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Front
The front of the Zen X-Fi looks like a standard media player that's been turned on its side. On the left is the 2.5-inch display, to the right of which is an array of buttons. The center nine buttons will help you with navigation to varying degrees. The center key is select, the keys bordering it non-diagonally are up, down, left, and right respectively. The top and bottom key on the left will jump to the start or end of a list, while the keys on the right side will skip up/down five or so items.
Left
The left side of the device is featureless.
Right
The right size of the X-Fi has four interesting items. The two most obvious features are the mini USB port for data/charging and the standard 1/8-inch headphone jack. On the other side of the headphone jack is a green LED that will light up when the device is turned on. Beside the mini USB port is a small reset button.
Top
The top of the X-Fi has an SD card slot and a small microphone port.
Bottom
The bottom of the X-Fi has a thin slot, inside of which is the internal speaker.
Back
Other than standard branding, the X-Fi's back is where it keeps it's power/hold switch.
Battery Out
Creative doesn't want you fooling around with the battery, so they don't give you access to it.
In Box
In addition to the X-Fi, you'll find a pair of headphones (with three sets of sleeves total), the shortest mini USB cord we've ever seen, some documentation, and a mini CD full of software.
Durability (6.00)
While the X-Fi probably won't break easily, the platic case feels a bit flimsy compared to the metal cases we've seen on other devices. We were able to scuff the texture off the back of the case with a penny and carve it up pretty easily with a pair of keys. The front of the screen seems to be much more durable, although it isn't as bullet-proof as the Sony Walkman 16GB's screen.
Aesthetics (7.00)
The Creative X-Fi is a good looking device. The front is a glossy black and the back is a sharp looking gray. The device is small, sleek, and, most importantly, doesn't look like an iPod. The media player market is so super-saturated with iPods that it's hard to imagine something that both looks good and doesn't look like an iPod. The X-Fi manages to do this with a nice, subtle, more professional look. You wouldn't feel embarrassed having your X-Fi with you at the office, or like you're pulling a rainbow out of your pocket every time you want to switch songs.
Portability (5.63)
The Creative Zen X-Fi isn't the smallest media player on the market, but it is pretty small. In terms of its face dimensions, it's slightly smaller than average. This size advantage gets negated somewhat by the device being a bit thicker than a lot of modern media players: in a tight pocket the X-Fi will create a tiny protrusion. The device is an average weight as well: 2.4 ounces. There are plenty of smaller media players out there, but the X-Fi is still a tiny device.
Supported File Types (6.38)
The Creative X-Fi will play back MP3, WMA, AAC4, WAV, and Audible (formats 2, 3, and 4) audio files. Your videos will work as long as they're in MJPEG, WMV, or MPEG-4 format (MPEG-4 includes DivX and XviD files). Included software can transcode from other formats providing appropriate codecs are installed. The device will only support JPEG pictures, but the included software can transcode BMP, GIF, PNG, and TIFF files.
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