SanDisk Sansa Fuze+ Review

SanDisk Sansa Fuze+ Review
Page content

MP3 Player: Fuze+

The SanDisk Sansa Fuze + MP3 player is an 8GB player that comes in a variety of colors like white, purple, black and blue. It’s a basic player with a budget price around $40 to $80. The player is set up like traditional MP3 players with the screen at the top and a touch-screen scroll at the bottom.

Body (3 out of 5)

Sansa Fuze

But this Sansa Fuze + review goes into more than the obvious. For example, while the body looks typical, it doesn’t feel typical. It is made completely of plastic, which makes it lightweight. This, however, makes it feel very cheap. The body is also slightly bulky and won’t easily fit inside a pocket. The screen, however, is nice and large at 2.4 inches with a resolution of 320 by 240. The player comes with standard accessories included headphones and USB cable.

Features (4 out of 5)

What does set the player apart is the features. It is available with different memory sizes, including 4 and 8 GB players. But it also comes with a microSD card slot. This allows you to add more media to your player even if your internal memory is full. It features a FM radio, which is able to pick up local stations. It also has a built-in microphone, which allows you to record songs from the radio or even your own voice.

The Fuze + supports a wide variety of formats, including the following:

This is pretty impressive for a budget player. The video playback feature also works quite well. The player supports H.24, WMV and MPEG-4 video. You can also play still images on the Fuze, including JPEG and BMP images.

Software and Quality (4 out of 5)

One minor hiccup with the features is the support of album artwork. You can view any album covers that you purchased from iTunes. But, if you ripped a CD in iTunes, the Fuze player won’t pull up that artwork.

Depending on your view, this is either a good or bad thing. The Fuze + player doesn’t come with any software for the computer. Instead, you just plug the player in and then drag and drop media on the player. This is quite easy, but may be confusing for beginner users. If you do want the assistance of a media player, Mac users can use iTunes, and Windows users can use Windows Media Player.

The quality of the Fuze + is quite good. The headphones, however, do limit the sound of the audio a bit. So, if you really want to take advantage of what your MP3 player can do, invest in some better headphones. It comes with EQ presets, which allow you to choose the best preset for the type of music that you are playing. It also has a normal and custom EQ.

The video quality of this player is amazing. The videos are sharp, and the colors are crisp. The only problem with the screen is when you hold slightly to the right when turned to landscape view. But, that’s really it. The Fuze + also features a menu just for podcasts. This is a feature not normally found on most budget players.

Touch Scroll and Battery Life (3 out of 5)

The major problem with this player is that touch scroll. It’s hard to work it, and the menu doesn’t go back to the beginning when you reach the end of it. This means that you have to manually scroll back to the beginning. While it’s not that much of a hassle, the laborious touch control makes it that more difficult.

The battery life isn’t bad. You get 24 hours of audio play time and 5 hours of video play time before you have to recharge the battery.

Bang For Buck (4 out of 5)

Overall, this Sansa Fuze + review shows you that this player is a good choice for those looking for a budget player with a lot of features. The quality of the audio and video is quite good, and the ability to record FM audio is a nice touch.

The major downsides of the player, including the touch scroll and the bulky body, are forgivable. And, you may want to invest in some better headphones than the ones that come with the player. But, these problems weren’t really deal breakers.

References

Melanson, Donald. “SanDisk Sansa Fuze + Review.”

Bell, Donald. “SanDisk Sansa Fuze + MP3 (purple, 8GB).

SanDisk