fuze vs fuze+ vs clip or clip+

If you had it to do over again, which would you buy?  I have the Fuze and the Fuze plus and am frustrated with the Fuze plus.  My Fuze seems to be near its last legs so i want to be ready with a replacement which is why I bought the plus.  So I guess I’m buying another Fuze.  Just wondering which everyone preferred (even tho it’s too late to change my order).

Thanks

@friarpark wrote:

If you had it to do over again, which would you buy?  I have the Fuze and the Fuze plus and am frustrated with the Fuze plus.  My Fuze seems to be near its last legs so i want to be ready with a replacement which is why I bought the plus.  So I guess I’m buying another Fuze.  Just wondering which everyone preferred (even tho it’s too late to change my order).

 

Thanks

 

For me, Clip+ is the best, followed by the Fuze. Even though the Clips are old, I’d still prefer one of them to a Fuze+, because I’m not fond of those touch controls on the Fuze+ (not to mention, no Rockbox) :wink:

I will probably give my fuze+ to my kid.  I am curious what other people think.  Should have done this before I bought the plus.

Thanks!

I was disappointed in the Clip+, which has less amp power than the Fuze and, even though I am apparently in the minority, an inferior sound–boosted midrange (pushing vocals way upfront) and less bass or treble, making the music sound more cramped.

Get another Fuze. I have a refurb that’s just fine If you do get a  refurb, check out your seller first, and test it as soon as you get it to find any problems.

I’ve had 3 Fuzes, 2 Clips and 2 Clip+'s; and now a Fuze+.  BY FAR, the best of the lot is the Fuze+.  Now that I have the Fuze+, most of the time my other Sansa players go unused.  The controls work flawlessly, it sounds great and fits great in my hands.  And it does all that out of the box.  Clips (and +'s) and Fuzes can be made to be OK players with the addition of Rockbox, but even then, they are less than my favorite players.

@whatchamacallit wrote:

I was disappointed in the Clip+, which has less amp power than the Fuze and, even though I am apparently in the minority, an inferior sound–boosted midrange (pushing vocals way upfront) and less bass or treble, making the music sound more cramped.

 

Get another Fuze. I have a refurb that’s just fine If you do get a  refurb, check out your seller first, and test it as soon as you get it to find any problems.

They have the same amount of power, and they sound the same. I’ve got both.

@fuze_owner-GB

The problem I’m having with the Fuze+ IS the controls.  I can’t get to what I want when I want .  The regular Fuze is so much easier to use.  

Have you updated the firmware? The controls may have been improved since the Fuze+ was released.

As far as Clip vs. Clip+, the Clip+ is much better.  I have both and three things that stand out on the Clip+, 1) the clip itself is quite robust (on the old one, you thought it would break anytime you touch it, which I did eventually), 2) the build quality is much better, and 3) having the micro SD slot is great on the +.  I also prefer the UI on the +, it seems to be more intuitive.

I also have the Fuse and am perfectly happy with it.  I wished it had the same UI as the Clip+, but it’s not bad at all.  The other thing I dont like about it is the proprietary connector to charge it (I think this was fixed on the Fuse+)… 

No experience with the Fuse+ but from the reviews and comments so far, I think I’ll stick to my Fuse for the time being.

@jas32 wrote:

 three things that stand out on the Clip+, 1) the clip itself is quite robust (on the old one, you thought it would break anytime you touch it, which I did eventually), 2) the build quality is much better, and 3) having the micro SD slot is great on the +.

  1. Folder access on the Clip+, not on the Clip. 

I’m still dubious that the Clip+ has less failures, so your #2 would be mostly about the clip itself and perceived build quality, and wouldn’t be accounting for failure rates.

@friarpark wrote:

@fuze_owner-GB

 

The problem I’m having with the Fuze+ IS the controls.  I can’t get to what I want when I want .  The regular Fuze is so much easier to use.  

Can’t help you there.  The controls, as I stated before, work perfectly for me.  The Fuze may be easier for you , but the Fuze+ is easier for me.  I guess that’s why there are different manufacturers and models to choose from; no one player is right for everyone.

Ahh yes, folder access, very good point.

I am referring to the clip itself (the device used to clip/attached to your shirt) was poorly designed on the Cilp, which of course was changed dramatically on the Clip+).  In no time the clip was cracked which I had to eventually replace.  Good thing I was able to get a replacement part for it (plus a spare).

