The Zen V and the Zen V Plus may not be the newest in town, but they are good ones and they are still worth it. They are small and look nice, but that doesn’t stop them from displaying impressive performance.

It has a 1.5-inch OLED display which looks and makes the colours look very good, but it’s hard to read when in direct sunlight. It measures 2.6 by 1.5 by 0.5 inches and weighs 1.6 ounces. It fits into the pocket and it feels good to hold. The controls are very easy to use; in fact, everything is very easy to use. You don’t need to install any software to start syncing content to the player, but the Creative software is a worthwhile install, as it includes several useful apps, particularly the ToolBox, which can convert and transfer video files to the player, and ZenCast, a program that offers a one-stop spot for subscribing to, organizing, and transferring podcasts. It supports various formats, MP3, WAV, WMA and also WMV and MPEG-4 can be transcoded with the included software). The menu is also direct and it shouldn’t cause any trouble. You can sort the music by playlist, album, artist and not only.

Also, it has some other features which make it even more attractive. Such a feature is photo and video playback; an FM tuner with 32 autoscannable presets; FM, voice, and line-in recording; an alarm clock and calendar; and even PIM functionality, with the ability to sync tasks and contacts from Outlook are also worth mentioning and make it shine. You can choose any wallpaper. It doesn’t have USB host capability and built-in Wi-Fi but that shouldn’t so bad, just a small downside.

The music sounds good, but when paired with some good premium ‘phones you can experience quality. And it can be loud too. The transfer speed is 1.25MB per second; too bad it doesn’t have UMS support, but the battery life is also good. Price is $116.99.