SanDisk Sansa Fuze (4GB, blue)
Starting at: $58.95
CNET Editors' Review
CNET Editors' Rating
- Reviewed by: Jasmine France
- Released on:
- Reviewed on:
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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 ... Expand full review
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.
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Compare selectedSince 2003, Jasmine France has worked at CNET covering everything from scanners to keyboards to GPS devices to MP3 players. She currently cohosts the Crave podcast and spends the majority of her time testing headphones, music software, and mobile apps.
User Reviews
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Most recent user reviews
Showing 3 of 9 reviews
"I have had 2 of these, great only short term...." By Ceci25
Pros: I LOVE love love the simplicity. The menu is easy, it doesn't take long to charge, it's pretty sturdy (I tend to drop things often) and the wheel worked great.
Cons: The MP3 was lovely for about 4-6 months, then it started failing. I would get a fuzzy or white screen, the volume would rise by itself (REALLY! I had it on mute and it still was too loud for me). The menu and wheel buttons started malfunctioning...
Summary: All in all, I would not get this again. Not the best quality at all. Great as a gift for the kids as a first MP3, but not as a long use user as myself would ever buy again. I don't recommmend it. It's a bummer too, considering ... Expand full review
"Great at first, but sucks after about 120 days" By usmctanker242
Pros: Easy to use, good sound quality, video's were nice and crisp. Good price too (bought x-mas 2008 for $100 from Best Buy)
Cons: Quality is a bit lacking. I've had 3 so far, 2 worked good for about 3-4 months and then broke down, one the wheel stopped turning, the other the battery is 100% dead. The other one was a refurbished piece of **** replacement that never worked.
Summary: Bought my first Sansa 4GB Blue a while back, worked great for a few months, then the wheel completely locked up, wouldn't spin at all. Contacted Sansa. I sent it back (at their expense) they sent me what they said was a new one. When I got it, it ... Expand full review
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Specifications
See full specsQuick Specs
- Digital Storage / Capacity: 4 GB
- Flash memory installed: 4 GB
- Digital player supported digital audio standards: Audible WAV WMA Ogg Vorbis FLAC MP3
