Creative Zen Mozaic 2GB

Full Review

The Creative Zen Mozaic sports interesting looks, is petite and is capable of decent music playback but it also offers nothing new. In fact apart from its tile-based design there is practically nothing that separates it from a milieu of similar MP3 players in the market.

Well, obviously the stand-out feature of the MP3 player is its design. The player’s front sports a checkerboard look and it certainly makes it look very interesting. Our test model was in drab grey and black but still managed to look elegant thanks to this element.  However, the same design element also makes navigation confusing as it’s quite hard to make out the navigation buttons from squares placed just for cosmetic effect. Also, the buttons don’t feel distinctive, so blind navigation will take some getting used to. Plus, the buttons need an extra hard push to work which was needlessly irritating. The player is petite, however not petite enough to be listed as a Micro MP3 player like the iPod Shuffle or the Creative Zen Stone. A few other design elements we didn’t like was the absence of dedicated physical volume controls and the placement of the 3.5mm jack at the player’s bottom.

In terms of features, the Mozaic offers quite a bit. The player supports MP3, WAV and WMA audio formats. However any video that you want to watch in the player will have to be encoded by the bundled Creative Centrale software irrespective of format. The player also offers some other helpful features such as an organizer (in which you can view your contacts and tasks synced from Outlook), voice recording, FM radio, picture viewer and a calendar.

Music playback on the Mozaic is decent. It is suited for bass-heavy tracks although the bass wasn’t as punchy as we would have liked. Also, in tracks with a lot of instruments, because of the loose bass, the mix ended up sounding muddy. Overall though, unless you have a very high-end pair of headphones, the Mozaic plays music acceptably. The earphones bundled with the player aren’t that great either and nor is the FM reception. The Mozaic’s 1.8-inch screen id able to display color and play videos but quite frankly it could have done without them. The screen quality is horrible and both pictures and videos look pixilated and very noisy. The Mozaic also has an external speaker which is surprisingly crisp and loud.

At Rs. 3,490, the Zen Mozaic no doubt looks like a good deal. However, taking into account its unrefined controls and bad screen, it makes it difficult for us to recommend this Creative player.

Bottom Line

In spite of unique looks, compact size and cheap price, the Creative Zen Mozaic fails to leave a mark.