SanDisk Sansa Fuze (8GB, silver)
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp. Part number: SDMX14R-008GS-A70
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- Bottom Line:
- The SanDisk Sansa Fuze is a great value; a slim design, a 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 (8GB, silver) price range: $59.99 - $124.95
- Reviewed by: Jasmine France
- Reviewed on: 03/12/2008
- Updated on:11/26/2008
- 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, a voice recorder, and FLAC and OGG playback. 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, a simple interface, plentiful features, memory expansion capability, and solid sound quality all come with an easy-to-swallow price tag.
Editors' note: The rating of this product has increased to reflect significant enhancements offered by a firmware update. Find out more information here.
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, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, 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.
User reviews
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Excellent Player
by sippinjoes on May 8, 2008
Pros: compact, intuitive GUI, drag-drop, good sound, good quality, good picture, Micro SD
Cons: video conversion required, earbuds uncomfortable
Summary: For what the Sansa Fuze is, it is an excellent player. Easily syncs with Windows Media Player or just drag-n-drop you songs using Windows Explorer. Video does require conversion software, ...
Summary: For what the Sansa Fuze is, it is an excellent player. Easily syncs with Windows Media Player or just drag-n-drop you songs using Windows Explorer. Video does require conversion software, but it is easy to use and works with your videos you have (did have an issue with .avi files, have yet to troubleshoot).
The GUI (graphic user interface) is clean, simple, and intuitive. I generally look back to the manual when I can't figure something out, no need with the Fuze, the basics are intuitive and make for a short learning curve.
Sound is good, radio is clear, video good, pictures look good.
If others have to mention the Sansa specific 30pin connection to find something bad to say, you know it's good.
If you are looking for a compact portable device to listen to the radio, mp3's, keep some pics, play some vid and not be limited to proprietary software (i.e. itunes)...then this IS the player for you. It looks good and plays good.6 out of 6 users found this user opinion helpful.
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5 stars for value, sound quality & overall versatility!
by mjrei1 on March 24, 2009
Pros: - Absolutely unbeatable value for build quality, versatility and sound quality!
- Seamless integration of micro sd memory as if part of the built-in flash memory!
- Long battery life in music mode.
- Amazingly crisp video given the small screen size.Cons: - Operating system a little clunky when you've got a thousand or more mp3's to search.
- Video conversion software doesn't give size and quality of video options.
Note: "Cons" are only minor and not worth overlooking this great little player.Summary: I've owned somewhere around 10-plus mp3 players. Archos, (other) Sansa, Creative, Sony, Insignia and so on. For the money, which in my case was under $100 for the 8gb ...
Summary: I've owned somewhere around 10-plus mp3 players. Archos, (other) Sansa, Creative, Sony, Insignia and so on. For the money, which in my case was under $100 for the 8gb version, I have never owned a better mp3 player ever!
First and foremost, sound quality is of the utmost importance. There's nothing worse than a mediocre-sound-induced headache from a marginal quality mp3 player. That won't happen with the Sansa Fuse. The sound is crisp, clear and customizable with a built-in 5 band equalizer option.
Secondly, Sandisk has integrated expanded memory seamlessly with on-board flash memory. Add an inexpensive microsd card and you can't tell the difference between mp3's or movies on the internal memory or the microsd memory. This is a big deal. Other players I've haven't been able to shuffle in on the expansion card or can't bookmark your place in a movie from the expansion card. It may sound trivial but when the expansion memory acts like a completely seperate device it gets very tiresome very quickly and ultimately defeats the benefit of expandable memory. With the Sansa Fuse you can't detect which mp3's or videos are on the built-in memory or the expansion memory. Add a 16gb microsd memory card for about $50 and you get a total of 24gb of memory. That is ton of flash memory! 24gb gives you somewhere around 3,500 mp3's and 15 or so full length feature movies!
Also of note is the video quality. The screen is on the small side at just under 2 inches but it is crystal clear and the video is very watchable. I currently have 10 full length movies on mine and watching movies anywhere is really something I've become addicted to. To get movies onto the device you have to download the free Sansa Media Converter from the Sansa website. Drop most any video format into the conversion software and in minutes its on your player. The only negative here is that the converter does not give you options as to the size and quality of the video. I prefer smaller video files than the conversion software gives you but it's hard to complain when you see the quality of the video once on your Fuse device. The average 2 hour movie takes roughly 500mb of memory using the converter. (If you don't have a way to copy your dvd's to avi files or similar mobile device files, it's very easy to find software available to do that. I use "Pocket DVD" which is available online for about $30. There are also free programs available but I haven't tried any of the free programs.)
Lastly, the build quality and interface are top notch for such a relatively inexpensive device. I currently own 3 Fuse players, an 8gb for myself and 2 2gb players for my kids. They all three work flawlessly. I've added memory cards to all three players and have what would have otherwise cost me a small fortune if I'd have gone the ipod or zune route.
