Interface & Features

Now, unlike most review sites, I always like to take my time writing reviews of these products in order to give the reader as much information as possible.  This includes a section solely based on actual screenshots and player features.  The Zune HD is loaded with plenty, and while I can't possibly show you all of them, I will cover a majority of the most common and comment on navigation.

The Zune HD consists of ten main menus which include music, videos, pictures, radio, marketplace, social, podcasts, internet, apps and settings.  Also important to note is that the player actually has two home menus, the second of which is very clever and highly useful.  From this menu you have access to your "Pins", can view history and even new files that have been added.  This menu is excellent and a nice way to find what your after very quickly.

Music

First off, I will honestly say that the GUI on the Zune HD is amazing and it truly is a pleasure to navigate all your files with ease.  When browsing your music collection, you don't have to scroll through a massive list.  There are letters above each artist and when you click on any of them, you will be presented an alphabetized menu that will allow you to quickly jump to where you want to be.  It makes browsing a very large collection of files a breeze.

Scrolling to the right, you can browse your music files by Artist, Albums, Genres and Playlists.  All album art will display in all menus, provided you have tagged your files properly.  Also, when browsing an artist with multiple albums, you can either click on the album to play it in its entirety or click to the right of it where the song list is displayed to get to the album song list and play any particular song/s.

Pictures

Nothing much to talk about here, as I don't necessarily take advantage of such feature on these devices.  However, what's nice about the Zune HD is that it handles all files here as a mass storage device in the sense that you don't have to simply transfer all files over and browse them individually.  If you have your pictures organized in folders, you can transfer the folders over to the player and it will conveniently not only display them this way, but show you how many pictures are in each folder.  Clicking on any folder will open the entire collection within.

Videos

The same applies to the videos menu in terms of file organization and display.  What you should also note is that within the Zune desktop software, you can actually categorize your videos and add descriptions to them as well.  Click to the right of the video thumbnail on the player will reveal this information on the player.

Marketplace

The marketplace menu is just that...a way to shop around for new stuff right from the player itself.  You can browse music and apps and there is even a search option available.  Note that its Apps support is still in its early stages so don't expect to find a wide collection of apps available at the moment.  At the time of review, most of the apps available are free downloads and very basic. 

Social

The social menu is where you can gain access to all friends you have synced to the player.  Clicking on any will load their custom background and allow a sneak peek at their collection, which includes the ability to browse by recent, favorites, etc.

Podcasts

I've read some comments from many that the Zune HD doesn't support podcasts.  I would like to emphasize that this is completely false.  The only reason I can think of that would make someone draw such conclusions is the fact that you will not see this menu on the player until you browse and subscribe to them via the Zune Desktop Software.  It fully supports podcasts, both audio and video!

Internet

Many of you have probably read all the nice comments regarding the internet browser on the Zune HD.  This is because it really is impressive.  Take this from someone who has owned many Windows Mobile phones and only use third-party browsers on all. This is not the Pocket IE browser you'll find on their phones.  It is an opera-like browser that happens to work extremely well.  The only issue I found it that you'll likely want to browse with it in landscape view.  This is because even after tapping to zoom, you still can't read a majority of sites.  On a positive note, the accelerometer on the Zune HD is excellent, instantly switch upon turning it sideways.  I'll cover much more on the browser in the performance section of the review.

Apps

Yes, there's an Apps menu.  However, as previously stated, there are not many at the moment and still in its early stages.  Above are screenshots of the Calculator and Weather App.  Some games are available as well.

Settings

**click to enlarge**

The settings menu didn't really impress me much to be honest.  It consists of nine menus, some of which you'll not likely use more than once.  With that said, I'll only cover those you'll likely make use of.

The first one I'll start with is the Wireless Menu.  This is one you'll likely access quite a bit, as it allows you to enable/disable it, activate a sync via this connection and view all available wireless networks available.  The Display Menu will allow you to configure its TV output, adjust the player's brightness, enable/disable the accelerator and make changes to its screensaver features.

Unfortunately, at the present time, the Zune HD doesn't have a custom equalizer like the one I have found in many other players.  You only have presets available depending on the type of audio you will be listening to.  Finally, the Internet menu may be one some will access frequently, as it will enable you to delete history just like you would normally do on your PC browser.

Now, as much as I have covered in this section, you'll notice I did not include one menu, which happens to be one of its main features.  I'm referring to the built-in HD radio functionality.  I was quite disappointed with this feature and will elaborate further in the performance section of this review.

Next: Performance & Accessories