Review: SanDisk Sansa Fuze – Where MP3 Meets Usability

Overview:

The latest MP3 offering from Sandisk is a well thought out device which makes it a real contender in an iPod dominated arena. With features that include FM radio, MicroSD card slot and a built-in recorder, the Sansa Fuze has brought a new quality to the MP3 market: substance.

Review:

Let me start by having a quick vent on one of my pet hates (don’t worry, as I’m not Jeremy Clarkson this really will be short). When it comes to MP3 players, quite often people only think of a variation of the Apple iPod. The iPod is brilliantly marketed, but also brilliantly annoying in important things such as, say, usability. Now, I’m not here to necessarily juice Apple, but when I was presented with the latest MP3 offering from SanDisk, there was no doubt in my mind on which device I would rather listen to the latest offering from Nickelback.

The SanDisk Sansa Fuze is very simply a great MP3 player. The very first thing that got me excited about it was that it was much more than an MP3 player. Firstly, it features a built-in FM radio with 40 pre-set stations. Although, this is a simple feature I do however think it is important to offer you options on what you may prefer to listen to on your morning bus ride. There are moments when you’re out and about and may really want to know the latest results from the football, or may even want to keep up to date with global developments (well you never know"¦). If your MP3 player has FM radio functionality, you suddenly have access to news and variety whereas before you only had access to Britney.

Another added bonus is the MicroSD memory card slot, meaning that if the inbuilt memory just isn’t enough to store one more photo or song that you just can’t live without in your hip pocket, you can now fit it in. Again, this bit of extra flexibility makes this a more humanised music device.

A final feature that makes the Sansa Fuze stand out from the iPod pack is the in-built recorder making it the perfect device to take with you to he pub so that you can record, and therefore have proof, when your mate promises to pay you 50 quid if you drink a pint out of your left shoe.

Using the Sansa Fuze was very straight forward. I particularly like the manual wheel which allows you to make accurate selections so that you can choose quite easily that album you want to listen to and not keep scrolling too far before it… no wait, now too far after it. There is also a home button which makes it dead easy to navigate back to the main screen.

The screen itself is 1.9 inches, which isn't the largest on the market, but is in full colour and ultimately would be fine to watch a movie on when you're on the go. The icons and option screens are very basic and unexciting and reminds me of the screen of a mobile phone I had from the early 90s, which does let down the overall feel of the device. From the outside, the Sansa Fuze itself looks sleek and has a soft-touch matte back which I quite like as it feels comfortable in the palm of your hand as you tap your toes down the street.

Another great thing about the Sansa Fuze is the long battery life, which can pump the beats out for 24 hours before you need to plug it into your computer again to breathe life back into it. I think this is brilliant, as no longer will I have to spend the last half of my journey home from work humming softly to myself as I look at my dead iPod with its mocking blank screen.

Finally, I know this may seem like I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel, but the Sansa Fuze comes with a soft pouch so that you can keep you player dirt-free when your not using it, and protect it from scratches in your pocket/handbag when you are using it. Why am I bothering to mention this? Purely because when you pay so much money for an MP3 player and only receive the bare essentials, you can feel a bit ripped-off at the thought of shelling out another £15 for a protective cover which only comes in packs of three when you only want one (not naming any companies for whom this is normal practice"¦).

The 2GB version used in this review retails at £59, but for those of you with more tracks than the Warner Music Group, then there is a 4GB version at £79 and a 8GB version at £99.

The Gaj-it Verdict:

Design: 8/10
Usability: 9/10
Value: 8/10

We Say:

The SanDisk Sansa Fuze is a well-priced MP3 player with exceptional usability. The ability to add extra memory is something that I think should catch on to other players in the market as it’s technology that has been in existence for a long time, but is now being incorporated in a new way.

Source: SanDisk

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