My only realm complaint is that the size of video files is on the large side for my taste, but that is balanced out by the quality of video you get from the Sansa Media converter. Again, the video looks great for such a small screen. Also, the operating system gets a little tedious when searching through a thousand-plus mp3's for a particular song or artist. Ipods and other players are definitely a little faster when it comes to searching through thousands of songs. And lastly, the headphones that come with it aren't bad but I prefer my Sony and JBL headphones to the ones that came with the device. None of the "cons" are really notable when compared to the many, many upsides to this great little device.
My advice, buy the Fuse! Buy several! They're that good.5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
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pretty good player for a decent price
by iruka* on August 10, 2008
Pros: screen protection, radio, voice recorder, scroll wheel, build
Cons: non-customizable interface
Summary: My cousin just threw the black fuze over to me after getting an iPod and I honestly don't know why he would do that since this is more capable ...
Summary: My cousin just threw the black fuze over to me after getting an iPod and I honestly don't know why he would do that since this is more capable than an iPod.
I really like the build of it, how it has a nice shiny but not reflective face and a brushed metal back, it feels sturdy. I also loved the scroll wheel. I just like the sound of the wheel when it turns for some reason and there's a nice ring of light around it.
I don't mind the screen size for photo and videos, since for me 1.5 is the minimum for those so it was pretty good. Viewing angles were pretty good, too, and the quality was great.
Audio quality was good, too, although it's not the best, but it's pretty decent. Can't say iPods can do better.
I also liked how they put protection on the screen, it really didn't get any scratches, even when it was sort of a hand-me-down from my cousin. It wouldn't scratche no matter where I put it so that's a really good sign.
The radio and voice recorders are good extras, to me, at least. I like listening to random music once in a while and I really need voice recorders in my mp3s or else I'll die.
The half-a-star I didn't give it was for the non-customizable interface. I'm one of those people who like to play around with it and maybe change the background picture, but I guess it's ok. Maybe it was just the style I didn't like.
But overall, I really do recommend this. You get a lot for a great value and you're really paying for what you get.2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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The ease of loading MP3 music files was easy
by pacecarjohn on October 3, 2008
Pros: I bought this for my wife who never downloaded MP3 and for her to jump in with both feet and go through the different menus was real easy for her. Easy to read, easy to load and easy to browse the menus
Cons: We bought the carrying case which straps to your arm and getting to the power button is a little hard to turn it on and off. Other than that no issues
Summary: Over all for the money and ease of operation this was a no brainer. A number of people here in my office have sansa MP3 player and they didnt have ...
Summary: Over all for the money and ease of operation this was a no brainer. A number of people here in my office have sansa MP3 player and they didnt have any issues with there units..john
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Just about perfect
by MSKGNW on September 2, 2008
Pros: Easy to use, great features. great price, shockingly excellent FM receiver. Expandable memory. You can watch a video and look at pictures if you want to.
Cons: On/off switch a little hard to use. non-replaceable battery
Summary: After spending TOO much time getting my kid's iPod Touch to work and dealing with the inflexibility of iTunes I looked around for the best non-iPod player out there ...
Summary: After spending TOO much time getting my kid's iPod Touch to work and dealing with the inflexibility of iTunes I looked around for the best non-iPod player out there and found the Fuze. Paired with Creative EP640 ear buds makes the Fuze just about perfect. Sync's easily with Windows Media Player (& probably RealPlayer). You can also load stuff as though it was a disk drive. All with software you probably already have installed.
Used the FM receiver while camping in the mountains of Pennsylvania and was shocked at the quality of the audio. I could not hear a difference between the FM and the 128 Kbps MP3's I had just listened to.
Overall sound quality is excellent.
Though small, photos viewed on the screen were vivid and crisp. As for video, I probably would not want to watch a full length movie but if you wanted to catch a music video or something else short, its a nice feature to have.
Haven't used the voice recorder in a real situation yet, but that's another nice feature to have.
This is one great little player.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Value Packed, High Quality Player
by MayorDW on July 5, 2008
Pros: Quality feel, Loaded with features, Accepts many more formats than iPod.
Cons: Could use a little better earpods.
Summary: I have only had my Fuze a few days and have enjoyed it more than any other mp3 player I've ever owned. Sound quality is fantastic with full bass, ...
Summary: I have only had my Fuze a few days and have enjoyed it more than any other mp3 player I've ever owned. Sound quality is fantastic with full bass, mellow mid-range and accurate treble, all of which is adjustable to your preferences. Features abound and I don't see the "dingy screen" mentioned in the reviews. Photos and movies, though small, are crystal clear. I'd recommend this to all my friends.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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I like the player, but support is terrible
by ra8147 on May 30, 2008
Pros: Nice size, esay to use
Cons: I could never get it to work with subscription services
Summary: I really liked the player, but after several resets and a week long wait for a response from customer service to deal with a Rhapsody compatibility issue, I returned this ...
