The Creative ZEN Mozaic is the latest example of Creative's long-standing tradition of developing good-looking budget portable media players. The Mozaic comes in 2GB ($59.99 direct), 4GB ($79.99), and 8GB ($119.99) capacities, and its control pad, as its name would suggest, looks a lot like a tile mosaic. It's the kind of player that puts fashion before function, but that doesn't mean the Mozaic is a clunker. The user interface isn't going to win any awards for ease of use, but with an FM radio, voice recording, and a small screen for video and photo, it offers a lot more than the no-frills, screen-free iPod shuffle for about the same price.

The itty-bitty Mozaic measures 3.1 by 1.6 by 0.5 (HWD) and weighs 1.6 ounces. It comes in three colors—black (all capacities), silver (4GB only), and pink (2GB and 4GB only). The black and silver versions look cool, while the pink player is more cute than slick. (We looked at the 2GB version in black.) The 1.8-inch screen has a low 128-by-160-pixel resolution, but that's to be expected for a device in this price range. The controls on the front face offer typical navigation: Up, Down, Previous Menu, Extra Features, and a user-assignable Shortcut button that comes in handy if, say, you want to be only a click away from your photo collection. The Mozaic is also outfitted with a Power/Hold switch, a built-in speaker, a microphone for voice recording, a mini-USB jack for PC syncing, and a lanyard loop. The included earbuds sound typically subpar. If you want to stay in the budget range but improve your audio experience, upgrade to the Radius Atomic Bass or the Ultimate Ears Loud Enough earphones; both pairs are in the $40 range.

Also included is software that is pretty much essential if you want to load your videos onto the device: It converts most popular codecs into AVI files that will play on the Mozaic. Don't expect to be blown away by the video quality here, but it's not horrible considering the price. The same goes for photos: If they're not JPEGs, files need to be converted. Audio codec support is a bit more generous and includes MP3, WMA, WAV, and Audible 4 files.

Navigation of the user interface is nearly identical to that of the new Creative ZEN X-Fi I am not a huge fan of the clunky menu layout or the number of seemingly needless steps required to play a song or view a photo, for example. Both lack the grace of Samsung players, whose elegant UI and graphics can be found in the company's YP-T10 (and virtually all of its devices). Things just don't look as sharp or move quite as smoothly as they do on a Samsung, or on an iPod for that matter. But after all, this is a $60 player; the lackluster interface is more of an issue with the $200 ZEN X-Fi.

Once I upgraded to earphones from Ultimate Ears, my listening experience was enjoyable—but, whoa, those bundled earbuds are rough. Even with the improved earphones, things still sounded a bit flat, but this was easily fixed by fiddling with the custom EQ settings to fit my personal tastes. It's unfair to expect much from the included speaker given the device's size—needless to say, it doesn't get very loud.

Video performance, considering the modest screen size and resolution, is decent. The Mozaic is certainly not a device for critical viewing, but converted videos are bright and clear enough to watch, and the screen switches to horizontal mode for video. Strangely, it doesn't switch orientation for photo viewing, so you see only a very small version of your photo, with black bars above and below.

The FM radio stores 32 presets and easily fills them with your highest-reception stations using the auto-scan function. Reception was clear and pleasant to listen to. As long as Apple continues to omit FM tuners in its iPods, this feature will remain an asset. There's no FM recording, but there is a mic for voice recording, and recorded files are tidily stored under the Music menu in a dedicated folder.

Creative rates the audio battery life for the Mozaic at 36 hours, and 5 hours for video playback. Check back shortly for our battery test results.

Clearly, the Mozaic outdoes its closest Apple competitor, the screen-less $69 2GB shuffle, in terms of price and features, but Samsung and SanDisk also make affordable players with displays that are just as good. Samsung's YP-S3 is pricier at $100 for 4GB, but you get a much better user interface and graphics into the bargain. SanDisk's Sansa Fuze will also cost you a little more, at $79.99 for 2GB, but it offers an SD slot for expandable memory. All are worth checking out, but let's face it: None possess the flair of the Creative ZEN Mozaic. If looks matter, this player should turn some heads, and its price makes it even more attractive.

Compare the MP3 players mentioned above side by side.