Best Value MP3 Player – SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip

Considering the fact that every mobile phone and tablet on the market nowadays can double as a solid MP3 player, when choosing the best value MP3 player it is no longer a sound tactic to look for highest price tag or largest set of options since the evolution curve of MP3 players has been flat for several years now. While looking for best value MP3 player I took into consideration the only viable purpose my new MP3 player would have – a high quality workout accessory that wouldn’t make me cry uncontrollably if it got accidentally trampled on.

Why we chose SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip as the best value mp3 player?

It comes equipped with a 1.1 inch LCD color display and six buttons for navigation below with additional volume buttons on the side and a locking one on the top. It has a microSDHC slot that allows you to cram extra 32 GB of audio in addition to its built-in 8GB capacity. It features a sturdy plastic clip at the back making it quite suitable when running or working out, leaving your hands free for serious work. The whole thing is nicely arranged in 55x33x11 mm package making it compact and easy to carry around.

The display offers a range of icons for Clip Zip’s main features. The music menu, or only the most important of the menus, gets the job done allowing you to view your tracks by album, artist, genre or playlist, or simply shuffle them all together, but without the iPod style interface to add multiple tracks. In other menus you will find FM radio, audiobooks and podcasts, voice recorder, a file manager to browse your SD card, a stopwatch with a lap timer and logging functions and at last, settings menu.

When it comes to audio file support, Clip Zip has you covered. It plays a wide range of audio file types including MP3, OGG, 16-bit FLAC, WMA and AAC. Amazon’s Audible audiobook format is also supported offering an easy-to-use way of listening audio books. It is even optimized for Rhapsody and Napster music subscription services. FM radio offers a standard array of auto-preset options and FM radio recording which is more than anyone could complain about considering the price range we are talking about.

No matter how cheap you can be, when looking for best value MP3 player, sound quality is always among the top things you are looking at, and Clip Zip doesn’t disappoint here. Far from being the very best in sound quality on the market, it still sounds impressively good for an MP3 player of this price range, offering several EQ presets with the ability for manual EQ tampering if you wish to do so. Ear buds that are supplied with the Clip Zip are what is expected from a free accessory – they barely do the job and feel flimsy in the ears so I recommend switching to better ones if you wish to truly enjoy your music experience and not worrying will they or will they not fall out while running or working out or simply walking at a brisk pace.

Battery life expectancy is around 13 hours, which means that you will get several days of music with casual use before having it recharged. When it comes to recharging, Micro-USB port allows you to use your phone’s charger to juice it up before another go, thus eliminating the need for another pair of wires and chargers lying around.

While searching for best value MP3 player I realized that compromises will have to be made since top notch MP3 players, while offering everything and more that you could ask from them, also have a hefty price tag making you wonder ‘’Am I buying a brand or a mobile accessory that lost its market dominance years ago?’’ All said and done, the SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip is a compact and reliable travel and workout companion that offers a wide variety of features that you will find in most top notch MP3 players, for only half their price, averaging it at around 45$, which only solidifies its current place as a best value MP3 player currently available on the market.

If you are still uncertain which mp3 player to buy, read our article “best portable music players“!