Features & Specifications
The first thing you notice about the SanDisk Sansa Express is the small size of the player. It’s sized more like a flash drive than a DAP and features an integrated USB connector so you don’t have to use a cable to charge or sync the device. Available storage capacities for the SanDisk Sansa Express are 1GB and 2GB. The storage capacity can be increased via microSD cards of up to 2GB as well.

Impressively given the small size of the Express SanDisk includes a FM tuner that works well, a four line OLED screen and a mic for voice recording. You can even record direct from FM radio. If you need to charge or sync the SanDisk Sansa Express in a crowded USB hub SanDisk includes a short USB cable as well.

Supported audio file formats include MP3, WMA, protected WMA, WAV and Audible. I used Rhapsody to in my testing and the SanDisk Sansa Express was recognized and authorized immediately without problem. SanDisk says that the Express will support most music stores subscription services as well. The rechargeable lithium polymer battery is good for a claimed 15 hours and charges via USB. The software and player are compatible with windows XP and Vista using Windows Media Player 10.

Sansa Express in Use
As small as the device is, it was nice to merely have a screen for looking at track information and title names. I was impressed to see how bright and easy to read the four line OLED display was. The controls on the Express are easy to use and have pause/play, forward, back and menu buttons arrayed around a square button that acts as select. The EQ used actually significantly improves the sound from the device to my ears and works very well. You can choose between pre-set equalizer modes or customize your own with five bands.

The FM tuner was able to pick up all local radio stations clearly, which again considering the size of the device is impressive. The ability to record songs or programs form the FM radio is a great feature and worked as expected. The small size of the SanDisk Sansa Express makes it ideal for use as a voice recorder. Voices sound natural and recording was easy to accomplish.

The volume levels the Express is able to produce are great. I played the player at half volume and found it to still be a bit too loud for comfort. You can get volume levels out of the SanDisk Sansa Express that are much higher than would be healthy for your ears.

The sound quality from the SanDisk Sansa Express is great with nice sharp highs and mids and decent amounts of bass on the low end. I would certainly upgrade the earbuds the Express ships with; they don’t offer the best sound quality and felt a bit too large for my ears. Higher quality earbuds improve the sound quality noticeably. The small size of the SanDisk Sansa Express makes it imminently portable. It barely weighs more than a pack of gum and the built-in USB connector allows charge and sync wherever you are without having to pack a cable. All small DAP devices should be this easy to use and sound this good, the SanDisk Sansa Express is top notch.