SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, blue)

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

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$87.51 - $99.99 at 10 online stores

CNET Editor rating:
3.5 stars Very good
Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 1 review

More product information:: Editors' review; User reviews; Specifications; Product series; 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.

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CNET editors' review

SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, blue)

price range: $87.51 - $99.99

Reviewed by: Jasmine France
Reviewed on: 03/12/2008
Updated on:04/07/2008
Released on: 03/17/2008

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.

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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.

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User reviews

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Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 1 review
My rating: 0 stars

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9 stars

Almost perfect

by Brian71489 on April 6, 2008

Pros: Very cheap, seems to be durable, expandable memory, and sansa fixed the bugs from previous models

Cons: You have to use Sansa Media Converter to convert videos, very boring menu screen

Summary: Sansa has finally done it. I just picked up the 8 gig version of the fuze for 129.99 and its well worth it, this is way better than ipod ...

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Summary: Sansa has finally done it. I just picked up the 8 gig version of the fuze for 129.99 and its well worth it, this is way better than ipod for many reasons, but mainly because expandable memory. I played through just about all of my music (roughly a gig) without any problem. Sansa fixed all of the bugs that were on the older models, and the fuze is just about perfect. Sansa>Ipod

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Specifications

Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Part number: SDMX14R-004GB-A70
Description: Listen, watch and play all day with 24 hours of battery life and room for up to 2000 songs. The Sansa Fuze from SanDisk is your portable music machine with 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB of storage. Watch your favorite video clips on the Sansa Fuze's 1.9" color screen. Jam to FM radio with 40 preset stations, play with the built-in voice recorder, and share your photos wherever you go. Choose from five electric colors: blue, red, pink, black or silver. Incredible battery life in a 0.3" thin device - the Sansa Fuze marks the next wave of music and video players.

General
Width 1.9 in
Depth 0.3 in
Product type Digital player / radio
Height 3.1 in
PC interface(s) supported Hi-Speed USB
Weight 2.1 oz
Color Blue
Available body colors Pink, Black, Blue, Red
Flash memory installed 4 GB Integrated
Digital storage None
Dimensions (W x D x H) 1.9 in x 0.3 in x 3.1 in
Included accessories Headphones
Packaged quantity 1
Software type Microsoft Windows Media Player 10, Drivers & Utilities, Microsoft Windows Media Player 11
Digital storage media type None
Radio
FM station preset qty 40
Tuner type Digital Radio tuner
Tuner bands FM
Digital Player / Recorder
Digital player supported digital audio standards WMA, WAV, Audible, MP3
Digital player additional features JPEG photo playback, PC Connection via USB
Battery
Rechargeable Battery Rechargeable
Battery Enclosure Type Internal
Battery Rechargeable Player batteryInternal
Mfr estimated battery life 24 hour(s)
Battery Life Details MP3 playback 24 hour(s), Video playback 5 hour(s)
Audio System
Sound output mode Stereo
Additional features Voice recording, USB 2.0 compatibility, Built-in FM radio
Cable(s) / Peripheral(s)
Cable(s) included 1 x USB cable - External
System Requirements
Peripheral / Interface devices Hi-Speed USB port
Min Operating system Microsoft Windows XP, Apple MacOS, Linux, Microsoft Windows Vista
Connections
Connector type 1 x USB 2.0 4 pin USB Type A, 1 x Headphones Mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm
Slot(s) provided 1 x MicroSDHC
Slot(s) Required None