Testing the Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI: unrivalled sound immersion!

Just imagine: you're comfortably seated on your sofa, ready to immerse yourself in your favorite series. You slip on your headphones and poof! You're right in the middle of the action, as if you were there. That's exactly what Creative offers with its new baby, the Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI. These headphones use sound-enhancing technology: it's like going from 2D to 3D, but for your ears! Once you've tried them, they're hard to get enough of. Let's find out more…

Unpacking the Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI

The Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI arrives in a superb, classy package, showcasing the headphones to their best advantage:

The first thing that strikes you when you take the Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI out of its box is its look. Sober yet elegant, it's not flashy. The matte plastic coating gives it a chic feel without being overdone. Available in black or white. Personally, I prefer the white and gold, which is a nice change from the usual headphones.

The headset comes with a fabric cover to protect it, a jack cable and a USB cable for recharging. Instructions are included.

The real plus is comfort. The memory foam pads are like putting clouds on your ears. I'm hardly exaggerating! I spent a whole day with them, and almost forgot I was wearing them, especially as their weight of 271g is quickly forgotten.

The headband is padded too, and very comfortable. It doesn't hurt on the top of the head, even after several hours.

The manufacturer has opted for physical buttons here, which I actually prefer to tactile controls. Here, you know where to press and where the controls are.

There's of course the power and pairing button, volume control, ANC (active noise cancellation) control, and finally activation of SXFI mode, to which we'll return later. You can also activate your smartphone's voice assistant, if you wish. All controls are on the right earpiece, as is the jack plug if you wish to use the headset in wired mode. The left earpiece has only the Usb-C plug for recharging.

Both earpieces are also equipped with 5 microphones to pick up external noise and generate ANC.

The headband can be adjusted to 9 positions on either side, to suit all head sizes.

The icing on the cake: it's foldable! Perfect for slipping into your bag without feeling like you're carrying an Ikea piece of furniture.

A quick comparison with the Sonos ACE I was testing in parallel:

As you can see, the dimensions are pretty much the same, and the design has nothing to be ashamed of.

Super X-Fi technology: when sound takes on a new dimension

The headset comes with an application that lets you adjust certain settings. Simply install it and add our headphones to the peripherals:

You can adjust the equalizer either manually, or by choosing one of the available presets:

Settings can be fine-tuned to suit individual needs.

But the real innovation is the creation of a personalized profile. This uses photographs and recognition of the morphology of our face and ears. All you have to do is follow the application's instructions to generate your listening profile:

After a few minutes, our profile is created and loaded onto the headset. This is an important detail, as it enables us to use the headset with any device and benefit from our personalized profile. There's no need to go through the application. The application lets you save different profiles if you wish.

Super X-Fi technology recreates the same depth, detail and soundstage in headphones as an immersive multi-speaker system. Thanks to advanced computational audio, it personalizes the sound according to the anthropometry of your head and ears, optimizing the sound for you. It's as if someone had managed to miniaturize a movie theater and put it in your ears. It's a technology I'd already discovered a few years ago, via a little dongle that the manufacturer had released, which was inserted between the audio output and the headphones. Since then, the technology has evolved considerably, and really adds a new dimension to sound. It's like going from 2D to 3D, but for the ears. The sound is so immersive that I almost turned around several times during a film, convinced that someone had entered the room. It's like being at the movies, with real spacial sound. Video games become even more immersive, and the music takes on incredible depth!

Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI: ear-piercing performance

Now let's talk a little technical. The Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI is equipped with 40 mm neodymium drivers. In simple terms, this means that the sound is powerful and precise. Bass is deep without being intrusive, midrange is clear, and treble is crisp without being aggressive.

I tested these headphones with every conceivable style of music. From classical to metal, jazz and electro. Well, believe it or not, they come through like a champ every time! It's a bit like having your own personal orchestra that adapts to all your musical tastes.

Active Noise Reduction (ANC) is also on board. It may not perform as well as some high-end models, but it does the job. I was able to work quietly in a noisy café without hearing my neighbors' conversations, or on the train without hearing the screams of the mini-thumbs behind me… Of course, the ANC of the Sonos I recently tested was better. But here we're at a quarter of the price…

An important detail: the headphones feature a Bluetooth 5.3 multipoint connection, so you can connect them to two devices simultaneously, like your smartphone and your PC, for example.

Autonomy that lasts and lasts…

Ah, battery life! This is often the Achilles heel of wireless headsets. But not here! The Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI lasts up to 27 hours with ANC activated, and 70 hours without. An autonomy that puts it at the top end of the market.

And if you're the type of person who forgets to charge their devices, don't panic! A 5-minute quick charge gives you 5 hours of listening time. That's how long it takes me to decide which movie to watch :p

The verdict: headphones that do everything right (or almost)!

The Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI is a real success. It combines comfort, exceptional sound quality and innovative technology, all at a price that won't make you sell a kidney.

Of course, it's not perfect. Noise reduction could be a hair more effective, and some purists might find the sound a little lacking in neutrality. Nor is the quality of the microphone exceptional. During calls, my voice seemed a little muffled, according to my correspondents. After all, it's not a function I use much. But frankly, for the price, at less than €100, it's not bad at all!

If you're looking for a versatile, comfortable headset with immersive sound and champion battery life, look no further. The Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI is for you: once you've tried it, you'll never want to leave! In any case, it's become my go-to headset for watching movies and TV series without disturbing the family in the evening, because the immersion is exceptional.

Let's get back to listening to my favorite album. With these headphones, it's as if I were in the front row of the concert. All I need is lukewarm beer and jostling to make the illusion perfect ;-)