Customer Reviews

SanDisk Sansa Clip+ 4 GB MP3 Player (Blue)

5 star:		(1,490)
4 star:		(612)
3 star:		(220)
2 star:		(172)
1 star:		(378)

 

 

I owned the first generation clip, and the new 8gb clip+ retains everything that was great about the first while adding all around refinements.

Pros:
- Overall build quality has improved, but especially with the clip mechanism.
- Files on MicroSD integrate seemlessly with the on board memory.
- The volume and power buttons have more ergonomic placement on the device.
- Sound quality remains great.
- Audiobook files can be sped up slightly to save some "reading" time.
- The interface is a little smoother and nicer to move through.
- The square trackpad makes it easier to navigate without looking at the player. (good for runners)


Cons:
- No cap on the MicroSD slot, so that could potentially get dirty.


If you don't need gimmicks such as touch screens and web browsers, then this player is quite possibly the best on the market for value, size, and quality. The Clip+ is definitely worth the few extra bucks over what the first gen clip is selling for now.


UPDATE: Having used the product for a while the one thing I'm disappointed with is battery life. The meter drains down to 50% at the expected pace, and then goes from 50% to 0 quite fast. I haven't timed it but i'm sure the battery life (using all default settings) is quite less than the advertised 14-15 hours.

If all you are looking for is a great sounding, small, cheap mp3 player with a display and expandability options, then the clip + is your best choice. This is very similar to the old clip with the following major differences:

- two minor button placement changes (improvement)
- UI is a bit smoother (menus scroll now)
- volume normalizing/gain
- micro-SD slot for up to 16 added gigs (which is huge)
- a little thicker, probably due to SD support
- clip is no longer removable (depending on your preference, this is a good or bad thing-guess you could just rip it off and file it down if you wanted to)

As always, it sounds great and blows away the iPod Shuffle in terms of value. So light and small--great for the gym. If you need your mp3 player to play games, surf the internet or serve double purpose as a grocery list, then this isn't for you, but if you're on a budget or just need something that plays music and does so well, this is the one.

So recently, because I love my Sansa Clip so much for exercising, and I thought I could use one more, I picked one of these up at Bestbuy. I have used it for about a week so I can't say anything about the longetivity of the new Clip Plus, but I can tell you about everything else. First I will give you the cons since there is only one and that is also only about preference. I personally LOVED the sleek look of the original sansa clip, but that has been replaced with a sort of glittery finish on the front. That is about it and to add to this, everything else from the outside such as the plastic used has been revamped to feel better in your hands and is just overall better quality. Now on to the most important part, the features. The main thing that sets this apart from the original clip is the addition of a microSD card slot. This can take up to a 32gb microSD card, so if you were to pair one with this, you could potentially get a 36(!)gb memory for this puny little item. That is the next thing I will get into, the size. If you haven't ever heard about the original sansa clip, basically, Sandisk designed this line of Sansa for portability and mainly for exercise. It feels really good in the hand and the non removable clip on the back can clip on to virtually anything. Next is the display. The menu remains much of the same, but Sansa also added slotRadio compatibility and a nicer flow to menu if you're into that. Finally we'll go to the placement of the buttons. On the old sansa clip, there was a button the side for power and hold, but a lot of clip owners including me found that uncomfortable. To cope with this, Sandisk put the power button on the top and put the hold funtion to holding the home button for about 3 seconds. So overall, this is a fantastic MP3 player in any category, but if you are in the market for one for the gym, pass up the Ipod Shuffle for 79$ with no screen and counter-intuitiveness(in my opinion) and get this really nice compact MP3 player for only 50$ for the 4gb, 40$ for the 2gb and 70$ for the 8gb. Thank you and I hope this review helps.

This is my second Sandisk Sansa. I had an 8gb Fuze, which my wife is now using because she wanted the video capability, and I never used it. This 8gb Clip is just awesome. I love the Sandisk line anyway, and this is an upgrade (imo) from the one I was using, which I also love. This thing is tiny, has expandable memory, FM and several features to fine tune your music delivery, as well as some basic EQ features. Downloading music from Windows media player is as simple as it gets, as well as being able to use MAC OS (although for me, not as easy).

