Though we still find Apple's Cover Flow very attractive, the Zune's full-screen album art is reminiscent of browsing through a physical music collection images slide across the screen as you slide through songs. We actually prefer the Zune's interface-which lets you switch from genres to albums to artists by simply sliding your finger on the Zune Pad-to the iPod classic's, which requires a lot of backing out of menus. The included premium earbuds (that come with the 80GB model only) trample Apple's earbuds the rubber tips felt comfortable in our ears, and the cloth cord prevented annoying tangles. The Hold switch and 3.5mm audio jack on top are the only other design elements. As with the first Zune, the control is flanked by a Back button on the left and a Play/Pause button on the right. You can adjust the volume either by clicking on the pad or sliding your finger up or down. We liked the flick or click choices, and in practice, they worked well. For more precision, you can click the button to select items. This 'squircle' pad lets you navigate menus by flicking your finger. The display did get smudged with fingerprints after a few days of use, but the rest of the device remained fingerprint-free, thanks to the soft-touch finish on the front and the matte metal finish on the back.īelow the screen lies the new and improved Zune Pad. The full-screen, hi-res album art looked much better than on the previous Zune. We also liked how the screen immediately switched to landscape mode when we played videos or browsed through photos. A video podcast of NBC Nightly News looked stunningly clear on the crisp and bright LCD the green trees in a shot of South America popped, and we could even see Brian Williams' wrinkles. The large 3.2-inch glass screen impressed us. There's a reason for that extra girth in addition to the 80GB hard drive stuffed inside the Zune is an updated 802.11b/g Wi-Fi antenna that lets you send tracks to other nearby Zunes wirelessly and sync your music with your device over Wi-Fi. We had trouble fitting it in our pocket, though it felt fine in a shoulder bag or in a case clipped on the belt loop of our jeans.

But at 0.51 inches, the Zune is thicker than most iPods on the market, including the iPod touch and the 80GB iPod classic. Zune Makeover EditionThe 4.5-ounce Zune is seemingly light for its 4.3 x 2.4 x 0.5-inch size and weighs less than the 80GB iPod classic by 0.4 ounces.

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