Creative presents Zen Neeon 2

Friday, August 04, 2006

Lost in all the Zune press coverage is the Creative announce about their upgrade of their Zen Neeon mp3 player. The first version was one of the intended iPod nano challengers but the Apple product was just too hard to beat so Creative went back to work and designed the Zen Neeon 2.

It has a bigger colour display (1.5 inches) and it comes with three different storage options: the usual 1 GB and 2 GB plus a new version that can store up to 4 GB of digital music, video and photos.

This new device in fact apart from playing mp3 music can also be used to watch videos or pictures and even to record some messages thanks to a built-in microphone. Add to this the possibility to listen to FM radio, the reduced size of the device and the easiness with which to transfer music files from a pc (simply drag and drop) and you see why Creative is pretty excited about the Zen Neeon 2.

Another interesting feature is the line-in recording that lets the user connect the device to other audio sources (via an included cable) to save their favorite music. Lastly the retail package also includes a useful software suite with an audio ripping tool and a personal music collection organizer.

The only drawback that we can find in this version of the product is a direct consequence of the introduction of a color screen. The first generation was able to play music for 32 continuous hours while the Zen Neeon 2, according to Creative, has a 20 hours autonomy (8 for continuous video playback). This is still impressive though if compared to the iPod nano battery life (14 hours).

The prices for the 1 GB, 2 GB and 4GB versions will be 125, 170 and 195 dollars respectively (all well below the respective nano versions). The Zen Neeon 2 is highly customizable because apart from being sold in 5 different colors PACKS it can be personalized with a vast array of Creative skins.