At first we would like to thank Creative for offering us a sample of their Zen Air True Wireless In-Ear Headphones with ANC for testing and reviewing.

 

 

 

About Creative:

 

“Creative is the worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Founded in Singapore in 1981, Creative started with the vision that multimedia would revolutionize the way people interact with their PCs.

 

Famous for its Sound Blaster sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment with cutting-edge audio solutions, premium wireless speakers, high performance earphone products and portable media devices. The company's innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services enable consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment - anytime, anywhere.

 

Since launching the phenomenally successful Sound Blaster sound cards and setting the de-facto standard for PC audio in 1989, Creative has been able to leverage on its leading-edge audio technology, a huge user base of 400 million, and strong brand name to expand into the exciting lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment (PDE) market.

 

Creative is now well recognized as a global leader for product innovation in the audio and PDE segments, offering consumers a complete, high quality digital entertainment experience through Creative's hardware, software applications and services. Finding the perfect balance between form and function, Creative strives for every product to be a sensory feast for the eyes and ears.

 

Today, Creative is spearheading new product categories with its groundbreaking Sound BlasterAxx audio enhancement devices and solutions, highly-acclaimed Creative D5xm Signature Series of modular Bluetooth wireless speakers, Aurvana premium headsets, Sound Blaster wireless gaming headsets, and cross-platform Sound Blaster Recon3D for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, PC or Mac.

 

These products and solutions are marketed to consumers and system integrators through a worldwide distribution network that includes traditional marketing channels, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the Internet.

 

Moving forward, Creative's mission is to expand its leadership role in the lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment market, using groundbreaking technology and leading-edge designs for not just the technically-savvy consumers, but for everyone who enjoys entertainment. With strong focus on user-friendly interface, multiple features and cool industrial designs, the Creative brand is synonymous with lifestyle Personal Digital Entertainment.

 

Creative's global corporate headquarters is located in Singapore, in the heart of the Asia-Pacific region. It has regional business units in the US (Milpitas, California), Europe (Dublin, Ireland) and Asia (Singapore).

 

Creative is a public listed company on the main board of the Singapore Exchange (SGX) since June 1994.”

 

HEAR WHAT YOU WANT

Wish to tune the rest of the world out? Switch on Active Noise Cancellation Mode and the Creative Zen Air will filter out most background noise from your daily train commute to plane engine noise. Our Active Noise Cancellation technology processes and eliminates external noise in real-time allowing you to better enjoy the details of your music anywhere, anytime.

Alternatively, activate Ambient Mode to let in more surrounding sound to stay aware of what's going on around you.

LIGHTWEIGHT

Each earbud weighs just 5g / 0.17 oz and its charging case weighs only 36 g / 1.27 oz.

IPX4 SWEATPROOF

Take the Creative Zen Air on an outdoor run even in light rainy conditions or to an active gym session without worries.

TOUCH CONTROLS

With just a few taps, you can manage volume control, music playback, and calls easily on the Creative Zen Air.

LONG BATTERY LIFE

The Creative Zen Air offer up to 6 hours of playtime on a single charge, and up to 18 hours of total playtime when placed in a fully charged case.

To start charging the earbuds, place them in the charging case and close the cover. Recharge the charging case by connecting it to an available USB port with the provided USB-C to USB-A charging cable or simply place it on a wireless charging pad* to recharge.

SEAMLESS CONNECTIVITY

Equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 and high-quality AAC audio codecs, the Creative Zen Air delivers rich and uninterrupted audio streaming all day long. The true wireless earbuds are compatible with both iOS and Android devices and has built-in memory to keep track of last paired devices, allowing you to seamlessly switch between devices when needed.

ENJOY POWERFUL AUDIO

With 10 mm Neodymium drivers that are expertly tuned to bring you clear highs and well-balanced mids, enjoy great audio reproduction for your favorite songs with the Creative Zen Air!

BE HEARD CLEARLY

The Creative Zen Air also lets you enjoy hassle-free, hands-free calls wherever you are. A total of 4 mics are integrated into the Creative Zen Air, two for detecting and filtering background noise with ANC on, and two to pick up your voice for clear communications.

With better voice pickup, you can also use voice commands with ease! The very same quad mics also means that it's a breeze to activate Siri or Google Assistant—just tap thrice on the left earbud.

 

Wearing Style: In-ear

Product Type: True Wireless

Connectivity: Bluetooth 5.0

Water Resistance (IP Rating): IPX4

Recommended Usage: On-the-go, Sports, Communications, Music / Movies

Dimensions: (Per Earbud) 34.4 x 21.5 x 23.0 mm, (Charging Case) 60.0 x 48.0 x 28.6 mm

Cable Length (End-to-end): 0.25m

Battery Life: Up to 18 hours total, Up to 6 hours per charge

Battery Type: (Charging case) Rechargeable Lithium-ion Polymer Battery x 1 – 400 mAh, (Per earbud) Rechargeable Lithium-ion Button Battery x 1 – 60 mAh

Charging Type: Wireless Charging, Qi-compatible, USB-C to USB-A cable

Microphone: Frequency Response: 100–10,000 Hz

Sensitivity @ 1 kHz: - 38 dBV / Pa

Type: Omni-directional x 2 (per earbud)

Voice Assistant: Siri, Google Assistant

Driver

Frequency Response: 20–20,000 Hz

Type: Neodymium

Bluetooth® Version: 5.0

Profiles

(HFP) Hands-free Profile, (A2DP) Advanced Audio Distribution Profile, (AVRCP) Audio / Video Remote Control Profile

Operating Frequency: 2402–2480 MHz

Operating Range: Up to 10m

 

