Zune HD – One Month Later: Hardware

I wanted to wait awhile before jumping into a review about the Zune HD because it’s hard to figure out what to like or dislike from a pointless unboxing video or the day after a product is released. I think a month is a fair amount of time to learn about, use, and judge a recently purchased product.

So, here’s what I’ve liked and disliked about the device’s hardware so far.

Hardware

For me, 32GB is more than enough space, of space is dependent on how much you feel you need on the device. In my case, I have a hard to filling just half of that with music, so I have 16GB of TV episodes and movies that I’ll probably only watch when I hook up the device to the TV.

The screen is amazing. Outside in sunny weather and other bright situations, the screen is a little difficult to see. But in typical lighting scenarios, the images are crisp and show great colors. Also, the touchscreen is awesome. I hardly ever feel like I’m touching the screen to change the volume, browse through albums, or type on the on-screen keyboard. It’s really responsive.

The device is really lightweight and feels really durable. I wouldn’t go tossing it around, but it feels like it could withstand some bumps and people-height falls. The casing is a mixture of brushed metal (aluminum?) and hard plastic, and it doesn’t attract fingerprints, which is totally cool with me. Even after using it pretty heavily, I’ve somehow managed to avoid getting smudgy fingerprints on the screen. Also, the screen flushes well with the casing, so there’s less of a chance of dust buildup in the cracks.

From my experience, the accelerometer in the Zune HD responds the quickest out of any device that I’ve messed around with, particularly the iPhone and T-Mobile MyTouch (Android). The lag time on it is pretty much zilch. The tilt sensor is really sensitive, and the game that utilizes it—Space Battle II—has options to reduce or increase sensitivity. On all sensitivity settings, it was super responsive.

I think my biggest complaint about the device is the volume rocker. It really just wakes up the device and forces you to change the volume or move to the previous or next song by touching the screen. It would be nice to change the volume just by pressing up or down on the volume rocker (can it even be called that?). Plus, you have to push it pretty hard for the volume/menu screen to show up, which is nice for reducing accidental presses but a little annoying when you have to press fairly hard when the device is in a case.

There’s a power/sleep button at the top of the device. It’s just your average “on” button. It’s easy enough to press but not too easy that it’ll turn on while in your pocket or in a bag. The “Home” button below the screen is just as advertised; it works and doesn’t require much pressure. It can also be used to flip between the home screen and the sidebar area that contains “Now Playing” content, pinned content, history, and recently added content, which is neat and helps with ease of use.

A minor disappointment was the lack of a lanyard hole. I occasionally like to hang a mobile device from my neck so that I can look like the Flavor Flav of mobile devices. I joke. But it would’ve been nice to have a hole to slip a lanyard through.

To end this part of the review on a high note, I have yet to experience a total battery drain on the Zune HD. I’ve had a few times where the battery has gone down to around 25 percent, but it still keeps kicking. The flight to Japan, including time waiting for takeoff and standing in immigration lines at the airport, was about 10 hours and for 9 of those hours, I watched videos, played games, looked at pictures, did as much as I could with the accelerometer, and had the screen brightness on the highest setting. I was a happy camper.

Pros

• Touchscreen is very responsive and surprisingly doesn’t leave much fingerprint residue. The colors really pop out, too.
• Device is lightweight and built to fit nicely in your hand.
• Accelerometer doesn’t lag, and the tilt is sensitive and accurate.
• Great battery life.

Cons

• Direct lighting on the device makes the screen difficult to see.
• Volume rocker takes a fairly forceful amount of pressing for the volume/track menu to show up.
• No hole for a lanyard.

 

My next post will be about the experience of the Zune HD.

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