How's The Battery Life?

Hi, There,

I’m thinking of buying an 8GB Fuze- upgrading from the Clip…rather than buying the soon-to-be-available 8GB Clip because the Fuze’s batery life between charges is supposed to be a good deal longer. Just wondering what kind of play time youse are getting with your Fuzes? I only get about 10 hours out of my Clip- which is 33% less time than advertised (playing 64 & 128 mp3’s only)- so I’m wondering if the Fuze’s battery life of approximately 24 hours has been over-rated also?

Please tell me of your experiences. Thanks!

Well I charge my Sansa every night and use it like the following each day:

  1. Power up to check time

  2. Power down

  3. Power up and listens to songs

  4. Power down

  5. Power up to show friends how cool it looks when you turn it off

  6. Same thing repeated

*10:30 AM*

  1. Power down

  2. Power up to show friends in history class

  3. Does same thing in English

  4. Repeats in Math

  5. Repeats in Science

  6. Listens to on bus

*2:55 PM*

And battery is 68-72% each day. 

The stated battery life is like the mileage rating for a car. It tests the best case conditions. Real world use will be less. For an mp3 player, it probably means using 128 kbps mp3, the backlight on its lowest setting, and having the player just play continuously until it stops without pressing any buttons. Many probably get around 12 hours battery life from the Clip in real world use. I guess one should expect around 20 hours battery life from a Fuze in real world usage if you use mp3 files, a low setting for the backlight and display time, and not pressing the buttons very often.  WMA files take more processor power to decode, so the battery life is lower. Having high bitrate files will also decrease battery life. Those who hunt for each song rather than letting albums or playlists play through will get shorter battery life. I haven’t timed the battery life of my Fuze. It does seem to be longer now that I have set the backlight to its lowest level, and have the display time set low.

I just got mine a few weeks a ago and the first thing I did when I got it (after charging and loading my tunes) was set the backlight to the lowest setting. I listen to it everyday (around an hour maybe, dependin on the day) And I can go two weeks before it needs a charge and I do search for songs almost every other song, and I do watch music videos on it. Infact, I was so impressed with it, I splurged and set the backlight brighter =P

Still gets crazy mileage before it shuts donw unlike my dreaded express (worst mp3 player EVER!)

Yep I go along with what JK98 said about battery life… It’s hard for me to say…  I use my Fuze every day…  from 2 to 8 hours a day sometimes more sometimes a little less…  I also have my back light set to the minimum setting.With it timing out of the display in 30 secs. I will shorten this as I see fit but I like to have a little time to admire the display.  I play hole CD’s at descent volume levels but not loud levels most of the time… Songs are mostly in 128 mp3’s with a few 192 bit rate and some 256 also…  I use a lot of FM as my tuner works well and picks up a ton of stations. I feel with the ear buds I have Sony MDR-EX55LP and the quality of the Fuse it rivals my home audio… Denon, vintage Infinity Rs b’s with Emits, also have Klipsch and some Advents… All descent stuff… Not the most sensitive earbuds but great bass good sounding kick drum and smooth well detailed highs as well. Freq 6-23000Hz, Sens 100db/mw… I believe the head set *earbuds used* and volume level played all has a lot to do with battery life…  Anyway back to battery life…  I’m not sure but I know it has more then a 4 level battery display icon. I’m thinking 6 or 8 levels…  I charge mine once or twice a week most of the time… I have only reached the last segment of a little splash of red in the battery display once and I still had power to the unit… Sorry this is the best i can do…Hope it’s all useful info!  George

I read a review somehwere and they said the battery lasted 20-21 hours.  Not sure if they just played music or what they did (I don’t think they said).  I haven’t had a chance to let it get low, I either am loading something on it or the card or have it in the docking station watching movies.

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far!!

I’m getting the idea that the battery in the Fuze is pretty robust- since no one is complaining, and I haven’t seen any threads on the subject- unlike the Clip (the older builds, anyway…) where everyone was complaining, and there are known issues.

Sounds like the Fuze may indeed be the way to go.

And I agree with you, George-W -the sound quality on these things is amazing, rivaling the best stereos (I know from my Clip- which has the same chipset/etc. as the Fuze)- in fact, my home stereo recently took a dump- and since about all I listen to these days are mp3 CDs, I’m not going to get another stereo- I’m just going to get a set of powered 2.0 or 2.1 speakers for the mp3 player.

Speaking of which: Anyone here play their Fuze/Clip through Creative T40’s?

Cllipman,

This is what I use to power and dock my Fuze!  There close out pricing won’t last long!  Also they shipped FREE!!!  if your even thinking of the Fuze get this now!  You will also need  USB wall adaptor to power it… it’s will give you a higher line level out then your head phone jack!! George

http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/docksansa