New Zunes to fall short on battery versus iPod

Microsoft's new Zunes have been tested and should have the same audio performance as their equivalent iPod models but run lower in terms of video, according to an update from Zune marketer Cesar Menendez. Both the Zune 4 and Zune 8 flash players will manage up to 24 hours of continuous music playback using 128Kbps Windows Media files, but a shorter four hours of video with 500Kbps Windows Media videos versus the five of an iPod nano playing H.264 clips at the same resolution. The Zune 80's larger battery will afford 30 hours of music but will be limited to the same four hours as its smaller counterpart. Apple's 80GB iPod classic and both iPod touch models are estimated at about five hours of video playback. Wi-Fi was switched off in both Zune tests, according to the report.

These tests were performed with prototype Zunes and unfinished software and might not exactly reflect the exact performance of the media players when they ship in November, Menendez warned. The Zune team member did not compare the performance to other players, though Microsoft's own specifications note that the mid-range Zune 30 remains unchanged at just 14 hours of music playback and the same four hours of video as newer models.

No tests have yet been conducted using the newly-added support for H.264 or MPEG-4 video clips, preventing a direct comparison of playback using the same formats.