Creative Zen Hybrid Pro SXFI
Well-rounded headset offering great value
THOSE OF YOU who’ve been using PCs long enough will no doubt recognize the name Creative. The company’s dedicated sound cards were a common addition to many a PC, back before it was a feature integrated into your motherboard. My first PC had one 25 years ago, and honestly it was quite a surprise to hear that the company was still going when I got the call to review its latest PC headphones.
Thankfully, it was a pleasant surprise, given how good the company's latest lineup is. The key detail is the pricing— this Zen Hybrid Pro SXFI model goes for $150, and includes every feature any gamer, office worker, or mobile user would ever want from a headset. That includes wireless capability, active noise cancellation, 80+ hour battery life, a detachable microphone, virtual surround sound, and a bunch of gaming presets to enhance popular titles. It’s comprehensive, to say the least.
The look of the headphones closely resembles that of lifestyle models from the likes of Sony and Bose—they’re clearly designed to be worn on the bus or plane. Adding to that aesthetic is the fact that they fold up to be stored in a bag, although sadly no carry case is included in the box. They also charge via USB-C, and weigh just 282g, much like other popular cans.
These headphones are light and comfortable, with a soft pleather material over the ears. My only gripe was that the ear cups weren’t quite big enough to form a snug fit over my clearly larger-than-average ears, which in turn slightly affected the headset’s active noise cancellation. Speaking of, the ANC is pretty good, if not market-leading, and only has on/off/ambient settings.
The headphones connect over lowenergy Bluetooth 5.3, which most modern phones support, and offer 80 hours of battery with noise cancellation, or 100 hours without. The package also comes with a small USB-C dongle, which allows for a lot more features supported by Creative’s software, including preset settings for modes (game, movie, etc), as well as individual games ( ApexLegends, Fortnite, etc). It also lets an unlimited number of other Bluetooth devices connect to the same audio source, which is neat if you’re sharing a screen on a train journey, for example.
General audio quality is good, if not great, but bearing the price in mind, they offer great value for money. Music playback is particularly bass-heavy, to the point where the highs and mids can be drowned out. Things are better when you use SXFI via the included dongle. You can enable some accurate virtual surround effects, and useful gaming features such as Scout Mode, which emphasizes footsteps in shooters. Creative’s PC software makes tweaking easy, but we found the Android SXFI app basically unusable, as it didn’t recognize Creative’s headset as a compatible model.
Microphone quality is also good, thanks to the fact that there’s an included boom mic, which can be attached or detached to the headset as needed. This also means that the headset doubles up as a good option for work-based video conferencing, or even some live streaming, but bear in mind that it doesn’t do anything to block out background noises.
The Creative Zen Hybrid Pro SXFI model sits at the top of the Zen Hybrid
Pro range, but still only costs $150. The difference is the SXFI dongle, which really does add a lot to the audio features, and as such is the model we’d recommend. It’s not the best headset you’ll ever use, but it's so feature-rich, so versatile, and such good value for money that you certainly won’t feel short-changed if you elect to buy it.