Review: SanDisk Sansa Fuze MP3 Player

SanDisk Sansa Fuze MP3 Player

Review
Manufacturer: SanDisk
Storage Capacity: 2GB, 4GB, 8GB
Price: $79.99, $99.99, $129.99

SanDisk has come out with an extension to their array of MP3 players, beyond the Clip and the View. Their new mp3 player, the Sansa Fuze, is definitely geared towards casual someone who just wants a basic, functional, and well-put together media device for their pocket.

The Sansa Fuze may look like a tiny device at first, but this thing packs some serious features. It has the ability to playback music, video, photos, FM radio, as well as audiobooks. The features for the Sansa Fuze are very impressive to say the least, as it also features a microSD card slot to add extra storage space, content, etc.

The first feature we will focus on is the one which will likely get the most use, the audio aspect. The music menu is organized with artist, album, song, genre, etc. There is also a recently added section which shows the most recent songs added onto the device, as well as a top rated section.

The album menu allows you to see album icons as you are scrolling through the various albums. There is also the ability to form a playlist directly on the player.

The sound quality is very well-done. If you have a great set of headphones you will not be disappointed in the least bit.

The video aspect is definitely not the highlight of the Sansa Fuze. Part of this is due to the low power of the device, and partly due to the screen itself. The supplied Sansa Media Converter does make it easy to convert movies into a format for the device though. A typical movie will take up a little under, or over 1GB. The video looks respectable, but can get a bit choppy at times. One very cool feature about the video is the ability to add a bookmark while watching it.

The photo viewer is very standard as you can view photos from the internal memory of a microSD card. You can set up a slide show with time intervals, and add music as well. The images looked quite sharp.

The FM radio feature is done extremely well on the Sansa Fuze. You get some great reception and the auto program feature picks out crystal clear radio stations. It also has the ability to record radio in WAV format.

This works with voice recording as well thanks to a microphone located right below the microSD slot.

Podcasts and audiobooks are pretty self-explanatory, but one issue with the audiobooks is the lack of a bookmark feature.

The overall user interface for the Sansa Fuze is put together nicely, set up in such a way that a first-time user could pick up this device and feel right at home with it. You have a scroll wheel as well as a home button and a middle click wheel. The scroll wheel can also be clicked up and down, which can make things a bit confusing at times. Overall though, beyond a few hiccups with organizational aspects of the UI, this is one easy device to use.

Getting media onto the Sansa Fuze is extremely simple as you can use any desktop media player to create playlists and such, easily syncing them to the device. It also supports drag and drop without the need for any software. We used Windows Media Player as well as a few other media players to test this all out, and syncing was as simple as can be.

The quality of the device itself is top-notch, as the screen can put out some great contrast and vibrant colors in spots. The screen is extremely clear and does a nice job with photo presentations. Battery life is equally as impressive, as I have been getting around 20 hours on each battery charge thus far. Video playback came in at around 6 hours on a charge.

The package comes with a proprietary USB cable and a pair of earbuds, pretty basic.

Also shipping with the Sansa Fuze is a great bonus, a microSD card which comes with DRM-free music from more than 50 new and emerging artists. This is a great way to immediately test out the music capabilities of the Sansa Fuze, and also adds value to the entire package. Music videos, images, and more are also included on the microSD card.

Overall SanDisk has done a great job with the Sansa Fuze. The units are sold in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB models and are properly priced at $79.99, $99.99, and $129.99 respectively. The feature set for the Sansa Fuze is extremely impressive as this is one fantastic multi-media device. The Sansa Fuze may be small, but it sure packs a lot of entertainment and value!

Final Score: 8.8 dbTechno Recommended!

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Interested in picking up this MP3 player? Head over to Amazon at the link here - SanDisk Sansa Fuze 8 GB MP3 Player (Silver)