SanDisk Sansa Clip vs. Apple iPod Shuffle
SanDisk continues to present the biggest rival to the Apple iPod empire, consistent producing some of the top selling MP3 players on Amazon.com. Their latest player, the diminutive Sansa Clip, is directly going after the iPod Shuffle market. SanDisk is hitting Apple in places it will hurt the most: price, features and most importantly Sansa managed to put a screen on Clip.
The Sansa Clip should ship with the musical dedication, "Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better." Here's a list of all the things the Sansa Clip does that an iPod Shuffle does not. It includes the must-have for the gym FM Tuner. It includes a 1-inch screen, which really is helpful when tuning the station of your favorite show at the gym or trying to find the right track to energize your car ride or trip to the gym. An onboard microphone comes in handy for reminding yourself to do something later. The Sansa Clip works with subscription services like Rhapsody.
Possibly the best reason to choose a Sansa Clip over an iPod Shuffle is price. 1GB Sansa Clip players go for $40, with 2GB models priced at $60. A 1GB iPod Shuffle is $80, or twice the price of the 1GB Sansa Clip and 33% more than the 2GB model. For the price, you get a highly portable player with tons of room for songs and you can feel safe either taking the player to the gym or giving it to that irresponsible teenager in your house.
Both devices support Audible audiobooks and any of the music you download from AmazonMP3.
Here's a side-by-side comparison of features to show how closely they match up:
| Feature | Sansa Clip | iPod Shuffle |
| Available Colors | 4 | 5 |
| Height | 2.17 | 1.62 |
| Width | 1.25 | 1.07 |
| Depth | 0.65 | 0.41 |
| Weight | 0.92oz | 0.55oz |
| Sync Connection | USB | USB |
| FM Tuner | Yes | No |
| Microphone | No | No |
| Battery Life | 15 | 12 |
Bottom line, the SanDisk Sansa Clip beats the iPod Shuffle hands down. It offers key features Apple always makes you pay extra to get. Sure it weighs twice as much at just under an ounce, but that's still lightweight enough to take for a run. With the growing catalog at the AmazonMP3 store, you'll have plenty of music to choose from and you have the option of subscribing to other music services. The only reason I can see choosing a Shuffle over a Clip is if you already have a large investment in songs from iTunes Music Store.