Creative Zen Air SXFI earbuds review: good budget buds let down by iffy ‘Super X-Fi’ and Ambient sound profiles

Creative Zen Air SXFI: Two-minute review

The Creative Zen Air SXFI are true wireless earbuds at a tempting price with plenty of advanced features, from active noise cancellation (ANC) to Creative’s proprietary ‘spatial holography’ mode, Super X-Fi. But are these earbuds set to enter our best noise-cancelling earbuds guide – and ultimately, are they really worth your consideration?

The Zen Air SXFI Earbuds certainly look the part, with a tasteful matte gray colorway and metallic detailing, alongside a charging case and supplementary cloth bag (unusual!) for carrying around your earbuds in style. An IPX5 rating means they can withstand jets of water too (though not full submersion), so they might be a good choice for walkers, runners and other exercise freaks on a limited budget.

And I was a fan of the sound quality, at least when Creative let the earbuds do their own thing. It’s when additional modes come into the picture that things get tricky – whether it’s the Super X-Fi audio mode distorting the sound, or Ambient Mode funneling scratchy recordings of the outside world into your ear.

You get an impressive suite of features for the $80 / £70 price tag, though some of them are better ignored – so honestly, it can be hard to figure out what the Creative Zen Air SXFI earbuds actually offer in terms of stone cold value over the competition. However, there’s something to be said for its IPX5 water resistance and a lot to be said for the 39-hour battery life. Elsewhere, it’s good to see Bluetooth 5.3 connectivity and important to note that these earbuds still get the key metrics right, despite some iffy implementation of their more premium features.

Creative Zen Air SXFI review: Price and release date

• $79.99 / £69.99 / AU$139.95
• Launched in June 2024

The Creative Zen Air SXFI headphones retail for $79.99 / £69.99 / AU$139.95, having been released in June 2024. That’s roughly the same price as the older Creative Zen Air Pro model was at launch, though the latter is now heavily discounted to make way for the new version.

If you’re looking for over-ears, it’s worth giving a shout-out to the May 2024-release Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI at $99.99 / £89.99 / AU$69.95. Here, we actually loved Creative’s proprietary spatial audio side-sauce – which, as you’ll soon see, sadly isn’t the case here. 

Creative Zen Air SXFI headphones review: Specs

Creative Zen Air SXFI review: Features

• Adaptive ANC and Ambient Mode
• SXFI app
• Bluetooth 5.3

The Creative Zen Air SXFI headphones use Bluetooth 5.3. This basically means that you’re getting fast, energy efficient connections with a good range that are unlikely to drop out easily, and the ability to connect simultaneously with other devices. (I did struggle connecting the earbuds to any device at first, but the issue seems to have resolved itself before I needed to call in a new unit, and I haven’t had a problem since.)

These earbuds do feature touch controls, which is a great inclusion for the price. Essentially, holding down the left earbud decreases volume, whereas holding down the right increases it – there’s no slider here. Double tapping the right earbud pauses or restarts playback, whereas double tapping the left cycles through ANC, ANC Adaptive, ANC off, and Ambient Mode.

As a refresher, ANC – or active noise cancellation – works by using built-in microphones to record outside noise and cancel out those wavelengths. Adaptive is the same idea, but it’s able to respond more dynamically to fluctuations in outside noise.

The ANC implementation works fine. It’s not going to wow you for creating a bubble of silence around you (there’s only a minor reduction to extraneous low-level noise such as an AC unit above me) but it does do a little to soften environmental noise. Ambient Mode is where I ran into trouble, as you have to double tap the earbud to deactivate it, and I repeatedly ended up banging the microphone while doing so, sending a wave of static into my ear. And I wouldn’t generally recommend using the mode anyway, given that during my tests I found the mics actually made outside noise sound worse than if you weren’t wearing the headphones at all.

There’s also Creative’s SXFI, or Super X-Fi spatial audio tech, which is intended to capture “the listening experience of a high-end multi-speaker system in a professional studio”, by virtually upscaling its stereo audio into something approaching three-dimensional sound. There’s a dedicated SXFI app you need to download, before building a personalized sound profile based on the size and shape of your ears, but it is available for both desktop and mobile. I’ll mention this in more depth in the audio quality section though, since there’s plenty to say. 

Features score: 3.5 / 5 

Creative Zen Air SXFI review: Design

• USB-C charging case
• Lightweight with a cloth carry case
• Battery life indicator

For headphones that only cost $80, the Zen Air SXFI look pretty sleek. Each earbud is a light matte gray, with a small Creative logo (a metallic triangle) and a shape similar to the AirPods Pro (bulbous body with a thin pipe hanging down over the earlobe).

