the Zune Pad to flick left or right along the station grid, our Zunes detected numerous static-free stations, and we marked certain stations as presets by holding down the center button. Each radio’s digital data appeared on-screen, including the artist and song title.
We shared songs between our Zunes, beaming tracks from the 80-gigabyte to the eight-gigabyte and vice versa. A wirelessly shared song can be played by the recipient three times whenever they choose. Microsoft has removed the three-day time limit that applied last year. A minute of playing time, or half the duration of a song (whatever comes first) constitutes one play. At first, it took our Zunes a couple tries to recognize one another, even though they were both set to share music. And we noted that invitations to accept shared music don’t include any information about the music, so you could get stuck downloading an annoying tune or one you already own.
Photo Finish
Photos and videos looked great on the Zunes — about as good as they do on the comparable iPod nanos and better than on the iPod Classic because that iPod model’s screen is much smaller than its Zune counterpart’s. However, album art, which is often lower-resolution than normal photos, looked grainier on the big Zune than on the big iPod. And none of the Zunes came close to the stunning photo and video quality offered on the iPod Touch and the iPhone.
We didn’t get to test Zune’s a la carte point system for buying and downloading tracks because it wasn’t up and running yet. Neither were music-video downloads. We each had Zune Pass accounts, which work like subscriptions. If the Zune account stops, all content acquired during the user’s subscription is lost.
Album Focus
Navigating through Zune’s software can be a tad confusing. Four categories at the top left of your PC’s screen are meant to help: Collection, Device, Marketplace and Social. Collection shows your downloaded or owned content and focuses a bit too much on albums, which are becoming less significant with the ever-growing popularity of digital music. One example of this is the Collection’s default center panel shows album art sorted by date added.
Zune Marketplace’s artist pages really shine. Upon selecting a band or artist, a rich, full-screen background image of that group or person appears on the page with lists of songs floating atop the image. Various still photos of each artist are included; we found 10 for Mary Chapin Carpenter and 15 for Nelly Furtado.
A full-screen artist page for Avril Lavigne on Zune Marketplace
After listening to a Yo-Yo Ma album in her music collection, Katie wanted to download additional performances of the famous cellist from the Zune Marketplace online store. But, unlike iTunes, Zune’s software program doesn’t offer a way to link directly from your Collection to Marketplace for buying more of a certain artist or another song from an album you already own.
Another navigational hiccup in Zune’s Marketplace is its inability to bookmark searches. If, after searching in Zune’s online store to buy and download more Yo-Yo Ma, Katie looked in her Collection to see which piece she played last or liked most, then returned to the online store, her Marketplace store search would be lost and she’d need to start over. The iTunes store bookmarks your place during searches, allowing you to navigate through any other part of iTunes before returning to the idle search.
Zune tries to compensate for this glitch by identifying songs in the online store that you already own — either bought through Zune Marketplace or from other sources — with an “In Collection” label so you don’t accidentally buy content you already own. Likewise, if a song in your Collection is already synched to be on the player, a tiny Zune icon appears beside that song title.
Unlike iTunes, Zune software can’t create smart playlists. And it only offers two views, Browse and List, versus three in iTunes: Cover Flow, lists, and lists with album art.
Microsoft has greatly improved the Zune hardware and software this time. But it seems to be competing with Apple’s last efforts, not its newest ones.
- Email mossbergsolution@wsj.com
Comments
“But, here again, Apple has been on the move. The” 160-gigabyte new “Classic, which costs” only a $100 USD more than” the 80-gigabyte Zune, is slimmer than the Zune and has a flashy new interface”.
Some people–take my wife–need/want that extra capacity. She bought one within a day of announcement.
80 GB is for losers.
Posted by Dave Barnes at November 13th, 2007 at 7:04 pm“Collection shows your downloaded or owned content and focuses a bit too much on albums, which are becoming less significant with the ever-growing popularity of digital music.” yet earlier: “Cover Flow, which allows you to flip through all your albums with just a flick of the mouse. Cover Flow also shows up on the nano, the Classic and the Touch. Even the new Zune PC software has no interface as compelling.”
It’s true that Zune dedicates its center browsing pane to album art, but the left and right panes are in a list format. Essentially the effort here is to integrate lists and albums without necessarily having to switch. Some nitpickers may want the complete control of three different views but I’m fine with Microsofts neat… dare I say the word… integration of all three.
I also like the complete change in Zune’s software look that wasn’t mentioned here. Everything is smoothly animated with the menus hovering over a fullscreen high-res background. It’s very snappy and responsive and seems to handle my large music and video library much faster than iTunes while using a similar amount of memory. iTunes frequently experienced momentary lags that, while not crippling, were irritating and make the Zune software refreshing. Zune’s animations and look defeat iTunes’ plain Finder clone in my humble opinion.
I personally find the look of the Zune itself more pleasing with its muted beveled back and sharper edges, while the more rounded ipod with it’s shiny fingerprint-attracting back and glaring white UI looks like a toy in comparison. Not to mention on a more practical note, the Zune 80’s screen is a more scratch resistant glass as opposed to plastic on the ipod.
