SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, black)

Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp. Part number: SDMX14R-004GK-A70

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 Zoom

Video Compare with most popular

$79.99 - $105.95 at 13 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
3.5 stars Very good
Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 3 reviews

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Manufacturer info

Bottom Line:: The SanDisk Sansa Fuze is a great value--a slim design, simple interface, plentiful features, memory expansion capability, and solid sound quality all come with an easy-to-swallow price tag.

Where to buy

store	customer rating	inventory	tax & shipping	price
Store profile \| Buy now	Rate this store See store profile	In stock	Enter zip code to get total price: Price +Tax +Shipping =Total price	$94.98 Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Store profile \| Buy now The Right Technology. Right Away.	Rate this store See store profile			See site Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Store profile \| Buy now	Rate this store See store profile	In stock Free Shipping on $24 and up		$89.99 Your best price Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Store profile \| Buy now Savings, Selection & Service since 1971	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$107.11 Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Amazon.com Store profile \| Buy now	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$105.95 Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Store profile \| Buy now	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$94.89 Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Store profile \| Buy now	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$99.95 Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Store profile \| Buy now	Not yet rated Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$101.98 Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Next Warehouse Store profile \| Buy now	Not yet rated Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$96.70 Shop now as of 09/05/2008
TheNerds.net Store profile \| Buy now	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$102.98 Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Costcentral.com Store profile \| Buy now	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		$98.89 Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Directron.com Store profile \| Buy now	Not yet rated Rate this store See store profile	In stock		See site Shop now as of 09/05/2008
Store profile \| Buy now	Rate this store See store profile	In stock		See site Shop now as of 09/05/2008

*Total price for the SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, black) are estimated and may vary slightly based on exact tax, shipping, manufacturer rebate or any sale/promotion on the merchant site.

show

CNET editors' review

SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, black)

price range: $79.99 - $105.95

The SanDisk Sansa Fuze is a great value--a slim design, simple interface, plentiful features, memory expansion capability, and solid sound quality all come with an easy-to-swallow price tag.

The good: The SanDisk Sansa Fuze is supercheap and nicely compact; it comes in a variety of colors and has an expansion slot that accepts microSDHC cards. The player offers a variety of desirable features such as an FM tuner, Rhapsody DNA integration, photo and video support, and a voice recorder. Plus, the battery life for both music and video is very good.

The bad: The Sansa Fuze uses a proprietary dock connection, the interface is blah, and the screen has a dingy look to it.

The bottom line: The SanDisk Sansa Fuze is a great value--a slim design, simple interface, plentiful features, memory expansion capability, and solid sound quality all come with an easy-to-swallow price tag.

Read full review

Editor's note: The rating of the SanDisk Sansa Fuze has been raised from a 7.3 to a 7.7 after battery life testing revealed that the player offers above average performance in this area.

Photo gallery:
SanDisk Sansa Fuze

SanDisk continues to add to its line of Sansa MP3 players, which has been attractive to consumers from the start thanks to the low price point at which the company can list its players. While cheap pricing has made SanDisk a real contender in the portable audio space, the company is not content to rest on that fact alone to draw new customers, persistently tweaking its new offerings in an attempt to make them better. Such is the case with the Sansa Fuze, a slim device with a high-quality feel and several shiny color options. Sure, it's a bit of a Nano clone, but it also sounds good, offers plentiful features, and is cheap as all get-out--just $80, $100, and $130 for the 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB models, respectively.

SanDisk thought up the perfect name for the Fuze, because the player really resembles a Sansa Clip and a Sansa View blended together. At 3.1 inches by 1.8 inches by 0.3 inch, the Fuze is only a bit bigger than the Clip overall, and it comes in the same color options: black (2GB, 4GB); blue, pink, and red (all 4GB); and silver (8GB). But the build is more like that of the View, with a clickable scroll wheel, a shiny, plastic face and smooth, metal backside--the Fuze definitely has a solid, weighty feel to it. It seems more durable and high-quality than early Sansa models.

