These affordable headphones made my girlfriend cry!

This review of the Creative Zen Hybrid Pro headphones would have started out like any other review. Sound quality, build quality, experience using it, and we’re done.

But plans change when you see a pair of headphones make grown adult cry.

Here’s how the Creative Zen Hybrid Pro headphones made my girlfriend cry

My girlfriend is a huge fan of Hozier, in a Jackie and Wilson kinda way. Because she’d been listening to his musical poetry off her phone, I thought a pair of wireless headphones would make a nice birthday gift.

She’s always insisted that “headphones are headphones,” so there wasn’t any point to getting something expensive. (Forcibly) capped at a budget of RM200, I ended up getting her the Anker Soundcore Q20i headphones.

Fast forward a few months, she sees me wearing the Zen Hybrid Pro headphones for this review. The conversation goes like this:

Her: Eh quite nice. How much are they?

Me: Not too expensive… RM369.

Her: OMIGAWD THAT’S SO EXPENSIVE WHY WOULD YOU PAY SO MUCH FOR HEADPHONES

I convinced her to try them on, then turned my attention back to my laptop. When I turned around, I saw a scrunched crying face whimpering:

She then proceeds to ignore me for the rest of the day, listening to Hozier on repeat. And that, kids, is how I met the person who stole my heart review headphones.

Tears aside, how do the headphones sound?

If that story made you fall in love just a little, oh, a little bit with the Zen Hybrid Pro, you’d be happy to know that they actually sound great.

I find them leaning more towards bass out of the box, which can overpower higher and finer notes. Preferences may differ, but I definitely needed to adjust the equalizer settings in the Creative App.

Other than that, The Zen Hybrid Pro provides sharp clarity with above-average sound staging. In fact, it’s this very clarity that made my girlfriend turn on the waterworks:

The low latency bundles of the Zen Hybrid Pro (more on this later) also function as a decent pair of gaming headphones. I used them for Counter-Strike 2, a game where granular auditory information like sound direction and distance can make or break a gunfight. Despite lacking any gaming software support, they perform well enough that I was able to forget that I wasn’t wearing my regular gaming headphones.

If you get the SXFI version (more on this later), the sound experience is taken up several notches. SXFI, or Super X-Fi, digitally maps your ears to simulate a multi-speaker setup for an immersive experience. I find that it works best for live and concert recordings, making me feel like I’m right there in the crowd. The only setback is that you can only play files locally stored on your device, so it will not work with streaming services such as Spotify, YouTube, or Netflix. 

Price, Battery Life, ANC, and design

Although I’ve been quoting the price of the headphones at RM369, Zen Hybrid Pro actually comes in three available bundles:

Update:The prices have gone up on Creative’s website at $86, $106, and $126 respectively. However you can pick them up from the Creative Brand Store on Shopee for less than RM369 with the right vouchers applied.

Essentially all three headphones have the same core specs regardless of bundle. All three have the same 40mm titanium-coated drivers, five built-in mics, design, and battery.

The difference is that the Classic comes with a plug-in external boom mic and BT-L3 Bluetooth Low Energy transmitter, while the SXFI comes with a boom mic and BT-L4 SXFI transmitter. Both provide low-latency Bluetooth connectivity.

Design-wise, I like that creative didn’t go crazy with the RGB lighting. Instead, it employs a thin, color-customizable ring that gives it an air of elegance. The soft pleather ear cups are similarly understated but comfortable.

Battery life is terrific. Creative claims 80 hours with ANC on, and 100 hours with ANC off. I think this should be close to the mark because I used it for 2 weeks (with ANC mostly off) without charging.

Speaking of ANC, the Hybrid ANC delivers a nice balance of cutting out a lot of background sound but not to the point where you’d feel “stuffy” or disoriented. Similarly, the Ambient Mode lets in some noise but it doesn’t feel as environmental as some other headsets.

The Zen Hybrid Pro’s bluetooth range beats out all other audio devices in our office. Our men’s bathroom is a connectivity black hole, and these are the only headphones that maintained a connection in it. Yes, I sneak off to the bathroom during meetings.

All that being said….

The base Zen Hybrid Pro is the best choice for most people

Although Creative sent me the SXFI version, I find the base features being more than enough for daily use. The built-in mics provide enough clarity for online calls and meetings, and the latency is almost imperceptible for videos and casual gaming.

The boom mic that comes with the Classic and SXFI is almost too good at picking up sound. I had to position it further away than with other headsets as people could hear me breathing. Both transmitters support Ultra Low Latency bluetooth connectivity and broadcast mode, although only the SXFI transmitter supports Super X-Fi, so that’s about the only major difference in the long run.

You may want to consider the Classic or SXFI if you’re a hardcore FPS gamer, audiophile, or require very high-clarity voice input. Otherwise, I think you’d be more than satisfied with the base Zen Hybrid Pro.

If earbuds are more your jam, check out our review of the Creative Aurvana Ace 2!

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