What Hi-Fi? Verdict
The Clip Zip looks good on paper but fails to deliver fully in practice
Pros
- +
Small, well-specified
- +
FM radio is useful on a product such as this
- +
easy to use
Cons
- -
The sound is merely average
- -
feels cheap
- -
doesn’t go very loud
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On the face of it, the Sandisk Clip Zip isn’t a million miles from the Clip+ that we have also tested.
The pair is similar in size and styling, so we expected the same level of performance – but we didn’t get it.
From the off, the Clip Zip feels nowhere as convincing in the hand. The finish and buttons both feel flimsy and flakier, and our sample crashed a couple of times, which doesn’t help to inspire.
So-so sound
Still, colour menus are eye-catching, the interface is simple enough and there’s an FM radio, voice recorder and a microSD card slot for expanding the 4GB memory.
Ditching the supplied headphones, we’re surprised the volume doesn’t go very loud. Loud enough, but only just.
Sonically it’s so-so, not quite sharing the detail and refinement of its sibling or indeed others here. Vocals don’t sound as intimate, drums don’t hit with the same power.
Our gripes with this product add up and leave us looking elsewhere.
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