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Updated April 11, 2024·
If you're on a tight budget and need wireless convenience, Creative Labs Zen Air offers good overall sound quality and is excellent for air travel due to its active noise cancelling. However, it's not the best choice for gaming or professional calls. On the other hand, if sound quality is your priority and you don't mind a wired connection, the Moondrop Blessing 3, though more expensive, provides excellent sound and very good TV and video performance. It lacks wireless functionality and active noise cancelling, so it's not as travel-friendly. Also, consider the Moondrop if you seek a more durable design and a detachable cable. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Creative Labs Zen Air
Very good for air travel
Advantages of the Moondrop Blessing 3
Good for music
Very good for TV and video
Good for podcasts and audiobooks
Key differences
Music
6.8/10
7.6/10
The Moondrop Blessing 3 is good for music, while the Creative Labs Zen Air is only fair.
Gaming
5.1/10
6.3/10
The Moondrop Blessing 3 is only fair for gaming, while the Creative Labs Zen Air is poor.
Podcasts and Audiobooks
5.4/10
7.8/10
The Moondrop Blessing 3 is good for podcasts and audiobooks, while the Creative Labs Zen Air is poor.
TV and Video
5.6/10
8.0/10
The Moondrop Blessing 3 is very good for TV and video, while the Creative Labs Zen Air is poor.
Battery
5.0 Hours
N/A
The Creative Labs Zen Air has 5 hours of battery life. The Moondrop Blessing 3 does not have a battery.
Cost
$30
$320
$0
$100
$200
$300
$400
The Creative Labs Zen Air has a price of $30 and the Moondrop Blessing 3 costs $320.
The Creative Labs Zen Air and Moondrop Blessing 3 are both poor for phone calls.
Noise Reduction
7.0/10
6.5/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Creative Labs Zen Air to be good for noise reduction, while the Moondrop Blessing 3 is only fair.
Build Quality
9.0/10
9.0/10
The Creative Labs Zen Air and Moondrop Blessing 3 both have excellent build quality.
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How the Creative Labs Zen Air and the Moondrop Blessing 3 compare to other earbuds and headphones
"The Creative Zen Air’s weak points are its low battery life and rather short Bluetooth range. On the other hand, the strengths of these weatherproof True Wireless in-Ears are the sound and the wide attenuation of the Active Noise Cancellation. Considering the price range, the speech intelligibility during calls is also exceptionally good."
"The Moondrop Blessing 3 has excellent imaging performance, especially for the price. Pair that with its neutral tonality with slight elevations towards both ends of the frequency response, and the Blessing 3 technically proficient set of IEMs that are also enjoyable to listen to every day."
Get a great deal on the Creative Labs Zen Air or the Moondrop Blessing 3
About Creative Labs
Creative Labs is a Singaporean technology company specialized in the manufacture of multimedia products. They created the world-famous Soundblaster soundcard back in 1989 which was a staple of the gaming community for a long time. Nowadays, besides still marketing their discrete audio systems, they offer a wide array of headphones, gaming headsets and speakers that still preserve that same heritage.
About Moondrop
Moondrop is a Chinese brand of smart audio equipment, portable audio players, earbuds and headphones started in 2015. During the last few years they have become one of the major players in what is lovingly referred to as the Chi-fi market, the bulk of Chinese companies that have managed to actually compete with the western manufacturers in both prices and superior quality. Products such as the Blessing II, Chu and Kato are among the most popular offerings of the brand, more popular among those users that wish for good quality audio that won't break the bank. Besides audio, the brand also works in what they call the ACGN field (Animation, Comics, Games and Short Novels).
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec earbuds & headphones team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest earbuds or headphones information and makes it digestible for you.
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About the Earbuds or Headphones team
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
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