This year, if I were to buy an average-priced music player, I will be confronted by two tough choices – that is between Apple iPod 5th Gen Nano and Creative Zen X-Fi 2.

Apple iPod 5th Gen Nano

My girlfriend recently bought this new Nano and when I first heard that it had an FM Radio as well as a video camera, I had to confirm over the Internet if this was true to make sure that it’s not a generic mp3 player from China.

It looks like Apple has heard my voice requesting for an FM Radio. Hmmm, I know what you must be thinking. What’s with the FM Radio and why can’t I live without it? Well it’s because I love music and I get easily bored with old songs so I need to stay-tuned to music charts to get my daily dose of hits while on-the-go.

Anyway, here are some features of the iPod Nano 5th Gen

• Built-in Speaker
• Pedometer
• Voice Recorder
• Video Camera

One thing that bothers me with the camera is that it doesn’t capture still images. It’s all video. Weird.

Creative Zen X-Fi 2

(click image to zoom)

I first heard about this from an officemate. He wants to buy it but too bad it’s not yet available in the Philippines. This product looks promising to me because it’s not too expensive but it’s already touchscreen. Here is a list of some of the features of Zen X-Fi 2:

• X-Fi (Xtreme Fidelity) audio technology
• Built-in speaker
• A/V cable connection for TV
• Expandable microSD memory card slot
• FM Radio

I haven’t seen a live demo of this product but based on the reviews I read on the Internet, the user interface and touchscreen can be quite problematic. I’m not sure how true and how bad it is but it’s pretty understandable since I think this is Creative’s first touchscreen product. I just hope that they will be able to fix these issues in future hardware and software upgrades.

Given those two choices above, I will stick with my old reliable Creative Zen for now as it still serves me well and I don’t feel the need to upgrade right away. After all, what will I do with my old Zen if I buy a new one? But maybe if you are the one looking for a new music player this Christmas season, you might include these two among your choices.

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*Image credit: Creative.com