Now I was going to do this as two videos, to you know capitalise as much as possible on views between the two, but then I did a bit of digging and really found that there was pretty much no difference between these two Creative Zen Air earbud models. I’ll get into the differences in this video, don’t you worry, but just don’t expect huge differences. There really isn’t.
Most notably though the biggest difference between the two sets of earbuds is the size. The Pro has a smaller case and also a smaller earbud too but not really by much. I must say I prefer the case of the Air Plus, purely for its off-centred clasp that gives it a slightly unique look and feel. The lids both open from the top and have a magnetic seal, Build quality is rather nice too with no significant wobble or movement to the hinge. Battery indicators are present but on the Pro, you’ve got several lights on the front and the Plus indicator is on the bottom. Both feature status buttons to check battery life though one’s on the front and the other on the bottom.
Taking the earbuds out of there respective cases, you can also see a difference in size, although this only comes in the stems of each earbud. The bulb at the top looked and felt exactly the same when wearing them. The Pro version looks a bit more refined and the Plus looks a lot more like the traditional Airpod style, especially in the off-white colour like mine are here. Apart from this though, there’s no real difference in terms of the physical nature. Both come with interchangeable buds to get that right fit and a USB Type-C cable to charge the cases. Both sets I will say look good, but I must say I do slightly prefer the smaller stem, even though the off-white colour is definitely the better colour choice out of the two. Oh, and on paper there’s an hour difference in playtime between the two. See I told you the differences were slight!
Both earbuds connected pretty seamlessly to my Google Pixel 7 Pro, and I was able to listen to music within seconds of powering up the headphones. Both sets I also connected to the Creative app to take advantage of that custom EQ setting because unfortunately, the frequency response isn’t brilliant from the box, and in fact the Plus performed worse when it came to detail and clarity than the Pros. They seemed to favour bass frequencies somewhat, and almost from the get-go I was removing quite a bit of bass from my music and adding a generous amount of treble.
Now, I did fall down somewhat when the LE audio was concerned. LE audio is a brand new codec which offers higher quality audio, and it comes with Bluetooth 5.3 which these earbuds are. However, when I connected the Pros and also sometimes the Plus version to my Google Pixel 7 Pro it stated ‘Audio LE connected’ and then within 10 seconds it said ‘Audio LE disconnected’. The headphones still worked and they were connected to my phone, but I was seemingly losing out on the added quality that the LE codec offers. Maybe it was because I was listening to Spotify on my phone, or I was connecting to the Creative app on my phone I have no idea. The Plus seemed to drop the LE feature far more than the Pros for me. The Pros though do come with the newest LC+ codec so you can receive unencrypted broadcast quality audio from compatible devices.
Both headphones feature both active noise cancellation and ambient modes, and you can set the sensitivity on both options. The extra that the Pros come with is Creative’s SXFI codec, which widens the soundstage of your music and gives you a feeling of actually being there.l It works, somewhat I suppose, on older tracks with a lesser quality, like music recorded in the 80s for example. But for newer tracks, yeah you get the wider soundstage, but the ‘live feel’ gets a little lost as newer music is so well mixed now anyway.
The IP rating is also slightly different between the two, with the Creative Zen Air Plus coming in on an IPX4 rating , while the Pros come in with an IPX5 rating. However, in reality, it’s not really any different. The Plus can handle some light rain, and the Pros can handle a bit heavier rainfall. None are being submerged and none you’re going swimming in. Sweat if you’re using these as gym headphones will be fine.
And for a £20 price difference, to be honest with you, I’d go with the Pros. The Plus has a nice case and a larger stem and to be honest, if you don’t need the added features then save £20. But the Pros have the better audio quality, and that to be honest I think outweighs everything else. I’m not sure why Creative thought it would be a good idea to release two earbuds so close in spec, maybe it’s to do with retail real estate where brands flood the market with various model numbers, phone companies are the worst for this, but who knows? Anyway, the Air Plus and Air Pros are decent for sure, and a bit of a steal right now if you’re in the market for new wireless earbuds.
