Digital Trends

SanDisk Sansa Connect (4GB) June 11th, 2007 | by Jason Tomczak

Features and Design

The Sansa Connect is a typical looking MP3 player - tough but aesthetic plastic housing, small but sufficient color LCD screen, easily accessible volume & interface controls - but it is specifically optimized for using two of the most prominent Yahoo! services for content - Yahoo! Music and Flickr. Given the Yahoo! optimization (or perhaps dedication), the Sansa Connect includes new WiFi connectivity not seen in other mainstream MP3 players. Users can actively preview and download songs from Yahoo! Music wherever they may be; they can listen to Internet radio stations; they can browse countless photos from Flickr.com. If users have their own MP3/WMA libraries and prefer not to sign up with Yahoo! Music, the Sansa Connect can still be used for playing sync'd music.

In the Box:

- Sansa Connect MP3 player
- AC charger/adaptor
- USB 2.0 transfer cable
- Earphones
- Protective case
- Lanyard
- Quick Start Guide
- Installation CD with User Guide 

Physical Dimensions and Feel

The Sansa Connect measures approximately 3.58"x2.05"x0.63", making it a fairly compact device. It weighs in at a surprisingly light 2.8oz. The tight dimensions and lightweight body allow the Sansa Connect to fit very well in the hand. It also fits well in a pocket. If you decide to use the included lanyard, it won't put any noticeable weight on your neck. 

Color Display

The Sansa Connect has a very pretty 2.2" color display. The screen brightness is very impressive and the colors are nothing less than vivid. Unfortunately, the screen can appear oversaturated at times, especially when viewing photos from the microSD card or by way of the wireless connection to Yahoo!'s Flickr photo service.

Screen brightness can be increased or decreased by use of a very accurate slider in the Settings menu. The Sansa Connect's screen is bright enough for use indoors and out, even when set in the more battery-friendly middle ranges. The screen also has a variable backlight timer that dims the screen to preserve the battery.

Despite the fact that most modern MP3 players with color LCDs sport some sort of video playback feature, the Sansa Connect does not play video files. 

Built-in Speaker

SanDisk designed the Sansa Connect with a built-in speaker, so users can preview music without the use of headphones. Don't expect this built-in speaker to be anything extraordinary. It's about as good as a cellphone's speaker, which is fine for temporary non-audiophile use. 

Controls

The main menu control wheel is very reminiscent of the iPod scroll wheel. It performs most of the necessary functions - menu navigation, song selection, forward/reverse, etc. Breaking from the iPod-like controls, the Sansa Connect has its volume up/down buttons on its left side. Just above the scroll wheel are two buttons that perform varying functions such as optional menus for modifying network settings, rating & suggesting songs, etc. The power on/off button is located at the top of the device, right next to the lock button. On the bottom edge of the device are the headphone jack and the proprietary USB connector slot (which looks almost identical to the iPod dock connector slot).

The on-screen user interface is lively and colorful. Quite unlike the complex menu hierarchy of the TrekStor Vibez MP3 player, the Sansa Connect has very intuitive menus that take almost no effort or mental energy to fully understand.

One downside to the way the Sansa Connect operates is the somewhat sloppy feel of the scrolling vs. navigation action. The scroll wheel itself has a nice rubberized finish which makes it easy to rotate with a finger, thumb or any other pointing implement. Additionally, the scroll wheel has a 12-point tactile click response, which means that as you scroll the wheel in either direction, you can feel a little click or bump every 30 degrees - twelve in all for a 360 degree full rotation. When navigating menus, it is instinctual to pay attention to the tactile response of the clicking scroll wheel. Unfortunately, the software does not synchronize its movement based on the tactile rotation points, making it all too easy to over- or under-scroll through the menus. This sloppiness makes for a potentially frustrating exercise of navigating an otherwise pleasant and enticing interface. 

Memory Expansion

Because the Sansa Connect has a microSD card expansion slot, you can be pretty safe in assuming that the 4GB MP3 player won't be outdated and considered low-storage in a few months. microSD cards can be used for storing more music and for displaying digital photographs. While the Sansa Connect maxes out with 2GB microSD cards right now, it's very likely that SanDisk will make firmware updates allowing for higher capacity cards.

The microSD Card Slot is Located on the Right Side

What Does it Play?

According to SanDisk, the Sansa Connect will work with a wide range of protected and non-protected digital audio formats, such as MP3 and WMA. It'll play any of the countless songs available on the Yahoo! Music store, and it'll also play your home-ripped collection of MP3s and WMA files.

Image Courtesy of SanDisk