Creative Zen

This article is about the portable media player series. For the model in this series simply named "ZEN", see ZEN (portable media player).
Creative ZEN
ManufacturerCreative Technology (also known as Creative Labs in the west)
TypeDigital audio players, Portable media players
Lifespan2004—2014
Units sold25 million (as of 2007, includes NOMAD and MuVo)[1]
PredecessorCreative NOMAD

ZEN is a series of portable media players designed and manufactured by Creative Technology Limited from 2004 to 2011. The players evolved from the NOMAD brand through the NOMAD Jukebox series of music players, with the first separate "ZEN" branded models released in 2004. The last Creative Zen player, X-Fi3, was released at the end of 2011.

Three Creative Zens (the Portable Media Center, Micro Photo, and Vision:M) won the Best of CES award[2][3][4] from 2004 to 2006 in their respective categories, with the latter winning the overall award.[4] The ZEN series had a strong foothold in Asian Pacific markets, especially in Singapore, the location of the company's headquarters.

All players support MP3 and WMA formats, while some models support also WAV and Audible formats. They are bundled with device drivers and Creative MediaSource, a media player that includes transferring and syncing abilities exclusively for the players. Some models are PlaysForSure-certified for being compatible with Windows Media Player via Media Transfer Protocol (MTP) and supporting the Janus DRM. They are natively compatible with Windows, with some also supporting Mac OS X.

  1. ^ "Creative sells 25 million MP3 players". 19 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Creative Wins Second Consecutive "Best Of CES" Award At Consumer Electronics Show" (Press release). Creative Technology. 2004-01-12. Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  3. ^ "Creative ZEN Micro Photo Wins "Best of CES" Award" (Press release). Creative Technology. 2005-01-10. Archived from the original on 2008-12-04. Retrieved 2007-12-03.
  4. ^ a b "Creative ZEN Vision:M Wins "Best of CES" Award in MP3 and Portable Video Category and also Wins overall "Best in Show" Award". Creative Technology. Archived from the original on 2007-10-16.