Creative holds legendary status in the audio world, and its Zen Air SXFI TWS earbuds are the first TWS earbuds to natively support the brand’s Super X-Fi spatial audio technology. They do so while also offering adaptive noise cancellation, dual-device pairing, wireless charging, and a combined 39 hours of battery life.
These features come in a compact form factor with a price tag of less than $100. After using the Zen Air SXFI for a week, we can confirm that it is a solid choice thanks to its rich feature set and pleasant sound reproduction. While spatial audio was not our primary focus, we enjoyed our time watching movies and TV shows on supported platforms like Netflix with Creative’s SFXI surround sound technology.
Design
The Zen Air SXFI feature an all-plastic construction with a matte finish. The earbuds are in-ear designs with interchangeable silicone eartips and short pitches. The top halves house remappable touch sensors, and each earbud is equipped with a trio of microphones.
The earbuds and case weigh 51 grams, with each earbud contributing 5.4 grams. The in-ear fit is excellent, although we had to swap out the default eartips for smaller ones to get a good seal. The case dimensions are 64 x 43.85 x 29mm, which is a bit larger than most competitors.
You can get the Creative Zen Air SXFI in any color you want as long as it's gray. The matte finish on the case and earbuds helps keep fingerprints at bay. The inside of the case has a shiny silver finish that reminds us of the coppery hue of the Creative Aurvana Ace 2 we reviewed earlier this year.
The case features a four-LED battery indicator and a pairing button on the front, as well as a USB-C cable on the bottom for charging. The good news is that they also support wireless charging and should work with any Qi-compatible pad.
The retail packaging includes the standard range of accessories with a short USB-C cable, spare silicone tips, and something we don't see that often: a fabric pouch that fits over the carrying case and protects it from scratches.
Features and Companion App
The Creative Zen Air SXFI earbuds feature 10mm neodymium drivers. They pair via Bluetooth 5.3 with support for multipoint pairing, but are limited to older AAC and SBC codecs, so you won't be streaming high-speed audio here. The earbuds also support adaptive active noise cancellation with a dedicated ambient mode and four-step manual control in the Creative app. Each earbud houses three microphones for optimal voice pickup.
The main selling point is the SXFI spatial audio system, which uses Creative's computational audio to create a surround sound experience tailored to the shape of your ear and head. You have to download an additional SXFI app on your phone that prompts you to scan your face and ears.
After the SXFI setup, the earbuds are expected to deliver a more immersive audio experience with a wider soundstage and a multi-speaker-like experience. Creative has been developing this spatial audio technology for a few years now and the Zen Air SXFI are the first TWS earbuds to launch with the hardware-ready SFXI.
The major advancement of hardware-based SXFI on this iteration of the Zen Air is that once you've done the initial head mapping, it works with any media on the device – local or streaming.
The Creative app offers all the basic features you’d expect from a companion app. You can switch between noise-canceling modes with ANC, adaptive ANC, and ambient mode. Both ANC and ambient modes have four-level scene control so you can fine-tune how much outside noise is canceled out or let in.
The app also allows you to customize touch controls with single, double, and long presses. The long press is used for volume control, which is always a welcome addition to any TWS product.
Creative also offers a plethora of EQ presets with 17 media-based presets and an additional 25 (!) for gaming titles, including fan favorites like the Call of Duty series, DOTA 2, and CS:GO. You can also tweak your own EQ profile with the slider.
The features section is rounded out by the low latency mode and the IPX5 rating which is only for the earbuds and not the case.
The only feature we missed here was a wear detection sensor that pauses media content when you remove the earbuds from your ears and resumes it when you reinsert them.
Performance and sound quality
By default, the Creative Zen Air SXFI delivers noticeable bass presence and clear mids. We appreciated the separation of instruments, which is superior to most headphones in the sub-$100 category. The overall sound profile is pleasant and offers enough detail when it comes to Bluetooth audio streaming. Keep in mind that you're limited to AAC and SBC codecs here.
As for the SXFI's performance, we wouldn't recommend using it when listening to music. It tends to shift sounds forward from your face, for lack of better terminology, and produces less detailed audio with muffled mids, weak bass, and a flat soundstage. This is also the case when watching videos and movies where the SXFI didn't contribute to a more engaging experience. The lack of head tracking is another missed opportunity.
As expected, the default EQ leans more towards bass, but you get enough built-in EQ presets to choose from. Classic mode proved to be the best option in our experience, but you're also free to customize your own EQ profile.
The noise cancellation is better than most budget headphones we've tested recently, offering noticeable reduction in ambient noise without distorting your audio too much. The excellent in-ear fit surely contributed to the solid ANC performance.
The six built-in microphones (three on each earbud) provide good call quality in quieter environments, but struggle to pick up your voice in noisier areas. We didn't encounter any connectivity issues during our review period. The touch controls worked flawlessly and registered all our taps without any issues.
Battery life
Creative claims you can get up to 39 hours of total listening time with the earbuds and case, with the earbuds alone lasting up to 12 hours (with ANC off). In our use, we got 7.5 hours of use with the earbuds with ANC on and the volume set to 50%. The case gives five full charges, and you can charge wirelessly on any Qi charger, which is a nice bonus.
Verdict
The Creative Zen Air SXFI focuses primarily on spatial audio, but we didn't feel a significant benefit when listening to music or watching movies in SXFI mode. The soundstage felt flat, and the lack of head tracking made for a less-than-ideal spatial audio experience.
It was in normal mode without SXFI that the earbuds delivered a lively soundstage, albeit with a more bass-heavy signature. Custom EQ options helped fine-tune the sound output, which combined with the earbuds’ ergonomic design and powerful ANC, made for a pleasant listening experience.
Battery life is excellent, and when you factor in the $80/€80 retail price (currently discounted) and all the features on board, the Creative Zen Air SXFI gets our thumbs up.
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