This observation in quality unfortunately does not extend to the Fuze's interface. The icon-driven main menu is nice enough to look at, and the device is very easy to navigate, with music organized into playlist, artist, album, and so on. And yet, as with other Sansa models we've come across, the inner menus are dull, and while we appreciate the option to at least change the wallpaper color, we'd love to be able to set a favorite photo as a backdrop or otherwise tweak the look-and-feel to our personal preferences. Still, this is a minor gripe, and part of the problem is actually caused by the screen's protective coating, which casts a grainy shadow on the LCD.

This dulling shadow also affects photos and videos, slightly diminishing the overall quality of viewing. At 1.9 inches, the Fuze's screen isn't exactly optimal video viewing anyway, so this isn't too big of a deal. If you still choose to add this type of media to the player, make sure it is in JPEG or MPEG4 SP format to ensure hassle-free playback. On the audio side, the Fuze offers support for MP3, WMA, secure WMA, WAV, Audible, and Overdrive. The player operates on the Rhapsody DNA platform, so it supports not only subscription content from the service, but also Rhapsody Channels, which are essentially Internet radio on the go. If you hear a song that you like playing on a channel, pressing down on the scroll wheel brings up the contextual menu where you can rate it and/or add it to your library.

The Fuze offers a few other attributes of note, most of which add value to the player. The only one that does not is the proprietary syncing port built into the bottom of the device--we'd much prefer it if SanDisk stuck to mini USB. On either side of the Fuze, you'll find a power/hold switch and a microSD card slot for adding more memory. It accepts high-capacity cards, which are available at up to 12GB as of press time. If that still doesn't provide enough music for you, there's an FM tuner with autoscan and presets, or you can record your own beautiful voice via the built-in mic.

Let's be frank: the Sansa Fuze doesn't offer the sparklingly stellar audio quality presented by the likes of the Sony NWZ-A810 or the Samsung P2. It also wasn't quite as encompassing as the sound coming from the Creative Zen V Plus--but it comes close. The Fuze is no slouch, to be sure. We tested it out with the Shure E310 earphones and the Creative Aurvana Live headphones and were not disappointed in either case. The Fuze powered through with reasonable--though not super thumping--bass response; nice, rich mids with smooth vocals; and an impressive amount of high-end detail. Across genres, we were greeted with clear, solid sound. The battery life of 28.2 hours for audio and 6.5 hours for video is plenty impressive.

show

User reviews

Write Review

Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 3 reviews

Showing opinion 1 to 3 out of 3

Sort by:
9 stars

Awesome MP3 Player

by vinster27 on August 27, 2008

Pros: Amazing sound for a flash based player
Small, Compact size
Excellent storage capacity for music
Easy to transfer music to Mp3 player

Cons: Proprietary connection, very few accessories for mp3 player, can't replace the battery

Summary: This is my second flash-based MP3 player and my first Sandisk Mp3 player. The sound and bass is excellent for this compact MP3 player. The size is very compact and ...

Read more

Summary: This is my second flash-based MP3 player and my first Sandisk Mp3 player. The sound and bass is excellent for this compact MP3 player. The size is very compact and easy to carry around with you. This player also comes with a miniSD card slot which is a huge plus and it is extremely easy to transfer music to this player. The only drawback is the proprietary connection for transferring music and charging the player. Their are also very few accessories for this MP3 player. Overall this is an awesome MP3 Player with great sound and is an excellent value for the money!!

Show less
9 stars

One Hot MP3 Player

by devicegeek on May 19, 2008

Pros: size, capacity, display screen, radio, voice recording

Cons: doesnt come in green or purple

Summary: I really like this player. It has all of the features one could need in an MP3 player. I got mine at www.shopsansa.com with a discount and it ...

Read more

Summary: I really like this player. It has all of the features one could need in an MP3 player. I got mine at www.shopsansa.com with a discount and it was well below what I would have paid for competitor Players.

Show less
7 stars

good and bad do far.

by reesehugg on May 15, 2008

Pros: cheap,great quality

Cons: hard to load music video's and pictures

Summary: after 24 hours i have no idea how to load anything on it. i assumed it would come with a disk but it didn't so my review is incomplete ...

Read more

Summary: after 24 hours i have no idea how to load anything on it. i assumed it would come with a disk but it didn't so my review is incomplete right now till i figure this out.

Show less

Showing opinion 1 to 3 out of 3

show

SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, black)

Where to buy

CNET editors' review

User reviews

Submit your review

Specifications

General