The charging case has the same color scheme, with the four letters of SXFI embossed on the top, a USB-C charging port along the underside, and a multifunction button on the front. There’s also a four-point indicator that tells you how much battery life is left, or whether it’s in pairing mode, though it can be hard to make out the green LEDs in light environments.

The case has lightly curved edges, making it comfortable to hold or stick in a pocket, and it doesn’t pick up fingerprints, meaning it stays pretty even after a few weeks of testing. The inside of the case is where the affordability of these earbuds shows, with a cheap-looking metallic finish, though you won’t have to look at it often! Just note that the charging case’s curved edges means that it’s a little wobbly when sat upright, especially when the case’s top is open.

In a nice touch, you also get a small cloth bag to pack the charging case – preventing loose earbuds rattling around in your luggage – though with IPX5 water resistance you shouldn’t need to worry too much about the earbuds getting wet.

Design score: 4 / 5

Creative Zen Air SXFI review: Sound quality

• Clear, warm audio
• 10mm drivers
• SXFI doesn’t quite land

So, does Creative’s Super X-Fi tech actually work?

I’ve tested other SXFI models I was impressed by – specifically the Creative Zen Hybrid SXFI over-ear headphones, which have enough of a wide soundstage to manipulate the audio for a more spatial quality.

These Zen Air SXFI earbuds, however, don’t offer the same luxury – with compact 10mm drivers, and more restricted in-ear hardware – and while there’s a slight difference in the sound during music, it’s hard to quantify or call an improvement.

I actually enjoyed using SXFI more during podcasts, where the difference is more notable, subtly shifting the voices of talking heads so that the sound appears to fill more of the room around you in a natural way.

But regardless of Creative’s virtual trickery, I was pretty happy during my time with the Zen Air SXFI earbuds. They have a clear, crisp sound – at least, for the price – without the harsh notes or sibilance that can plague lower-cost audio hardware. 

Sure, you’re not getting pinpoint detail, or the powerful bass of headphones with bigger, more impactful drivers, and these earbuds work best for pop vocals and mid-range frequencies, rather than thumping club tracks. 

Listening to Chappell Roan’s Good Luck, Babe!, the earbuds do a decent job of capturing the singer’s playful vocal inflections, with clear separation between the vocals, drums, and other instruments cutting across the soundstage. You lose a little of the fast transition between different notes – something Roan’s voice does so aptly – but it’s still a good time overall.

While the sound is a little soft around the edges, it does make the Zen Air SXFI earbuds very easy on the ears, and good for listening for longer sessions. With a frequency range of 20-20,000Hz, you’re getting the standard spectrum of sound recreation – and, unlike the Zen Hybrid SXFI headphones, we had no trouble using these earbuds for podcasts or streaming apps.

Sound quality score: 3.5 / 5

Creative Zen Air SXFI review: Value

• Active noise cancellation
• Sub-$100 price
• Stylish design for the price

The Creative Zen Air SXFI headphones are absolutely good value, with a slick design, Bluetooth 5.3, and a number of advanced features that include ANC and Super X-Fi Audio – even if the implementation is a little basic.

The touch controls are generally workable, despite when switching out of Ambient Mode, and overall you’re getting a good feature set with some sensible corners cut. For the price tag, these are acceptable true wireless earbuds with the ambition to be something better.

Value score: 4 / 5

Should I buy the Creative Zen Air SXFI?

Buy them if…

Don’t buy them if…

Creative Zen Air SXFI review: Also consider

How I tested the Creative Zen Air SXFI

• Tested for 2 weeks
• Used at home, on commutes, and in public cafes
• Predominantly tested using Spotify service on OnePlus 8

I’ve worked as a gadget reporter for seven years now, including a substantial stint at TechRadar as its News & Features Editor. I’ve tested countless headphones and reported on audio tech in London, Las Vegas, Berlin and Shanghai.

My first over-ear headphones, back in 2009, were made by Creative, so I have a long history with the brand, and was excited to test out their products a full 15 years later.

I spent two weeks testing out the Creative Zen Air SXFI headphones in my home office, alongside outdoor walks, runs, and commutes over train and bus throughout the city. I primarily used my Android smartphone, a OnePlus 8, for testing, but switched to a MacBook Air for wired listening also.

• First reviewed in September 2024