Tech Thursday: Zune HD

Note: This Zune HD review brought you by my bro: J-RO

My brother asked me to write this review knowing I’d be completely biased while doing so. You see, this has been one of my most anticipated devices in a long time.* So, with none of the long lines and fanfare of other device launches, I picked up my shiny new black box (if that’s at all possible.) on my lunch break on launch day.

I opened that box, to find one of the sexiest devices I had ever seen. Yep, that’s “sexy”, if any device ever deserved that adjective, it’s this one.

Let’s start with the hardware itself first. The device is slightly larger than the last generation’s 8/16 Gig Zune devices, but still smaller than the iPod touch. The screen makes up most of the device, as would be expected with a touch screen device. This device feels lighter than the previous Zune devices, and about as thin. As a point of reference, the device is still slightly thicker than the iPod Touch.

The device has a 3.3 inch OLED color, capacitive touch screen.** The device has just 3 buttons: a power button at the top of the screen, a button that brings up volume and track controls on the left side of the device, and a home button of sorts below the screen. The bottom of the device has room for the traditional Zune connector, and a headphone jack. The device also has an accelerometer for changing between landscape and portrait mode, by rotating the device.

Now that the hardware is out of the way, we can get to the software, and this is where the magic happens. Everything about the software from the transitions between menu items, to the screen saver that pops up when playing a track, screams “class” (or “sexy” as previously mentioned.) This new device has a new menu that runs parallel with the existing old style menu. So, to start you have the original list, Music, Videos, Pictures, etc. Swiping to the right will bring up the new menu, which has four listed categories of its own. There is a current track section that displays the track that is playing or paused.

Also on this menu is a “pins” section that now allows the users to “pin” favorites to this list for quick, convenient access. Next, up is the “History” section, which does exactly what you think it does, the caveat however, is that it is the history of EVERYTHING, from music and video, to games and websites will show up in this quick list. The last section in this menu is the “New” section, which displays all of the new items that have been recently added to the device.

Now, I’ve previously mentioned the old style menu for the Zune, but there are some interesting additions to that interface. You now have Music, Video, Pictures, Radio, Marketplace, Social, Internet, and Settings. A few more settings to be sure, Internet being the most important, since this is now the first time that a Zune has had some type of an Internet browser. While this isn’t “proper” internet, (It is mobile internet…) it still allows Zune owners to surf wherever there is a hotspot. All searches are powered by Microsoft’s Bing, *** and as of now there is no flash support, but if Microsoft could figure it out, it would be one of the first music devices that could actually run Pandora, directly from a device.


The music section has made some interesting changes, though mostly aesthetic. However, it’s nice to see the transitioning used here, as well as selected artists displaying full screen pictures when their albums are selected. The graphics chip and OLED screen are in full use with this device. Video has one of the bigger changes for the device, as the device now supports HD output up to 720p via the optional A/V dock. This means anything you get from the marketplace, or add to the device yourself can be potentially output in HD to your television.

The ZuneHD also supports HD radio now. While older Zune models have supported FM radio, it’s definitely an upgrade that gives users the ability to have more and clearer radio channels. Pictures, Marketplace, Social, and Settings still perform the way they did before, with social still allowing fellow Zune users to share music directly.

As long as that was, this review is still just a snap shot of what the Zune can do, this post could potentially go on forever. In the end this is a very nice device, it is unique simply for its display alone, never mind the features that just aren’t offered anywhere else like HD Radio. For the full effect, you’ve got to see the thing live; pictures just don’t do it justice. I know mostly everyone has an iPod, but for those that don’t this device is a worthy alternative.


*Full disclosure, I hate almost everything about Apple, so those devices would have never crossed my mind. It’s also been a very long time since a video game console released…

**For those who don’t know, “capacitive touch” means a finger is required, no stylus will work, just like the current-gen iPod’s.

***They really are pushing this search engine aren’t they?