When examining a Sansa e200 Series player, the first thing you’ll notice is how stunning it is. The front of the device features a glossy-black finish, while the rear is a gunmetal matte. The color combination isn’t exactly original, but the result is, nevertheless, a winner.

A 1.8-inch display fills the top half of the face, while the bottom-half is devoted to controls. A large action button occupies the center of the control space, and is surrounded by four hardware buttons, Play/Pause, Forward, Back and Submenu. Between the action button and the four hardware buttons is a physical scroll wheel which allows you to move through menus, adjust volume, and scroll up and down through various other settings like FM frequencies. This wheel is formed of transparent plastic, and is backlit by a bright blue LED when in use (seen right). The power button is situated at the bottom left of the player’s face.

The top of an e200 is home to the 3.5mm headphone jack, the Hold switch, the microphone and the strap eyelet through which the lanyard connects. The left side is occupied by the record button, while the right side houses a microSD card slot. The bottom of the unit is devoted to the proprietary connection port.

The backpiece of the Sansa is formed of a titanium alloy from Liquidmetal Technologies that’s strong, wear resistant and incredibly light-weight. The back can be removed by loosening four standard screws, providing access to the battery compartment beneath. I didn’t exactly try to scratch the back of our e260, but after days of use it was entirely scratch-free, more than can be said for our iPod nano, which began to show wear the very first hour of use.

In the hand, the Sansa e200 is solid, yet light, and is comfortable to hold. My one complaint about the e200’s design is that the four hardware buttons surrounding the action button are too small and not always easy to press. Increasing the size of these buttons would dramatically improve ease of control and overall user-friendliness.

It should be noted that the iPod nano, a player with which the Sansa e200 Series players are seemingly always compared, is a good bit thinner – and slightly lighter – than the Sansa e200.

All-in-all the Sansa e200 Series players are beautifully designed and solidly constructed. However, those with large fingers should be aware that some of the buttons can be difficult to press without coming in contact with other control elements.