The option of using the Zune pad as a button, especially for scrolling through long lists which fit in far more economically on Zune’s elongated screen, saves my thumb a lot of discomfort, whereas I’m forced to used repetitive tiring motions with the click wheel on my ipod (yes I own a 5.5G).
Although there doesn’t seem to be a verdict yet I’m willing to bet the Zune’s included in-ear style phones (which magnetically clip together, a nice touch from whatever manufacturer designed them) will beat the quality of ipod’s earbuds, which are only ok-sounding to discerning listeners and have to be turned up far too loud in order to overcome ambient noise, especially in urban environments.
Because the ipod classic has been out for a while I think it’s important not to brush over the details of the Zune in order be truly informative to people trying to choose between the two. There are some very thorough reviews on the classic but the Zune is of course, not as thoroughly documented. For anyone trying to decide I would recommend looking at the technical specs as well as actually trying out both at a store for yourself if you can.
Posted by Nathaniel Larke at November 14th, 2007 at 9:41 amYou can hardly talk about the Zune by itself.
Think about how well it works with everything on Windows Live accounts. It’s all about the digital Microsoft package. I have Vista Ultimate, an Xbox 360, and a Zune, and I love the way they all work together, and all the features available when you tie all 3 together via your Live account.
That’s what we’re buying into when we buy Zunes, not 4.3 oz to 4.2 oz
Posted by Kevin Oberg at November 14th, 2007 at 10:14 amApple fanboy here…
Hooray for Zune! I hope M$ keeps the pressure on Apple. Zune 2.0 seems like a big step up. I like the idea of wireless sync and I really wish my iPod would include a radio – seems like Steve is being obstinate there. I’d also love a subscription option. And the iPod earbuds suck. I also don’t “get” the iPod Classic – calling a tech product “Classic” should be a red flag right there. Small screen, big wheel, little innovation. Seems either Apple has gotten complacent, or the current lineup is a stop gap before introducing an all touch-screen model line.
No one (well, except the hard core Apple haters) can argue that Apple is not more innovative than M$. Likewise, no one but the M$ haters can deny that what M$ is good at imitating and improving upon something else. I think w/ iTunes/iPod, Apple is pullng it’s “classic” manuever of getting cocky. Why not open up the iTunes store to different pricing points? 99 cents is nice, but not if the major labels start pulling out, a la NBC. If proviers overprice their content, people won’t buy it…
Posted by Keith Wolter at November 14th, 2007 at 11:13 amPlease also give MS credit for doing something that Apple (a supposedly consumer focused company) failed to do: Ported the new interface to older units. I purchased a 30GB iPod about 4 months before the new ones came up with their upgraded interfaces. Other than the interface, the unit is identical to the current iPod classic. Other than pure greed, there’s no reason Apple couldn’t push out a firmware update to those of us with slightly older technology.
Posted by Dan Moldover at November 14th, 2007 at 11:45 amNathaniel wrote “…For anyone trying to decide, I would recommend looking at the technical specs as well as actually trying out both at a store for yourself if you can….”
Some of this is solid advice, but relying too much on technical specs would be a big mistake. It rarely tell an accurate story about computer hardware because mere specs do not reflect the overall user experience, which also is about the software interface and seamless connectivity when syncing devices…These are the very aspects of computing that Microsoft and partners never seem to get quite right…
It must be noted that committing to a Zune locks you into an odd, points-based purchasing system that is more difficult to track and use and the Zune Marketplace, where song purchases are delivered in a proprietary, Windows Media Audio (WMA) file format wrapped in a Microsoft DRM solution. On the other hand, Apple’s online store uses an industry-standard AAC (m4p) file format with Apple’s own Fairplay DRM wrapper added (AAC Plus). If Apple’s system were to falter, end users could strip off the DRM and still play the songs on virtually any (newer) music player on the market.
While both systems support other file formats (like .mp3), why would anyone trust any proprietary, online sales solution from Microsoft at this point, given all the well-documented problems the company created with other proprietary Internet solutions that allowed the uncontrolled spread of malware, spyware and viruses? Perhaps we can look forward to Microsoft selling Zune virus protection and anti-spyware services as well down the road…
Finally, it also should be noted that when you buy a Microsoft product, you are buying into a Microsoft and record label vision that you’ll pay a subscription fee forever or lose your music. Before Zune, Microsoft music system fans claimed that consumers wanted CHOICE, but that argument didn’t work when the company created proprietary, mediocre software and partners kept producing lame music players with features that didn’t always work well.
Now Microsoft Zune fans argue that Zune customers should give up choice for an Apple-like system that is even more closed (due to the use of WMA and presumably in the future, WMV (Video)! And what will Microsoft try next, if this latest business venture also fails?
Like the old mail order, record and CD clubs of the past, subscription-based music services seem destined for relative obscurity. But at least you got to keep your music if you let the record/CD club subscription lapse — not true with today’s digital subscription services. The reality is that the majority of people want to own their music, though they may be inclined to rent their movies using subscriptions..
