DreamWareComputers.Com reviewed YP-P2

The DreamWareComputers.Com reviewed YP-P2 as follows:

Introduction:
As the "oh-so-popular" call for touch screen media players has picked up after a "certain" product hit the market, many manufacturers are hopping on board and making their own touch-based media players. The YP-P2 is a sleek little player from Samsung that features an entirely touch-based interface on a large 480x272 resolution screen. This player also retains the numerous features that we're used to seeing from past Samsung MP3 players as well. Oh, did I mention it has full bluetooth support too?

In The Box:
(1) Samsung YP-P2 8GB Player

(1) USB Sync/Charge Cable

(1) Pair of earphones

(2) Foam earphone covers

(1) Installation CD

(1) Lanyard attachable stand

(1) Quick Start Guide

Features:
On the outside, the P2 is a very simplistic looking player. Available in wine red, black, and white, this player hasn't quite adopted all the funky and unique colour that it's brothers the T10 and U3 are available in. All you'll find for buttons are the volume up and down buttons on the right side, and the left side has the play/pause/on/off button as well as a hold switch. Although I initially thought the little LED circle on the front face would be some sort of button or navigation aid, it ended up being there just for looks. It's LED will change colours to indicate different things (blue for bluetooth connection, red for locked, etc). Over to the bottom edge where you'll find the standard 3.5mm headphone jack and the connection for the included sync/charge USB cable. Should any problems arise, there is a small reset button on the back that you can push with a small paperclip or needle head.
The large touch screen on the front measures three inches diagonally in size. It runs at a resolution of 480x272, which is actually the same resolution the popular PSP gaming device runs at. Having a 16:9 aspect ratio, you'll be able to enjoy those wide screen movies in comfort. The player will natively support both WMV and SVI (MPEG4) video formats but through the included Samsung Media Studio software you can convert practically any video format to play on the player.

With most new MP3 players these days supporting more than just the standard MP3 and WMA, the P2 supports 3 different audio formats right out of the box and I wouldn't be surprised if Samsung adds more formats in future firmware updates as they've done with previous devices in the past. Natively, it will play MP3, WMA, OGG with support for purchased DRM WMA files.
The picture viewer is practically a standard on all new colour screen MP3 players these days. With the nice large screen on the P3 you will be able to easily view, zoom and navigate through your picture library with native JPEG support. A slide show mode with customizable speed will allow you to sit back and enjoy the show if you'd like to go through all your pictures. You can also change the viewing mode between vertical and horizontal and select an image to use as the main menu background as well.

Here's the feature that really makes an MP3 player stand out in my mind; having an FM radio. With so many players dropping this feature these days, outside of the car I can never really find the time to sit beside a radio and enjoy a good morning show or countdown. Samsung has always kept me and plenty of their other buyers happy by still including an FM radio function on most of their players. With an auto-search feature, preset mode and a colourful interface to top things off, this will certainly be a well liked feature on this player. For those moments you don't want to miss, it also features the ability to record FM.
The main radio page is pictured below.

The 'Datacasts' icon you see on the main menu page is essentially Samsung's word for a podcast. Using their media manager software you can sync up Podcasts from RSS feeds onto your P2. This certainly isn't a bad idea with the popularity that podcasts are starting to achieve these days.The menu style shown below is from the menu updates available through Samsung. This one happened to be my favourite style because it was very colourful and really showed of the screen size and capabilities of the player visually.

Now it's time to explore that "Prime Pack" icon that you've been wondering about! Since there's a lot in there, I'll give a quick explanation of each below.

Texts - an integrated text file reader that scrolls through pages side by side (I was expecting up/down scrolling)

Games - With a firmware update, you can now download three games from the Samsung web site. More games are expected in future updates.

Alarm - A built in alarm clock will let you wake to either one of three preset alarm sounds or the song of your choice. Unfortunately with no built-in speaker you'll have to attach the player to an external speaker or have a painful nap with some earphones on!

Calendar - A calendar you can flip through

Address Book - This is also pretty self explanatory

World Clock - A fancy world clock interface lets you jump to different time zones and see the current time

Calculator - I think this is also pretty self explanatory :)

The calculator function is pictured below.