All in all, this little player has just enough features to make it easy for everyone, and also enough to keep most experienced users happy as well. While I have not had a chance to really stretch the battery life, my other one lasted waaay longer than I ever needed it to, and I suspect this one will do just as well. The charging cord (also used to download music) is very short (very very short). At first I was wondering how I would like that. I now actually prefer it to longer cords. Much easier to distinguish from all of the others. :)


Update: Well, sadly, the "clip" on my new player has broken. I've only used the actual clip one time, and the little hinge broke (not all the way off, but it can no longer be clipped on). I had no plans to use the clip (I just drop the player in my pocket most of the time), but was a little surprised at this. The battery is great, the player still functions great, but this clip seems a little weak. I'd still recommend the Clip+, but be very careful with clipping it to your clothing. Not sure it can handle it.

12/23/09 Update. I have used this player everyday since owning it. I have never overcharged it, and always use it on the most "power friendly" settings. Sadly, the battery life is far below Sansa standards, and frankly well below the claimed battery life. I should not compare it with my Sansa Fuze 8 gb, but that little player (awesme) will outlast the clip by 4 times over on battery life. I am saddened that I will not be able to use it for my intended purpose (long motorcycle rides), so it will just be my "workout" player. I will use my other player for the motorcycle. Oh well, can't win them all.

The title says is all: Clip +. It is really the first generation of the Clip plus a few well thought out design and firmware changes.

The volume control is now on the opposite side, the side with the usb plug rather than the headphone. With right-angle headphone plugs, you needed to swing the headphone plug out of the way to use the volume control on the old Clip.

The on/off switch is now on the top instead of the left side (where the volume control now is). I often needed to turn off my Clip while under a shirt and not looking at it. I actually turned it off only about half the time because of slide switch. Now there's simply a button on the top. The hold button, which used to be on the on/off switch, is now activated by holding down the menu button. Since I rarely used the hold button I can't say whether this is an improvement.

The clip on the back is a big design change. The clip, for better or worse, is no longer detachable. Personally, I liked being able to detach it if I was using velcro rather the clip to attach to something, like a bag. That being said the new clip is sleeker. Closer to the back of the body and a bit wider. The clip now has a ridge at the end of the clip as opposed to the circle of the old Clip. It seems to hold on just as well.

The square controls (as opposed to the former round controls) doesn't make much of a difference. If you are using the controls by feeling rather than seeing, the square may make it a bit easier to know where you are at on the controls.

Otherwise it is the same size and all. My old Clip silicone case fits it OK, but I will get a new case when they come out.

Inside there are some firmware changes. Included now is a menu item for Slot Player chips (a soon-to-be obsolete format if I've ever seen one). The menus slide rather than jump, giving it a smoother look (I guess). In the old Clip, when you pressed the center button while a track was playing, it went to a visualization, then a listing of the current track playing. Obviously a redundancy. Now, it show info on the next track to play, instead of the current one. Other changes had already been incorporated in firmware updates for the original Clip.

One new function is the replay gain function. Very useful if you shuffle songs. This allows music to play back at about the same volume without you, the listener, having to actually change the volume. It works by adding a bit of instruction to each music file with information about how loud or soft the track is and then the volume of the player adjusts accordingly. Whether your tracks have replay gain information on them depends on how you got them. Many media players, like Media Monkey, can read the tracks and add this information.

One further note on the replay gain function. It should be set to song if you are on shuffle. Also the pregain is set a bit low. If you find yourself fiddling with the volume, increase the replay gain setting to 6 or 9.

The manual says it has gapless play. I believe you need to rip your tracks as gapless for this to work. Many standard mp3 converters don't do this, but maybe it is more prevalent for AAC (iTunes).

