The new mp3 player in Creative’s line of Zen players was recently released to the U.S. market. This player, available in 2, 4, and 8 GB of flash memory puts the Creative in direct competition with the king of flash players, the iPod Nano. With the Zen V Plus, will Creative finally be able to break free from Apple’s shadow and take the lead in the MP3 player market, or will it be just another flash player in the already overcrowded niche? We recently picked one up to review and determine for ourselves. Within the next few days, we will be releasing a series of “Mini-Reviews” covering different aspects of the player. For today’s Mini-Review we cover… the form factor.

The Zen V Plus’s micro size easily puts it in place as the smallest player in Creative’s Zen line. The dimensions of the V Plus come in at 43.5 x 67.5 x 15.9mm, however the screen takes up more than half of the front. The bottom of the player contains the controls which consist of simply a joystick-like control knob and two additional buttons for ‘Play/Pause’ and ‘Back’. This combo allows for really simple navigation and control of the media menu.

The slick black casing that covers the rest of the player definitely adds to the appeal. The rounded corners of the housing also give a smoothness to the player that other devices simply lack. The blue accents of this model provide a kick to really make the design standout, while the overall size of the V Plus is really, really tiny. It is both shorter and thinner than the iPod Nano and really fits comfortably in my pockets. Overall, definitely the smoothest form factor for any Zen player yet.