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 battery life of 39 hours.
These features are packed into a compact form factor with a price tag of under $100. After using the Zen Air SXFI for a week, we can confirm that they are a worthy choice thanks to their rich feature set and pleasant sound reproduction. While spatial audio wasn’t our main focus, we enjoyed our time watching movies and TV shows on supported platforms like Netflix with Creative’s SFXI surround sound technology.
Project
The Zen Air SXFI features an all-plastic frame with a matte finish. The buds are of the in-ear variety with interchangeable silicone tips and short pitches. The top halves house remappable touch sensors, and each earbud is equipped with a trio of microphones.
The earbuds and their case weigh 51 grams, with each earbud contributing 5.4 grams. The in-ear fit is great, though we had to swap out the standard ear tips for a smaller size to get a proper seal. The case dimensions are 64 x 43.85 x 29 mm, which is a bit larger than most competitors.
You can get the Creative Zen Air SXFI in any color, as long as it’s gray. The matte finish on the case and buds helps ward off fingerprints. There’s a shiny silver finish on the inside of the case that reminds us of the copper tone of the Creative Aurvana Ace 2 which we reviewed earlier this year.
The case has a four-LED battery indicator and a pairing button on the front, and 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 package includes the standard set of accessories with a short USB-C cable, extra silicone tips, and something we don’t see often: a fabric pouch that fits over the carrying case and protects it from scratches.
Features and Companion App
The Creative Zen Air SXFI are equipped with 10mm neodymium drivers. They pair over Bluetooth 5.3 with support for multipoint pairing, but they’re limited to the legacy AAC and SBC codecs, so you won’t be streaming high-bitrate audio here. The headphones also support Adaptive Active Noise Cancellation with a dedicated Ambient Mode and a four-stage manual control within the Creative app. Each earbud houses triple 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 ears and head. You’ll need to download an additional SXFI app on your phone, which prompts you to scan your face and ears.
With 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 SFXI hardware-ready.
The biggest advancement with hardware-based SXFI in this iteration of Zen Air is that once it does the initial head mapping, it works with any media on the device, local or streaming.
The Creative app brings 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 feature four-level stage control so you can fine-tune how much outside noise is canceled out or let in.
The app also lets you customize the touch controls with single, double, and long taps. The long tap 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 and 25(!) more for game titles, including popular fan favorites like the Call of Duty series, DOTA 2, and CS:GO. You can also adjust your own EQ profile with the slider.
Rounding out the features section are low latency mode and IPX5 rating, which is only for the earbuds and not the case.
The only feature missing here was a wear detection sensor that pauses media when you remove the earbuds and resumes it when you put them back in.
Performance and sound quality
By default, the Creative Zen Air SXFI delivers a notable bass presence and clear midrange. We liked the instrument separation, 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’d avoid using it while listening to music. It tends to shift sounds in front of your face, for lack of better terminology, and results in less detailed sound 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 immersive experience. The lack of head tracking is another missed opportunity.
As expected, the default EQ is skewed towards the bass side, but you have more than enough built-in EQ presets to choose from. Classical stood out as the best option in our experience, but you’re also free to customize your own EQ profile.
Noise cancellation is better than most budget headphones we’ve tested recently, offering a noticeable reduction in surrounding noise without distorting the audio too much. The great in-ear fit certainly contributed to the solid ANC performance.
The six built-in microphones (three on each earbud) provide good call quality in quieter environments, but they struggle to pick up your voice in noisier areas. We didn’t experience any connectivity issues during our review period. The touch controls worked perfectly and registered all of our touches without issue.
Battery life
Creative claims you can get up to 39 hours of total listening time from the buds and their case, with the buds alone lasting up to 12 hours (with ANC off). In our usage, we got 7.5 hours of use from the buds with ANC on and the volume set to 50%. The case provides five full charges, and you can charge wirelessly on any Qi charger, which is a nice bonus.
Verdict
The Creative Zen Air SXFI’s main focus is 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 buds delivered a lively soundstage, albeit with a more bass-heavy signature. The custom EQ options helped fine-tune the sound output, which, combined with the buds’ ergonomic design and powerful ANC, made for an enjoyable listening experience.
Battery life is great, and when you factor in the $80/€80 retail price (currently discounted) and all the built-in features, the Creative Zen Air SXFI gets our thumbs up.
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