Controls

Type: Intuitive Touch

Playback: Yes

Volume: Yes

Call: Yes

Voice Assistant: Yes

Power: Yes

Noise Control: Yes

Color: White

 

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

iOS

iPhone / iPads with Bluetooth for wireless audio streaming

Android

Phones / Tablets with Bluetooth for wireless audio streaming

PC

All PC / Laptop running Windows 10 and 11 with Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP

Mac

All Apple computers with Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP

 

PACKAGE CONTENTS

1 x Creative Zen Air

1 x Charging Case

1 x Pair of (S), (M), and (L) Silicone Ear Tips

1 x USB-C Charging Cable

1 x Quick Start Guide

1 x Warranty and Compliance Leaflet

 

WARRANTY

2-year Limited Hardware Warranty (EU Countries)

1-year Limited Hardware Warranty (Non-EU Countries)

 

In this article we will concentrate our view on another True Wireless In-Ear set of headphones from Creative, but these take part of the more affordable mainstream segment, being available for just about 40 Euros! Can you believe that for this amount you are getting a Qi-enabled charging case, a set of headphones with IPX4 rating, ANC, 10mm Neodymium drivers and more? Let’s dig in!

 

The product is offered inside a compact cardboard enclosure, highlighting the main product features right on the top cover:

 

 

 

Some details on the supported standards and details about the Creative offices can be found on the side:

 

 

 

The full list of specs is available on the opposite area:

 

 

 

The bottom part of the box does include the list of contents, but also an explanation regarding the Super X-Fi technology. This set is SXFI READY, meaning that the headphone holography is available only via the SXFI application and offline audio content from our devices and not outside of it for apps such as YouTube, Spotify, Tidal, Netflix and so on, since it does not feature dedicated hardware. We will also note the product internal code name and the serial numbers:

 

 

 

After removing the top cover, we will get to see that the charging case along with the accessories are individually packed in plastic bags:

 

 

 

 

In terms of documentation, we will receive a leaflet which does explain the setup and functionality of SXFI app, a Product Registration and Warranty leaflet but also the Quick Start Guide:

 

 

 

 

The guide will explain the functions of the LED indicators on the charging case, but also of the dedicated button and the touch interface:

 

 

 

As a hardware bundle, we will receive two extra sets of ear tips (small and medium), the large one being pre-installed on the product:

 

 

 

The customer will also get a white USB-C to USB-A charging cable:

 

 

 

The rounded charging case does come with a piano white exterior, being made all by plastic, with the Creative and SXFI Ready logo on top:

 

 

 

The bottom area includes some more info on the product, such as the case battery rating and the input power it requires:

 

 

 

The case does have a small cut-out for easy opening, while in the front we will find the Status LED:

 

 

 

On the inside area of the cover, we will note the SXFI Ready logo again:

 

 

 

The two earbuds do sit secure inside the charging case, while the multifunctional button which allows for manual pairing mode is present in the middle:

 

 

 

The status LED will inform the user on the case battery charging level, the case battery level, the earbuds charging status but will also act as a Bluetooth pairing indicator:

 

 

 

The earbuds do come with a classic TWS design, being larger in the driver area, while the stems do feature a touch interface. Weighting only 5 grams, you will barely notice it while in use:

 

 

 

Near the top of each earbud, we will note a microphone, for the ANC functionality:

 

 

 

Two gold-plated contacts are available on the interior area of the stem, for charging purposes:

 

 

 

The secondary microphone is positioned on the bottom area of the stem:

 

 

 

The 10mm Neodymium drivers are larger than the ones we could find with other TWS earbuds, and this brings out a benefit regarding delivery of more bass:

 

 

 

We’ll get the case and the earbuds fully charged first, and then we will start testing:

 

 

 

The pairing process with our Samsung Galaxy S23 smartphone was an easy process:

 

 

 

We then went ahead and downloaded SXFI App from the store:

 

 

 

The application will ask for credentials after launch, to have access to the saved profiles:

 

 

 

The menu from the left will show that the Zen Air has been detected and is ready for operation:

 

 

 

The integrated player will play audio files present on the device, with or without the SXFI holography enabled:

 

 

 

We can enable one of the head mapping profiles we did save a while back or start a new map process:

 

 

 

The list of detected devices will also appear in the dedicated area:

 

 

 

An EQ is also available for configuration purposes, with dedicated controls for Bass and Treble:

 

 

 

To test out the Zen Air, we did fire up some YouTube clips with music, but also vlogs and documentaries. The voices were crisp, with a good amount of bass for the small size of the drivers versus fully-fledged headphones; when listening to tracks via the dedicated SXFI App, the holography is quite amazing, because it makes you feel you are in a room with a dedicated, multi-speaker audio system and you will almost get to try and search where the sound is exactly coming from. The quality of the microphone is alright when testing it in Skype calls and Discord, but keep in mind that the Zen Air does only support SBC/AAC codecs, so no hi-res audio here.

 

Regarding included ANC, it manages to filter out some noise, but not all, meaning that you will still be able to hear out voices from around you; the more useful feature is Ambient, which will allow you to hear noises around you clearer, without the need of removing the set, in a conversation with people for example.

 

The battery life is quite decent and holds up more than you would need during one session; these feature fast charging (up to 70% after 15 minutes inside the charging case), while to top it up it will take about an hour.

 

For just about 40 Euros, we think that the Zen Air are a very good solution for people which are not very selective on the features, while bringing touch controls on such an inexpensive peripheral is quite a good deal!

 

Creative Zen Air True Wireless In-Ear Headphones with ANC is Recommended for:

 

 

 

We would like to thank again to Creative for making this review possible!