Review: Sandisk Sansa C250 mp3 player

Sandisk’s Sansa C250 now comes with an FM tuner in Europe, but costs no more than the original version which lacked a radio.

The company has quickly carved itself a reputation in the digital music player market, and although still a long way behind Apple and its iPods, it is giving the likes of Creative a headache in this sector.

Better known for its flash memory products, it uses that expertise to build small, light solid state mp3 players.

The Sansa C250 is like an over-sized pack of chewing gum, weighing only 50g. Its black casing houses easy to use buttons, and a small 3.6cm colour screen. Once again, it uses a scroll pad, and navigation through its options is simple and logical.

Features include an FM radio and record function. This acts as both a voice recorder – with a tiny microphone at the top of the unit, or can record the radio as you listen to it.

The player will also store and displays your photos – but unlike the Samsung YP-T9 - not video. And while the similarly-specified Samsung mp3 player has excellent screen quality, images on the Sansa are dull and appear soft. You certainly won’t be showing of your favourite snaps using the device.

While 2GB is big enough to hold around 1,000 WMA (or 500 mp3) tracks, a microSD card slot on the side allows for expandability. Currently a 1GB card will set you back from as little as £10, so it’s a cheap means of increasing the player’s capacity. Additionally, we’d suggest investing in better earbuds, as the ones supplied are at best average. With a decent set, sound quality was excellent.

Battery life was around 15 hours, so it’s fine for long journeys. Included in the box is a lead for charging, which connects to your computer via USB. If want a mains charger, that must be bought separately.

The supplied software makes it easy to transfer photos to your device, but with the poor screen it’s really not worth taking the time to use. For music, you can simply drag tracks across.

If you want a small, low-cost mp3 player that has few additional thrills but is good at its core job – that of playing music – the £65 C250 is to be recommended. If you want extra features, such as a good screen for playing video, and are prepared to shell out more money, then we’d recommend the Samsung YP-T9, which is the best mp3 player we’ve seen over recent months.