Is the Zune HD Better Than the iPod?

Hype Check:

Zune HD

What it is: You've no doubt heard of Zune -- Microsoft's much-hyped personal media player (PMP) -- but you may not have seen much of it. Unfortunately for Microsoft, the device hasn't exactly caught on with the mainstream, with Apple's iPod (not to mention iPhone) still dominating the space. Zune HD is the Zune's third iteration and it comes in 16 -gigabyte (GB) and 32GB varieties, a 3.3-inch OLED touchscreen, support for HD Radio and downloadable apps, and a Web browser.

Why it's different: Why would you get a Zune HD rather than an iPod? A big selling point is the tight integration of Microsoft's own 'all-you-can-eat' subscription-based music service, making discovering new music a slick, fun and affordable experience. It has a screen that tops even Apple's, HD Radio, and the ability to output HD-quality 720p video to your television set. In other words, it actually does some things that the iPod doesn't.




What we like: Picking up the Zune, you'll immediately notice this isn't just another PMP -- it's a beautiful device, with sleek angles and prodigious use of metal rather than plastic. The screen is OLED rather than LCD, which means that colors pop and blacks are really black. Side by side, it's easy to see the difference in video quality between this and an iPod/iPhone.

Music discovery is a joy to use on the Zune HD, though it should be noted that you'll need a Zune Pass to get much out of it, which will cost you $15 a month. If you're listening to a particular artist, for example, you're able to quickly bring up the band's complete discography, and then add albums to your Marketplace cart, and either stream them immediately to the device, or download them when a you have a Wi-Fi connection. If you hear a song on the radio and you want to hear more tunes like it, then simply press a button and the song is added to your Marketplace cart; later on, you can download this and all your other tagged songs directly to the device. You can even e-mail links instantly-playable songs to friends (friends who don't have a Zune can click a to hear 30-second sample of the song). Smart DJ functions a lot like the Apple's Genius feature, with the added bonus of suggesting songs from the Zune music store and downloading them to your device. Oh, and it should be noted that the Zune Pass is mostly all or nothing: When you stop paying the monthly fee, all your Zune Pass music goes away, though you're allowed to keep 10 songs forever each month.

The addition of HD radio in such a portable device is a nice bonus. If a station broadcasts in HD, then the Zune HD will pick it up; sound quality is excellent, particularly for AM stations that now offer HD broadcasts, and the Zune displays broadcast information about currently playing songs (FM radio is also supported, though AM is not).

Microsoft has uploaded a number of basic apps, including a calculator, a weather app, and some rudimentary games. They're all free, and Microsoft is currently developing Twitter and Facebook clients. More intriguing, however, is the promise of 3-D games: 'Project Gotham Racing' and 'AudioSurf' are on the way. The device's 3-D graphics chip is extremely powerful, and Microsoft knows a thing or two about games. It's a big if, but gaming could become a huge part of Zune's future, and a key selling point.

What we don't like: Like all gadgets, the Zune HD isn't perfect. The interface, while pretty to look at, has its issues. For instance, there's no unified way of backing out of a menu hierarchy -- a problem since this is something you'll be doing quite often. Likewise, controls for the music player aren't found on any menu pages; you bring up a control screen when you want to do that, triggered by that button on the left side of the device, or by tapping the screen. This means that the only way to change the volume, skip songs, or stop playback involves one more step than it should -- extremely problematic for something that is primarily a music device.

The Web browser, while impressive at first blush, is ultimately lacking. It renders pages well and provides a nice touch-based keyboard and browsing setup (double-tap/pinch to zoom, slide your finger to scroll), but it's unbearably slow to load pages and doesn't support Flash. It's infinitely better than the browser found in Windows Mobile devices, but still a long way from the mobile version of Safari.

Perhaps unsurprisingly (but still disappointingly), it doesn't play the likes of DivX or MKV files on the video side, nor will it play audiophile formats like FLAC or Ogg on the audio side. The lack of an onboard speaker is a bit annoying (you need headphones to hear any sound), and the OLED screen, while pretty, is tough to see in direct sunlight.

Finally, the device is the farthest thing from a jack-of-all-trades. In an age where iPod sales are declining and iPhone sales are climbing, why Microsoft chose to effectively "gimp" their device is a bit of a mystery. No phone is one thing, but the lack of such useful hardware features as GPS or a camera -- not to mention software like maps, Internet radio, instant messaging, and e-mail apps -- means you'll need another device with you to perform such functions. Like, you know, an iPhone. The lack of an e-mail client seems the most obvious: It takes out of the equation what would seem to be an obvious and extremely useful function for the Wi-Fi-enabled, touchscreen PMP.

Price/Where to get it: 16GB ($220) and 32GB ($290)

Is it worth the hype? The Zune HD is a big step for Microsoft: The company has crafted a device that feels premium, and provides a music discovery experience that's second to none. Likewise, while you'll need to buy the (optional) $90 dock in order to do so, the ability to play full HD-quality 720p movies on your TV could come in very handy for some customers. While perfectly capable, though, it still has decidedly less overall functionality than an iPod; if Microsoft invests and succeeds in a full-fledged app store, this could very well change, but as it stands, Apple still rules the roost.

Tags: features, hypecheck, microsoft, top, zune, zunehd