There's nothing wrong with having a player that just plays audio. For most people looking for an ultra-portable, that's exactly what they're after, especially if it's cheap.
That's why it's so bewildering that Creative's even bothered building video compatibility into the Zen Mozaic – the screen is so small and, well, rubbish, the whole exercise is a complete waste of time.
Get that into your head from the start, though, and there's actually a lot to love about this cute little player.
For a start, there's its physical design – the Zen is tiny, looks unique with its mosaic effect, and has a nice soft-touch case.
It's a delightful, solid object
This really is a delightful object that feels much more solid than you might expect and proves a welcome antithesis to the slightly pretentious, ultra-glossy styling of the majority of its rivals.
The Mozaic's list of compatible formats might be less than exhaustive, but the major bases are covered – you've got the MP3 and WMA space-savers, and WAV for your uncompressed tunes.
As mentioned, it will play AVI videos, too, but we reckon we've made our feelings on that fairly clear.
Just because the screen's poor at displaying movies doesn't mean it's an issue for everyday operation. The menus and fonts are basic, but bright and clear – this is a player your gran could work out.
Dynamic delivery impresses
In keeping with the theme of the test, the headphones are appalling, both in terms of the sound they deliver and their general fit and form, but swap them for a more capable pair and the Creative proves to be a surprisingly sweet performer.
It might not quite have the bite and brilliance of the iPod nano, but a 320kbps MP3 of Ben Kweller's Changing Horses is insightful, rhythmic and weighty.
There's also decent dynamism to the delivery, especially when you move up to an uncompressed WAV.
As with the other non-Apple players we've tested, getting content on the device is done quickly and easily through drag-and-drop or Windows Media Player.
Creative does bundle software in the box, but it's not particularly feature-laden or nice to use, and as you won't be putting video on the Mozaic, you might as well leave it there.
It's fair to say this little Zen was a pleasant surprise. It's cute, compact, and very affordable – what's more, it's actually a very capable performer, too.
