MP3 Player Review: Samsung YP-S3

Samsung has launched various digital MP3 players. YP-S3 is one of the latest models. Most MP3 players from Samsung recently have similar functionalities each other. The user interface, touch sensor pad for buttons, USB port, and features are almost the same. However, the design of YP-S3 is the major one that is different from others. Let’s explore YP-S3 to understand its features.

Simple but Practical Gift Package

The gift package is made of transparent plastic. Just looking at the package, you can say that the product inside is valuable. Unlike other product packages that are made of cardboard are easy to be thrown away, the plastic carton box of YP-S3 would be one that will be put on a shelf with your accessories in it. The package utilized the hand strap connector of the YP-S3 player as a lock holder to attach the player in the package firmly. I think the locking system is a good.

The package includes all the necessary components. The installation CD includes Samsung’s Media Studio, a software application that manages various types of contents such as music, video, lyric, internet contents through DataCast feature in order to be used in YP-S3. The 24-pin USB cable is used both to transfer data between PC and YP-S3, and to charge the built-in battery of YP-S3.

Docking Station (Cradle)
The docking station is an optional accessory. It has a built-in speaker. When you insert the YP-S3 player into it, the docking station uses the YP-S3’s battery and audio sound comes from it. The docking station looks like a UFO (Unidentified Flight Object). It has a nice touch and glossy finish. This docking station is also compatible with YP-T10 with a provided rubber adapter which fits in the contact area between the docking station and the player.

Stylish & Thin Design
YP-S3 looks so simple. Other than the 24-pin port and earphone port, there is only one physical button used for power on/off and hold. All other buttons are hidden but operated only by touching the appropriate location on the touch pad below the LCD.
Although the manual specified that the thickness of YP-S3 is 9.8mm, it does not look like that thick. I could definitely feel that it was much thinner than its appearance.

Considering the Power button, I like the location of the power button which was placed on the right side since I am a right handed and operating the Power button was convenient.

Video Support
Samsung Media Studio automatically converts video files to SVI format, the Samsung’s video file format for YP-S3 during download process. As the format conversion (encoding) takes time, you would need more patience if you want to download large size video files to the player in real time. In order to save time, I would strongly suggest you convert video files before you go to bed or when you have time. The Samsung Media Studio has a feature to do so and turns off PC after conversion. This helps me to watch my favorite TV series on YP-S3.

Datacast Support
Datacast is a very useful feature. Using Samsung Media Studio, the Datacast feature allows you to automatically receive your interested and updated information from the web, Blog, news, and UCC sites without having you to visit the sites. I could enjoy reading the updated information through YP-S3 instead of reading newspapers in subways when I go to work or when I am not in front of PC.

Enhanced Sound Quality
DNSe is a 3D sound effect that Samsung developed for MP3 players. I could distinguish various sound effects provided by YP-S3 including DNSe. The provided earphones also helped me to enjoy the sound quality.

Easy-to-Use User Interface and Graphics

There are only 7 touch buttons on the touch pad. The seven buttons are enough to browse and navigate all the functions easily. The button is lit for a while when the touch pad was pressed by a finger. The image above shows the top 8 menu items which YP-S3 provides. The Prime Pack contains the Text view, Games, Alarm and World Clock features. I mostly use the Text view feature to read novels in text files, and play the various games provided.

The Music menu supports lyric display. Once a music file has been updated to contain its lyric using the Samsung Media Studio, the lyric can be displayed while listening to the music. Otherwise, a vivid equalizer is displayed.

Specification
Audio Format: MPEG1/2/2.5 Layer 3 (8kbps~320kbps, 8KHz~48KHz),
WMA (48kbps~192kbps, 8KHz~48KHz), OGG (Q1~Q10)
Video Format: SVI (Video: MPEG4, Audio: MP3 (44.1KHz, 128kbps),
Resolution: 208x176, Frame Rate: 15fps)
Image Format: JPG (Progressive, Sequential Type, File Size 3MB or Less)
Number of Playback Files: Max. 5000 Files (including folders)
Memory Capacity: 2GB/4GB/8GB
Color: Black/White/Red/Green/Blue
LCD: 1.8” TFT LCD QCIF
Support: MP3/WMA/MPEG4/JPG/TXT/DataCast
Earphone: 20mW/Ch. (at 16 ohm)
Frequency Range: 40Hz~20KHz
Playback Time: 25Hrs of Audio, 5Hrs of Video (at 128kbps MP3 file, Volume at 15, Normal Sound Effect)
Weight: 53gram
Dimension (WxDxH): 44mm x 95mm x 9.8mm
FM Frequency: 87.5~108.0MHz
Battery Type: 580mAh / DC 3.7V

Pros
Stylish & modern design: very thin and compact, vivid color & metal frame, nice finish
Rounding design on the edge provides a convenient grip feeling
Various features: music, video, text, image, prime pack including games
Wonderful DNSe2.0 sound quality
An optional compatible docking station (cradle) that can be used with YP-T10 and YP-P2
FM recording and Datacast features are quite helpful.

Cons
The touch pad is too sensitive.
Voice recording is not supported (sometime, a voice recording is necessary.)

Conclusion
YP-S3 is a quite impressive MP3 player in its design and functionality. The recent Samsung’s MP3 players have similar functions. But its design has been getting improved. I believe YP-S3 is one of them. I liked the easy-to-use user interface and most of the functions. But, if a voice recording feature was supported, it would have been a much better practical product. By the way, I would give 9.5 points out of 10 for YP-S3.

-Reviewed by Sean - "http://goitworld.blogspot.com"