The best for last: a micro card slot. This allows you to add capacity to the player (currently the limit is 16gb with larger cards on the horizon), well above the 4gb that it comes with. If you have gone lossless (I use FLAC) then you know that extra file space is a big plus. With only FLAC files, the 4gb player holds about nine hours of music (probably five times more with normal MP3 files). This is fine by me but if I'm going on a trip then having the expansion capacity will be a big plus.

Sound quality wise, it sounds about the same to me, compared with the old Clip. Which means it sounds great, amped or not. Some have noted a fuller, warmer, louder sound, but my old ears can't pick that out.

Why people don't use these by the droves at the gym is beyond me. I still see very few of these players down at the Y, while I see all manner of big iPods. This little machine is perfect for the gym or any on-the-go activity.

August 2011 update: Nearly two years later and this player is still my favorite. The one I recommend to everyone (great Mother's Day present as long you include upgraded ear buds, such as the Yuins). Durability isn't an issue at all. If you want to up your listening experience pair it with the DigiZoid portable sub-woofer (yes, that's not a typo).

This player is great for all the general reasons you can probably see- it is small, has cheap additional storage via micro SD cards, etc, but one thing I love about it is the bookmarking for podcasts and audiobooks. You can resume where you left off on a track, so you are free to bounce around. All the other MP3 players I have had were terrible for books and podcasts because if i wanted to change to another track (or accidentally bumped the forward or back buttons) I would lose my place and have to scan forever to get back where I was. I felt like a prisoner to a track because I knew if I stopped listening 45 minutes into a book, I would never come back to it.

The only two cons I have on this player are the battery life and the sleep/wake options. This is mainly compared to my Walkman, so it may not be bad for most players of its size.

In terms of battery, my Walkman never really seemed to need to be recharged. I guess the occasional plug-in for transferring music was enough to keep it going. The Clip+ seems to always be almost dead and has gone dead on me a couple of times in workouts because the indicator isn't that good (goes from half to empty). That said, it's a rechargeable battery so it's no big deal, you just have to remember to charge it a bit more.

Regarding sleep/wake- the Walkman would go into sleep mode within seconds of stopping a track and i could leave it for days and when I came back and pressed play, it would start instantly- no logon, no hello, just the track playing right where i left off. The Clip does not turn off when you stop playing. There are options to set it to turn off or sleep automatically after a given duration, but when i have that on, it will sleep or turn off even if music is playing sometimes. If I am missing something, let me know, but that seems ridiculous. So I have to manually turn it off when I am done and when I turn it back on, it takes about 3 to 5 seconds to get back up and running.

These negatives are pretty minor and are well worth the advantages of the resume features in playback. It's a great little player.

I've been very pleased with this small wonder, it is about 1/2 the size of your average portable mp3/video player with an LCD screen, but the OLED screen on the Clip+ is still very readable and easily navigable. I've paired my player with a 16GB MicroSDHC card, giving me enough room for my entire mp3 collection in a player the size of a matchbook.

The player itself is very lightweight, but feels very firm gripped in your hand, and the buttons have a very solid feel when pressed. The clip is non-removable, but probably not a breakage concern like the previous Clip.

Some technical observations:

The Clip+ plays back OGG Vorbis tracks completely gapless. It does not play back mp3 files encoded with LAME gapless (but the gap is extremely small).

The off-pitch playback issues of the original Clip (songs used to play at the wrong speed) are fixed in the Clip+.

Battery life is around the advertised 15 hours. It's not amazing (it trades battery life to have the screen and the slot), but it does last a week of casual listening.

Sound quality is outstanding, better than I ever expected from such an inexpensive player.

FLICKER WARNING: the OLED screen is crisp, but due to how the technology works, the screen must be refreshed like a CRT. Thus, if the refresh rate is too slow, flicker is visible (to those who are sensitive). The refresh rate of the Clip+ screen is very low, and people sensitive to it (including myself) can see flicker.

I got one of these as a backup player to use for running. Its great - small, lightweight and you can clip it onto a pocket, shirt sleeve or collar and it will hold firmly without falling off. Only had it a week week and its already taken the place of the Cowon D2 I bought a couple of years ago.