It seems to me that committing to a Zune system requires a level of trust that Microsoft has not yet earned. The fact is, consumers seem to be punishing Microsoft for past security sins, and that probably is the way things should remain for awhile. No one, myself included, wants an Apple or Microsoft service to be the only option available to consumers. For now, Apple represents the competition that freed us from the limitations of proprietary technology gone awry. I actually hope Zune gains enough traction to carve out 5%- to 10% market share for a vocal supporters who actually appreciate this alternative service. But don’t be too quick to give up on iTunes, the iPod and iPhone. Microsoft fans should be careful — you may get just what you ask for, but live to regret your choice once again…
Posted by george wedding at November 14th, 2007 at 12:43 pmwell walt you forgot a couple of more things like for example, why the heck did microsoft not throw a bigger battery in it if is 10x bigger than the ipod Nano and why did they when with the cheap LCD screen and not with the LCD LED like the Nano that makes the screen brighter, Sure a FM tunner is good if your into listening to comercials thing, but i preffer just listening to my music library when am on the go, Sure the Zune 2 has improved from the first Gen but it should have been better, according to amazon they are on the 106 top selling and the Nano is on #2 which figuers
Posted by fraklin tineo at November 14th, 2007 at 2:29 pmactually the Zune Marketplace has a ton of DRM-free MP3s you can buy for a little more than the regular tracks. i often wonder about the people who complain about proprietary formats for music and whether or not they own any music of their own. are these people relying on a service to provide them with content? what was the reason behind their decision to purchase a DAP anyway? this seems to create the idea that using iTunes or ZMP will DRM your existing music (i’ve had people say this to me already, it’s not completely crazy).
as for the above comments on tech. specs., it’s good to look at specsheets every now and then. how else would you know that the Zune 80 outputs DVD quality video (720×480) via TV out and is supported by an AV dock that sports Component Video connectors (yes RGB cables)?
at the end of the day, you shouldn’t compare two products even if they are competing against each other, if it is that you are in the market for a device. you should instead choose one that best matches your requirements.
Posted by Matthew Ventour at November 15th, 2007 at 6:39 amThe one thing that I have yet to see reviewers catch on to is the “subscrption” option for the Zune marketplace. As presented in this article, the subscription option is mentioned briefly but is then explained in a confusing way which almost makes PURCHASED content sound like subscription content [see george wedding's comment].
Imagine for a moment, that you can download all the new music you want for the price of a single CD each month. The price of buying that Will Smith album on iTunes will let you get every album he has ever released as well as every top-40 album released in the last decade. For the early adopters such as myself, this has been a huge deal. Another interesting aspect of the subscription content is that if you “squirt” [that's a gross term!] subscripton content from your Zune to your friend’s, and they too have a subscription, they can sync the content and play it so long as they don’t let their subscription expire. After convincing my friends to get Zunes becaus I liked mine because of the subscription, we started sharing playlists. Furthermore, you can “jump in” [MSFT marketing terms are weird] to the community and see ALL the music that cool hipster guy sitting next to you on the bus listens to, and can grab his playlists and find good new music the lazyman’s way. I suppose this sort of functionality makes sense to overlook… I mean, it’s not really related to the device experience, right?
OK Walt, so you don’t listen to new music… What happens when you lose your collection from iTunes? If you are synced to too many computers or have reached your download limt in iTunes, you are fubar’d. In the case of subscription content, you just redownload it, replace it, get remixes of it. Who cares! Access to your music collection is connected to your login. [And this is a fairly ubiquitous login too, passport has been around since near the dawn of the Internet, remember the "electronic wallet"] Yes, if you stop your subscription you will stop being able to listen to your music. The whole “subscrition” concept can be a little disconcerting — if you are extremely compelled to listen to a song until the end of your days, buy it. Purchased (mind you there is PURCHASED and SUBSCRIPTION) content from the Zune marketplace will play forever, you don’t have to login to reactivate it, it will play in Windows forever, it will play on your Zune forever, and you can reverse sync it from your Zune back to your PC in the event that your dog eats your computer or something.
Comparing the subscription experience to the purchase experience (something that I haven’t seen done yet) is NOT like comparing apples to apples. These are oranges we’re talking about in the case of the marketplace, ORANGES! Subscription is a big deal, I do not know anyone who has actually tried it, used it for a month and then decided to go back to buying CDs / MP3s / AACs.
Mr. Mossberg, I hate to put it like this, but reviewing the service without actually trying out the subscription content is like reviewing the TV and only comparing its audio fidelity to a radio without considering the fact that there are moving pictures. Next time you take a look at a Zune product, make sure you check out all the features!
Posted by Gus Class at November 15th, 2007 at 12:35 pmOh my, the Apple propagada has brainwashed more of you than I thought. I bet at least half of the commenters here talking bad about the Zune have never even used one for more than 5 minutes.
I have been using one since July 07. It replaced my iPod nano and my iPod 1st gen Touchwheel. I can honetly say it blows any iPod that I’ve ever seen (sans Touch, as much as I hate the trendy iPod scene, it does look like a marvelous device) far out of the water.
Posted by David Hansen at November 15th, 2007 at 9:48 pmWhat? No brown?
Posted by Neil Anderson at November 16th, 2007 at 7:41 am