Review: Sandisk Sansa C250 mp3 player

Until recently in the UK, Sandisk’s Sansa players have been sold without the FM radio receivers with which they're equipped in America. To rectify that, the Sandisk C250 now includes the tuner in Europe, but costs no more than the original version.

Starting out as a memory card maker, the company has carved out a reputation for its digital music players and, although it's a long way behind the iPod range, the Sansa group of players are well regarded.

The Sansa C250 is shaped like an over-sized pack of chewing gum and weighs only 50g. The black case houses easy-to-use buttons and a small colour screen. It uses a scroll pad, which makes navigation simple and logical.

As well as the FM radio it has a record function, which acts as a dictaphone – via a tiny microphone at the top of the unit – and a radio recorder. The player also stores and displays photos, but unlike the Samsung YP-T9 it can't play video.

While the similarly specified Samsung mp3 player has excellent screen quality, images on the Sansa are dull and appear to be unfocused. We don't envisage many people showing off their snaps on this screen.

The 2GB memory is enough to hold about 1,000 Wma or 500 mp3 tracks at a reasonable quality, but a microSD card slot on the side of the player allows for expansion. At the moment 1GB cards cost as little as £10, so it’s a cheap means of increasing the player’s capacity.

We’d suggest investing in better earbuds, as the ones supplied are average at best. With a decent set plugged in, the C250's sound quality was excellent.

Battery life was about 15 hours, so it’s fine for long journeys. Included in the box is a lead for charging, which connects to the computer via USB. There is a mains charger available but it's an optional extra.

The supplied software makes it easy to transfer photos, but with the poor screen it’s not worth taking the time to use. For music, tracks can simply be dragged and dropped from Windows.

For those who want a small, low-cost mp3 player that has few bells and whistles but is good at its core job – playing music – the £65 C250 is recommended.

If you want extra features, such as a good-quality screen, and are prepared to shell out more money, then we’d recommend the Samsung YP-T9, which is the best player we’ve seen in recent months.

Also consider:
Samsung YP-T9
A strong rival for the Nano, with Bluetooth, radio and video

Apple iPod Nano
The slimline nano gets a brightly coloured facelift

Sandisk Sansa e260 mp3 player
The Sandisk Sansa e260 is a user-friendly and feature-rich mp3 player that is capable of becoming a Nano-killer