This player doesn’t excite me. It doesn’t have a full sized SDXC card slot, doesn’t have HD radio, and has no improvement in battery life over the original Fuze. What it does have is a slightly larger screen, and touchpad controls. I prefer tactile buttons. I prefer the original Fuze to this one, as I like to start or stop play while the player is in a shirt pocket… I hope the original Fuze will not be discontinued. What do you think?
This player doesn’t excite me. It doesn’t have a full sized SDXC card slot, doesn’t have HD radio, and has no improvement in battery life over the original Fuze. What it does have is a slightly larger screen that is a touchscreen. I prefer tactile buttons. I prefer the original Fuze to this one, unless the Fuze+ will be priced less(which I doubt will be the case, as an 8 GB Fuze can be bought for only around $70 now). I hope the original Fuze will not be discontinued. What do you think?
I think you are the only one here that cares about HD radio. If they’re going to have a 16GB option, and AAC support, that will make a lot of people happy though.
16 GB would be okay for many people if a player has a full sized SDXC card slot. With just a micro SDHC card slot, that means maximum memory of 48 GB, and that is with a relatively expensive 32 GB micro SDHC card. I would not be that thrilled about just FM HD radio, but having both AM and FM HD radio would be nice.
Perhaps Sandisk will come out with more players, with one having a full sized SDXC card slot, and longer battery life. Such a player available with 16, 32, or 64 GB built in, would be cool. There are those who want to replace a hard drive based player, and want 96, 128 GB or even more storage.
I guess the Fuze+ has its niche though, and video on it is probably much better than on the Fuze. The prices on the Fuze+ are lower than I expected them to be…
I was hoping for something a little more myself, but I guess Sandisk is holding to the budget market for the long haul. It certainly seems to address the stale UI and will have an improved album art display, something simple I was really hoping for. All in all, this player should be a nice upgrade. I am, however, confused about the stagnant battery life. Seriously, they couldn’t upgrade the battery life? Sony is releasing a new budget Walkman with a claimed 50 hours of battery life (more likely much less than that in real life), what kind of a powerhorse is this upgraded Fuze supposed to be that it is only capable of half of that.
My guess is that Sandisk is using a tiny battery in the player. The battery in the Fuze is just 550 mah. Why are they using a micro usb connector? While micro usb is better than proprietary, mini usb is much more convenient.
I wonder if the design team of these players actually use them? If so, why design players with such skimpy battery life just to save a few mm of thickness?
Imo mid sized players the size of the Fuze should have at least 50 hours of battery life, While smaller players around the size of the Clip+ should have 25+ hours of battery life.
IMO, the current Fuze, popular or not, has the best user interface I’ve ever seen (including and especially considering the mechanical scroll wheel) for just playing music. I mean, there are a few little things that bug me, but I own a Touch and I never use it for music—it’s just not a pleasant, tactile, quick experience like the Fuze is.
I’m wary of this all-touch stuff. Particularly because Apple does have a lot of chops in the UI department, and I firmly expect others to get it wrong.
"IMO, the current Fuze, popular or not, has the best user interface I’ve ever seen "
The Fuze+ takes away the thing I like about the Fuze, which is the scroll wheel. The Fuze does have its shortcomings, short battery life(rated at 24 hours vs up to 60 hours for competing products) , and a proprietary connector. The Fuze+ has a micro usb connector, but no improvement in battery life. Those interested in video will like the improved video on the Fuze+, however I see no point in watching video on such a small screen.
i hope Sandisk comes out with a new player with tactile buttons and a scroll wheel, perhaps midway in size between the Clip+ and Fuze+.
Amazing finally to see aac support–now will this attract the Apple user market more? A wise move, it seems to me, and that should have been adopted years ago. Good show, SanDisk!
As a Clip user, I wonder if aac support will be coming to the Clips as well (and a 16GB internal capacity, at that).
Where is it actually called a “Fuze+”, though (other than by the bloggers reporting on the leak)? The form factor doesn’t look very Fuze-ish to me.
I think this may be the “Sansa Tap” that SanDisk trademarked a couple years ago.
That is an excellent point! If those controls are anything like the ones on my old Samsung Q2 were, then tapping would be something you did fairly often in operating it.
Does it really matter if they call it the Fuze+ or the Tap? It won’t change what it is.
Let’s see if they will release a View+ that is truly a high capacity player, with perhaps 32 GB, or 64 GB built in, and a full sized SDXC card slot. Let’s see if Sandisk really surprises us sometime and comes out with a player that has 2 or 4 card slots. Photographers would love a player with 2 full sized card slots if it would allow copying images from one card to another. I guess a player with just one card slot could do this if it could copy images from a card to a large main memory then to another card. Being able to back up favorite images from a few different cards onto one card without using a pc would be nice.
Does it really matter if they call it the Fuze+ or the Tap? It won’t change what it is.
Let’s see if they will release a View+ that is truly a high capacity player, with perhaps 32 GB, or 64 GB built in, and a full sized SDXC card slot. Let’s see if Sandisk really surprises us sometime and comes out with a player that has 2 or 4 card slots. Photographers would love a player with 2 full sized card slots if it would allow copying images from one card to another. I guess a player with just one card slot could do this if it could copy images from a card to a large main memory then to another card. Being able to back up favorite images from a few different cards onto one card without using a pc would be nice.
No, of course it doesn’t really matter. It just seems… unimaginative, I guess.
“No, of course it doesn’t really matter. It just seems… unimaginative, I guess”
I want the player to be imaginative. I don’t care that much about the name, athough it might be weird having an mp3 player named Susan.
I guess I shouldn’t be that negative about this until I read some user reviews of this and how well the touch interface works, although most touch interfaces aren’t that conducive for use when one is active, such as while walking or running. I guess those who are into video might like this especially if the price is low and it plays video well. I would like a player with a decent sized low powr monochrome screen that is on all the time while the player is on(perhaps e-ink?), as I have no desire for videos or photos on my player.
Imo Sandisk should have left the Fuze successor with tactile buttons, and also have a View+ with a 3.3" or larger touchscreen and a full sized SDXC card slot. Let’s see if there will be a View+.