I don’t have a feel for which one is more prone to failures as I’ve never experienced any on all the Sansa products I’ve owned from e140, m260, 4GB Clip, 8GB Clip+, 4GB Fuse and 8GB Fuse (knock on wood).

@whatchamacallit wrote:

I was disappointed in the Clip+, which has less amp power than the Fuze and, even though I am apparently in the minority, an inferior sound–boosted midrange (pushing vocals way upfront) and less bass or treble, making the music sound more cramped.

 

They have the same amount of power, and they sound the same. I’ve got both.

=============

 

When I have mentioned my disappointment with the Clip+ elsewhere I was told it puts out less headphone power. A quick search finds no specs whatever, but if they are the same, so be it. Volume is not the problem anyway, at least with the headphones I used.

 

However, the sound signature is different. I did some blind tests (with the help of a friend) and could tell the Fuze from the Clip+ every time.  Some people like the midrange bump–Bose seems to buid it into everything. (“No highs, no lows–must be a Bose…”). But I think the Fuze sounds far more balanced and flat across the spectrum. 

I feel compelled to chime in after seeing GB’s emphatic reply.  The Fuze+ does indeed score points in terms of sound quality.  I love the little guy.  I have felt the goosebumps on several familiar recordings, picking up detail I had not heard in quite some time.

The touchpad interface will need a little tweaking, rest assured, but it is nice indeed, once you get used to it.  Believe me, I couldn’t even begin to count the hours I have spent with the current Fuze / e200 / Clip control interfaces, and the Fuze+ is very new.  Things are located differently, requiring successive “back” taps to locate my target command or file.

It’s been fun figuring it out, especially the inversion between left / right with sweeps versus taps, but it works very well.

Listening to the Fuze+ has been the most fun, it’s a breath of fresh air.

 

Bob  :smileyvery-happy:

Hi There,

I am in the same boat as you are and I am curious what others are going to say too.

I have had a Sansa E260, A Sansa View and want to stay with Sandisk since I am used to the way they work. I just got back from bestbuy and I am not sure I like the feel of the Fuze+. I am seriously considering a Fuze (hopefully V2) as a replacement for my View. There are a couple of vendors on eBay and Tigerdirect that have some good deals on a refurbished model I think I might give a go.

I wish I did some research here before buying my View but no real complaints as it did what I wanted and that is play just music.

@whatchamacallit wrote:

 

When I have mentioned my disappointment with the Clip+ elsewhere I was told it puts out less headphone power.

 

 

 

 

It doesn’t, its exactly the same hardware inside.  Open up your fuze and clip+.  Its not just similar, its literally identical.

  Whatever blind test you conducted was apparently flawed (my guess would be improper volume leveling given your description).

I agree that the fuse+ is way harder to use and just not as user friendly. I don’t think it is as durable either. I bought a clip to replace my fuse+ which didn’t even last a year. I have only had the clip for a month or so but it seems to work well for me. I mostly do audio books and record note to myself for later.

I just got a Fuse+ and I am not loving it. My regular old 8G Fuze is slightly damaged so wanted to be prepared in case it dies.

The plus has a very cheap insubstantial feel to it.

The main complaint is the p-poor controls! Man, Sanza made a giant step backward in ergonomics.

Maybe I can get used to it but it hardly seems worth the effort to figure it out.

I am prepared to buy your Fuze (not Fuze Plus) even broken.

I bought maybe a dozen and used them as presents, left 2 for myself. One of them lost battery. I replaced it,but could not plug back the wheel flex cable and after too many attempts damaged the cable. I need a replacement wheel assembly (with intact flex cable). Sandisk sells no spare parts and does not offer any repair service. Moreover they regard battery replacement as violation of warranty and claim it is not supposed to be done.

I looooved my fuze, and lost it. 

Since then have bought 2 fuze+ units and found the interface unbelievably sluggish – I had to hammer, and they jumped about so much they were useless.  Couldn’t find anything, or, if I did, it skipped away before I could play it.  So I bought 2 used fuze’s, only to find they are tired . . .  One has started to cut in and out randomly, the other has a wiggy control wheel that rivals the fuze+ for unusability.

I looked into battery changing . . . practically guaranteed to lead to permanent disability for any unit I try it on.

So anyone who wants any of these units, I sure don’t.

What I do want is an MP3 player with a solid interface and a screen I can read without my glasses.  This seems to be impossible.  I don’t want an i-anything, and I don’t want a phone/tablet/butler, just an MP3 player I can rely on and read. 

Given my sad experience with many Sansa units I’m afraid to invest in another.  Advice welcome.