Summary: I really liked the player, but after several resets and a week long wait for a response from customer service to deal with a Rhapsody compatibility issue, I returned this one and bought a Zen.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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a very good player, recomended
by danielpattiz on April 20, 2008
Pros: slim, easy to use interface, rhapsody compatible, free microsd card
Cons: small screen, music skips a little when moving around the menu
Summary: The sansa fuze is a very good mp3 player for the price, of course you can get better than the fuze but thats for hundreds of dollars more. The sansa ...
Summary: The sansa fuze is a very good mp3 player for the price, of course you can get better than the fuze but thats for hundreds of dollars more. The sansa fuze is very easy to use, anybody can put music on it minuets. The sound quality is also very high grade, its clear and goes up loud. The micro-sd card you get for FREE is a very good addition to the player, it adds 512 megabytes to it, but you can get up to 12 gigs to add to it.
Now lets talk about the price. its goes from $79.00 to $129.00. The fuze goes up to 8 gigs. $129.00 for an 8 gig mp3 player is VERY good, see the ipod nano 8 gig for a comparison.
The only problem i have with the fuze is the music skips a little but when entering new menus, its a little annoying but not that bad. the silver version is prone to scratches, but if you take care of it you will not have to worry about this.
overall, the sansa fuze is a very good mp3 player, i would recommend it to anyone wanting a good mp3 player for not much money.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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The Sansa Fuze...
by Mitch1992 on October 27, 2009
Pros: I have had a Sansa Fuze for about a year and it has been awesome the whole time, no problems or anything. I like the screen even though it's a little outdated on graphics but not much.
Cons: The only thing was battery life and of course the trouble of getting video, since i don't have my own computer. i just wish that videos were easier to get on the fuze than iPod.
Summary: The Sansa Fuze is a GREAT mp3 player, it's been the only one i've had that hasn't caused me problems. OH and sansa Fuze has great updates ...
Summary: The Sansa Fuze is a GREAT mp3 player, it's been the only one i've had that hasn't caused me problems. OH and sansa Fuze has great updates every once in a while but the updates make it better than an iPod as far as features are concerned. iPods are nice, but i am STRONGLY on the saide of Sansa Fuze. The Sansa View isn't as great, however. It has more problems than the fuze does.
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broke after 1 year
by AllanBraun on September 21, 2009
Pros: cheap for 8 gig
Cons: The screen broke after 1 year. The on/off switch is real hard to use. You need a big fingernail to use it.
Summary: Buy another player which will won't break after 1 year
Summary: Buy another player which will won't break after 1 year
Specifications
- Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
- Part number: SDMX14R-008GS-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
- Product type Digital player / radio
- PC interface(s) supported Hi-Speed USB
- Flash memory installed 8 GB Integrated
- Digital storage None
- Weight 2.1 oz
- Dimensions (W x D x H) 1.9 in x 0.3 in x 3.1 in
- Color Silver
- Included accessories Headphones
- Software type Drivers & Utilities, Microsoft Windows Media Player 10, Microsoft Windows Media Player 11
Digital Player / Recorder
- Supported digital audio standards FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, Audible, WAV, WMA, MP3
- Additional features JPEG photo playback, PC Connection via USB
Built-in Display
- Diagonal size 1.9 in
- Resolution 220 x 176
Audio Features
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Additional features Voice recording, Built-in FM radio, USB 2.0 compatibility
CD System
- Digital audio standards supported MP3
Radio
- Tuner type Digital Radio tuner
- FM station preset qty 40
- Tuner bands FM
Remote Control
- Remote control None
Microphone
- Microphone type Built-in
Headphones
- Headphones type Binaural
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
- Cable(s) included 1 x USB cable - External
- 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
Battery / Power
- Battery Rechargeable Player batteryInternal
- Mfr estimated battery life 24 hour(s)
- Power device type None
System Requirements
- Peripheral / Interface devices Hi-Speed USB port
- Operating system Linux, Apple MacOS, Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista
Product series
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SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, black)
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Flash player, Stereo, Black
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SanDisk Sansa Fuze (8GB, silver)
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 8 GB, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, Audible, WAV, WMA, MP3, Rechargeable Player batteryInternal
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SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, blue)
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, Audible, WAV, WMA, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, MP3, Rechargeable Player batteryInternal
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SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, pink)
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, Audible, FLAC, MP3, WMA, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, Rechargeable Player batteryInternal
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Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, Audible, FLAC, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, WAV, WMA, Rechargeable Player batteryInternal
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SanDisk Sansa Fuze (2GB, black)
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 2 GB, WMA, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, MP3, FLAC, Audible, Rechargeable Player batteryInternal
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SanDisk Sansa Fuze - digital player / radio
Manufacturer: SanDisk Corp.
Specs: Digital player / radio, 8 GB, MP3, WAV, WMA, Audible, Rechargeable Player batteryInternal
Accessories
Manufacturer info
- SanDisk Corp.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse SanDisk Corp. products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.sandisk.com/
- Address:
140 Caspian Ct.
Sunnyvale, CA 94089 - Phone: 408-542-0500
- Email: support@sandisk.com
- Fax: 408-542-0503
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