SanDisk Clip Sport
What is the SanDisk Clip Sport, and how does it work?
The SanDisk Clip Sport MP3 player has an integrated belt clip. This makes it a handy tool for runners and gym lovers. It is also tiny and lightweight. Although it’s not significantly different from the SanDisk Sansa Clip, it has a doubled battery life, which makes it a more powerful player.
SanDisk Clip Sports – Design and Features
The main goals of the SanDisk Clip Sport are convenience and portability. It is much smaller than the iPad nano and has almost no gimmicks.
No touchscreen operation, weak internal speaker, Bluetooth, or NFC are available. This could be a side effect of making music players stand out. It is a more affordable and reliable alternative to Apple’s music players. That’s it.
SanDisk Clip Sports is an all-plastic player with six clicky buttons on the front and a volume rocker on the side. Although it feels well-made, it is better than the simpler, more metal iPod Shuffle.
Although it was slightly slimmer than our Zip Clip review two years ago, they are very similar. The back has a large belt clip, and the exposed microSD slot is on the right. The screen is not likely to be damaged by flexing. However, it’s easy to see through the plastic cover.
SanDisk describes the Clip Sport MP3 player for active people, but only two key features exist. The belt clip is the obvious one. The second is an essential pair of Sports “apps.” The timer and stopwatch are included. These are also included in the Clip Zip, confirming that the player was only marketed as a “sport” gadget. It’s the same as other Clip players.
Bluetooth would have made the player more convincing (headphone cables can interfere with running), but it would have increased the price. The 8GB model costs PS49.99, and the 4GB version is PS35.
The SanDisk Clip Sport’s design makes it very convenient. The buttons can be held single-handed, so one thumb is enough.
One hardware feature that needs to be added is a lock switch. This was something we complained about last time we reviewed a SanDisk player. Nothing has changed. Using Clip Sport to play sports is not an issue. It could be better for everyday players. Clipping your Clip Sport on your clothes in busy cities is an excellent way to steal your player.
The Clip Sport does not include any extras you would get with an Apple player. Clip Sport will not work with earphone remotes, it won’t remember where you are in your music library, and it won’t pause music if you unplug your headphones.
It is cheap and cheerful and comes in many colors. Although we only tested the black version, there are five other colors. However, not all are available in both storage sizes. This is another common complaint about the Clip line-up, which still needs to be solved.
SanDisk Clip Sport Screen and Interface
Apart from the buttons, the screen of the SanDisk Clip Sport is an essential hardware feature. Some MP3 players that are priced at this price don’t even have screens.
It has a 128×128 pixel LCD screen. This screen is slightly larger than the Clip Zip’s 96 x 96 pixel LCD screen, but it’s still quite low-res compared to today’s phones and the 240 x 432 pixel iPod nano screen. The Clip Sport’s build is not Apple-grade, as we discovered with its. The panel quality is OK, with a lot of contrast shift if you tilt the screen in the wrong direction.
It’s still OK. It has a full-color display and makes good use of the color palette. It’s bright and colorful but has a different fiddliness than other budget players.
However, the track names and artists often need help during playback. Instead of being displayed on the album artwork, they are omitted. We prefer more track details, especially since the album covers aren’t great on a small, low-resolution screen.
Additional features include an FM radio, file browser, and document reader. The small screen size makes it challenging to use.
SanDisk Clip Sport Sound Quality and Battery Life
A small, inexpensive player does not necessarily have to compromise on sound quality. The SanDisk Clip Sport has decent good quality, and – so long as you don’t select Europe as your region of choice – lots of volumes.
On start-up, you are asked to choose your region. If you choose Europe, the player is subject to very aggressive volume limitation that effectively destroys the player with any earphones, even remotely challenging to drive.
We compared the SanDisk Clip Sport with an iPod classic to understand its sound quality better. This is a benchmark for excellent but manageable sound. The maximum volume of the SanDisk Clip Sport is higher, while the soundstage width is very similar.
The mid-range presentation is, however, different. Clip Sport’s mids are more prominent and complex, making vocals seem closer to your ears. The iPod Classic’s softer, diffuser mids are easier on the ears, while the Clip Sport can sometimes sound harsh. They are almost identical in sound quality – not excellent, but decent.
Codec support is a big win for Clip Sport regarding sound quality. The player also supports FLAC and OGG files and the standard MP3 and AAC formats. The iPods or Sony’s low-cost sporty’ MP3 players do not support these files.
An EQ is also available, but it could be better. Presets are not very useful, and the custom user mode needs to be well-designed enough to be of any real value.
This is the same setup as the Clip Zip. The battery life has improved tremendously since the Clip Zip. It now lasts for 25 hours instead of 12 hours. These figures are based on playing MP3s at 128kbps on a loop. Actual performance will be slightly lower. It does, however, mean that you can charge once per week instead of every few days, which is a significant improvement. After a week of use, we were able to get rid of a charge.
The box contains a pair of earphones, which are of decent quality. These are IEM-type isolation earphones. They sound slightly muddy and have a low-quality sound, but they’re right.
