The Zune HD PlayerNow that you know a little about what is under the hood; let’s talk about the actual player. My first thoughts when I pulled the Zune HD out of the box was; “Wow, Microsoft has done a good job here”. The player was small, light, crisp and just plain sexy to look at. For years the Apple iPhone and iPod touch have been labeled as sexy hardware but when you put these two players side-by-side the iPhone looks old and outdated. The Zune simply stands out despite its smaller size.
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The front of the Zune HD is clean. The 3.3-inch OLED is set inside a small frame that is barely visible when powered off. I would have liked to see an edge to edge screen here as it would have allowed for a larger viewing area but sadly this did not happen. Below the screen is a simple thin button that acts as the “home” button for the Zune HD. Below the home button is a small area of dead space that allows you to hold the Zune HD without getting too many finger prints on the screen.
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The sides are interesting in that they have a thin inset piece on each side. This offers a very cool visual effect and has the added benefit of giving a better grip on the Zune HD. We also see that the Zune HD is very thin; it is thinner than the iPhone and iPod touch. Granted not by much but it is noticeable.
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Along the left side of the Zune HD we find the Media button. The single button brings up the player controls on the screen. These controls include Volume up and down as well as pause/play and track forward/back. This will take a little getting used to and could steer some away from the Zune HD. You can also access these controls by taping the screen during playback.
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Also along the left hand side is a little note from the MS team. It simply says “hello from seattle”
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Looking at the bottom we see the Zune HD connector; here MS is following Apple and uses a proprietary connector. Although it would be nice to see a standard Mini-USB port here, sadly using one would prevent much of the player interaction that the larger connector offers. We also see a departure from the norm here with the headphones port on the bottom of the player right next to the player connector. This placement may seem odd at first; however as soon as I put it in my truck it was not. It allowed both [Power and Headphones] cables to run side by side unlike using the iPhone where I had to have a cable at both ends. This made it easier to place in my dashboard tray and looked much cleaner than when I have the iPhone in there. One thing missing from the bottom is any form of external speaker. The Zune HD simply does not have one. The only way you are going to listen to the Zune HD is if you have headphones or external speakers plugged in.
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The top of the player has a single button that when pressed once puts the Zune HD to sleep and when pressed and held allows you to power off the Zune HD completely. Pressing it once when powered off will power the Zune HD back on again.
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The back of the Zune HD is also impressively done. They used a black, brushed aluminum surface for the upper portion and a darker lower section [much like the original iPod]. Microsoft has left the screws visible giving the Zune HD an industrial look to it. The sample that we received came from NVIDIA as such it proudly proclaims that it is powered by Terga on the back. Normally this area would be blank [unless you customize if at Zune Originals] except for the small embossed Zune Logo.
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The overall look and feel is simply stunning. It is a clean winner in the looks contest between the Zune HD and the iPhone/iPod Touch. There are a few things I would have liked to see done differently but after playing with the Zune HD for a few minutes those things quickly fell out of my head.
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