SanDisk Sansa Fuze Review

SanDisk have already released two MP3 players - the Clip and the View, but their latest MP3 player, the Fuze, is the first of the range that I've had a look at. (Note: this is a review model sent by SanDisk)

I currently listen to music using my iPod (5.5G), iPod Nano (3G) and my Nokia phones and have done for the past 2 or 3 years so it was going to be interesting experiencing another MP3 player.

The Fuze comes in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB flavours as well as in a variety of colours (which differ based on the size of player). I've got the 2GB version which can hold up to 6 hours of video, 500 songs or 1000 6MP photos. The battery lasts for up to 24 hours for music and 5 hours for video on a single charge. This is the same for all three versions.

The device is sleek looking and rather than havig a metal back to it like iPods, it has a matte back. This attracts marks such as liquid marks but it's easily cleaned.

To control the Fuze there is a scroll wheel similar to the iPod except the wheel is manual wheel like the 1G iPod. I actually think I prefer this to the touch wheel on the iPod. Next to the wheel is a Home button that acts as a toggle between whatever screen you happen to be on and the main menu. This allows quick access to the main menu.

The screen is 1.9 inches which is relatively small but displays photos and videos well and I could easily watch a TV show or movie on it.

The best feature of the Fuze is the MicroSD expansion slot that allows you to expand the storage of the device. At the moment you can expand it by 12GB but that will eventually increase to 32GB. For me, this feature is one that could sway me towards buying one as it means I can switch memory cards between devices.

The photo viewer facility works like other photo viewers but I did have difficulty displaying large photos copied directly to the device and the SanDisk Media Converter was initially problematic when converting photos to be displayed on the device. The first files copied were not viewable, but were on the second conversion and a couple of files had the names mixed up. Also, even though JPEGs are supported, the SanDisk software converts them to Bitmaps.

To transfer files you can either use Windows Explorer, WMP or the SandDisk Media Converter. The converter is handy for converting unsupported files such as 3GP or DivX but strangely they didn't include the software in the box. A CD was included with a PDF of the software manual but that was it. Seems a bit of a waste of a CD when they also ship a paper version of the manual. It would have been better to include the software on the CD rather than having to download an 82MB file from the SanDisk support website.

Other features of the Fuze include an FM Radio (with recording facility), voice recorder, podcast support and audiobook support.

Here's a rundown of the pros and cons of the Fuze.

Pros

• Sleek
• Good audio quality even with the supplied headphones
• FM Radio (the recording feature is a nice touch)
• MicroSD support
• Good battery life
• Competitively priced at £55 for the 2GB version

Cons

• SanDisk Media Converter software not supplied in the box
• Converter software was a bit hit and miss converting videos and photos
• Interface is not the best looking. However, one feature I did like was the ability to delete files on the device is a nice touch

Overall

Overall the Fuze works well, sounds well and has some nice features such as the ability to expand the memory of the device. There are some minor points that let down the device but the price makes up for it. Amazon are selling the 2GB version for £55 which is just £10 more than a 2GB iPod Shuffle.