If you're looking for a small form factor, well made and cheap flash player without any frills, you'll find it in the Clip+.

These days, the only real benefit to buying a bigger player is so that you can play video on the fly and indeed the design of a lot of new MP3 players seems to be moving in the direction of Portable Media and Games. But if you're after an old-school, no frills MP3 player that sounds great - this is the one for you.

This is easy to use, the interface is simple (crucial if you're using it for running) and it requires no proprietary software (like iTunes) - just a simple drag and drop, and you have an Micro SD card slot to expand the memory (another $40 or $50 will get you a 16 gb micro-sd). All in all a lot better value for money than the screenless iPod shuffle.

If you are in the market for a budget MP3 player, there's really no reason not to buy one of these.

The only downer is the battery life - at 15 hours its decent, but the battery is non-removable (though the cost of the player is so little that by the time it wears out you'll have got your $50 worth), and I'm not sure how the use of the SD card slot will impact that. On my D2 with its rated 52 hours of battery life - playing music or video from the memory card slot seems to reduce the battery life by up to 50%. Something to bear in mind.

This is the perfect mp3 player. The fact that you can expand the memory to 18+ GB with an inexpensive microSD card??? holy cow. I used my wife's iPod shuffle before this, and there is no comparision, really. Except that this is 20-30% cheaper, and 1000% better. This has a built in customizable equalizer, something which the ipod did not. It has a screen similar to many expensive ipods that help you navigate the simple menus, although it does not play video ( I don't watch video when I work out, run, or mow the lawn). Battery life is great, and this isn't much larger than the shuffle. Clips on in the same fashion, weighs just as much, and the sound quality is phenomenal. It is a USB plug and play, so you can just drop and drag files to it. SOOOOO easy. No proprietary garbage software to use, like i-tunes. There is an option to sync playlists and things with Windows Media Player, but I haven't, and won't care to try. I just load all my favorite songs and randomly play the music. And now with Windows 7..hehe...Mac will dwindle back to fan-boy status and they'll have to start making cheaper, less proprietary hardware and software, or they will never survive. I'm Robert, and I'm a PC :)

I am very impressed with this device. I needed something small and light so that I could use it while running or biking, and I couldn't ask for a better product.
Before coming across this, I had purchased the new iPod shuffle, which looks cool and is incredible small, but that is where the pros end for that device. I immediately returned the shuffle when I realized I couldn't use my Shure 530's with them (wtf?).
Then I found out about this awesome player. It obviously fits my need for a small, light player, and the fact that it clips easily and securely to a shirt is great. Now, in order for it to earn a five star rating, it needed to do a lot more than just clip to my shirt, and it far exceeded my expectations:
- Sound Quality: I am amazed at how much better this sounds than my iPod classic. The bass reproduction is the most noticeable difference. Hip Hop and electronic music was always lacking in the bass presence with my old iPod, even when paired with some great headphones. There is no issue with this device. The bass does not sound over bloated or artificial in any way, just clear, bold bass as it sounds out of a home theatre or car. Sound Quality is absolutely top notch. Be sure to rip your music using high quality settings, because the difference is definitely noticeable between highly compressed files and larger ones. Lossless files sound amazing.
- Durablility: Can't speak on this yet. I've only had it for a week. But it seems pretty well built. The only issue is the lack of covering for the micro SD slot. This seems to be the weakpoint and I expect problems with reading micro SD cards before the player itself has any problems
- Battery Life: No complaints here. I took it with me out of town last weekend and still haven't had to charge it. It's got about 50% charge after many hours of listening. This will definitely suffice for me.
- Ease of use: Nothing major enough here to cause me to rate it less than 5. It's not as easy to navigate as an ipod, but the value and other considerations make this easy to overlook.

Overall: I really love this product. At only $70, it is a low risk buy that will definitely prove its value in spades. With 32 gb cards on the horizon (c'mon san disk! Hurry up with em!), you can potentially have a 40 gig player the size of a box of matches. This thing is cool.