One feature that I used more than I expected it to be the bluetooth capabilities. With Bluetooth 2.0 capabilities, the P2 can support two simultaneous bluetooth headsets paired with it. This means that up to two separate listeners can share one wire-free connection or you can pair a set of bluetooth speakers and a headset together with it. Digging deeper in the settings, the bluetooth capabilities don't just end with headsets. Being able to link with mobile phones and other bluetooth devices that support file transfer, you can actually receive files on the P2 from other devices. I sent a few songs from my Blackberry 8100 to the P2 for listening. When linked up with a mobile phone, you can actually use the P2 as a hands free device! For everyone who's always wanted to say "Hold on, I've got a call on my MP3 player", well, now you can! When used with a bluetooth capable cell phone you can make and receive hands free calls on the P2. Your headset of choice covers the listening end and the integrated mic in the bottom of the player handles the voice portion. Wait, why didn't they give me voice recording abilities with this mic again? Hopefully that will be in a later firmware update.

The sound enhancements on the P2 are very much like recent Samsung MP3 players that we're reviewed. Their DNSe 2.0 engine allows you to use built-in EQ presets such as; rock, club, jazz, etc. or to make your own with a 7-band EQ and adjustable "3D" and Bass settings. In addition to that, you also have Samsung's "clarity" option and "street mode" adjustments. For those familiar with audio processing, I found the clarity option to be a very similar enhancement as the BBE Sonic Maximizer offers (a device used to easily enhance live and recorded sound, also integrated into many TVs these days too). The street mode offers a sort of noise reduction by amplifying quieter sounds to help compensate for a noisy environment around you.

Before we move on, let me quickly touch on the included stand that comes with the P2. This stand actually goes through the lanyard loop at the top because it's small enough to cary with you. When you want to use it, simply unclip it and fold it out. As you can see in the pictures below, it has two different notches that the player can rest it so it will be held horizontally for watching movies - clever!

Here the stand is pictured partially unfolded; the top portion folds back to approximately 120 degrees or so.

Installation:
Since it works as a standard MTP media device, you don't need the Samsung Media Studio software installed to take advantage of most functionality of the P2. However, this software will give you a one-stop location to convert videos, sync datacasts and cover all your other media syncing all in one convenient location.

Testing:
Having over 3 weeks with the P2 gave me plenty of time to get well acquainted. Audio quality itself was superb; I've never really been disappointed in any MP3 players from Samsung when it comes to audio quality. Their DNSe 2.0 sound enhancement engine along with the clarity adjustment can make just about any pair of headphones sound like an expensive sound system.
I should mention here that I applied three updates to the P2 from the Samsung website. I updated the firmware, I installed the menu updates (which give you more visual styles) and I installed the 3-games pack as well. This way I could experience the player as it should currently be shipping with these updates.

The touch navigation through the menus was a new experience for me as I have not yet had the chance to play with any other DMP's like this. Once I got used to it, navigation around the player's menus became almost second nature. The ability to hold and drag scroll bars is certainly faster than using a d-pad style of button for navigation. Although it's no MultiTouch, Samsung calls their touchscreen GUI the Emoture Finger-Gesture GUI. The only complaints I had here was that it seemed inaccurate at times when I knew I clearly touched one button but it would seem to think that I touched another nearby one.

Enjoy a few eye candy pictures below of some of the different visualization options:

Conclusion:
My overall use experience with this player was excellent. It's large and very colour screen and themes really make it stand out in your hand. Watching videos on a screen this size is a breeze, it's no longer an uncomfortable thing to do like on many smaller screened media players. Showing pictures was also done at ease and the FM radio was a well-received feature. The icing on the cake is the true power this thing holds with the integrated bluetooth. Once more media players start supporting this, you'll be able to wirelessly send and receive files amongst your friends, eliminate that headphone wire and of course use your MP3 player to talk on your phone (never thought I'd say that one). For a fraction of the cost of many competing players in this market, you certainly get a lot more features for your money with the Samsung P2!

Pros:
Excellent designColourful and easily modifiable interface and themes are really a step-up over other media players on the marketGreat sound and very usable sound enhancements (like DNSe, clarity and street mode) Battery timeA few colours available too, and I'm hoping that more will be on the way to match up with their other current playersOverall feature set was excellent with lots of useful features on the player and nothing big lacking

Cons:
Touch screen seemed a little inaccurate at timesNo voice recording abilities? It seems the mic on the player is only for making phone callsA 32gb model added to this line, at the right price, would give them a big pushing pointShould at least have a built-in tone generator, if not a small speaker, for the alarm functionality

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