Review by GOITWORLD: Samsung YP-U4 - “Litmus” MP3 Player Product Review

It has been a while since YP-U3, the last “U” series of Samsung’s MP3 player, was launched last year. Now, YP-U4 is on the market. The concept of this model is “Litmus”. The color is purple and the color gradation looks like Spreading Lights. The concept of previous model for “S2” was for Spreading Sound, and “S3” for Spreading Colors. It seems that the concept of new models also evolves. In this review, let me call YP-U4, “Litmus”.

The features of Litmus are very similar to those in U3. However, the appearance is totally different.

Let’s check out the package first.


Gift Package

The gift package is made of transparent plastic and it is as compact as I can cover it by my palm.
Since the Litmus has a built-in sliding USB plug, the USB cable is not necessary.


Specification
To help you understand Litmus, the product specification is described below.

Model name: YP-U4
Battery: 300mAh / DC 3.7V
File support: MPEG1/2/2.5 Layer3 (8Kbps~320Kbps, 8Khz~48KHz)
WMA (48Kbps~192Kbps, 8KHz~48KHz)
OGG (Q0~Q10)
Max. files / folders: 3,000 files / 1,000 folders
Earphone output: 20mW/Ch. (@ 16 ohm)
Output frequency: 40Hz~20KHz
Playback time: 16 hours (@ MP3 128Kbps, Volume 15, Normal sound, LCD off)
Weight: 27.5g
Dimension: 27mm x 83mm x 13mm (H x W x D)


Major Features of Litmus

*** Easy to Use ***
A separate USB cable is not necessary. Charging the battery and data transfer is done at once.

*** Playlists ***
Favorite music files that you often listen to can be collected in a playlist.

*** Various music formats supported ***
MP3, WMA and OGG can be played.

*** Touch buttons ***
By touching the touch button areas by your finger softly, the menu and its features can be controlled easily.

** Long playback & short file transfer ***
With a full charge, up to 16 hours can be played continuously. And the USB 2.0 allows a fast file transfer between the PC and Litmus.

*** 3D sound effect ***
DNSe (Digital Natural Sound Engine), which is a Samsung’s own sound effect, provides sufficient sound quality.

*** Slim design ***
Litmus is small and sleek.

*** Datacast ***
Using Media Studio, the PC software provided by Samsung, the registered RSS data from news, blog, UCC, etc. can be transferred and viewed by Litmus.


Practical Earphone

The earphones of Litmus are designed to be fit in human ears. Since the provided sponges cover the earbuds, they keep the earbuds stay firmly in my ears and keep the sound quality good.

The splitter between two earphone lines is also a useful component and prevents the lines from being entangled.


Simple Design and Slide-Out USB Plug

Litmus looks so simple. Unlike Samsung’s other MP3 players, Litmus does not use the 24-pin plug for charging and data transfer. Only the built-in USB plug does two functions at once, charging the battery, and transferring the data. The USB unit slides out and in very smoothly.

There are only a few physical buttons used for power on/off, hold and record. All other buttons are hidden but operated only by touching the appropriate location on the touch pad next to the LCD. The touch pad is a good feature. But the touch pad is so sensitive. Since the player is small, I sometimes miss-operate the buttons. I had to spend a while to adjust myself to the touch pad.


Easy-to-Use User Interface and Graphics

There are only 6 touch buttons on the touch pad. The six buttons are enough to browse, navigate and control all the functions easily.

Pressing the return arrow symbol on the touch pad, one of the top menus is displayed. The menus are Music, FM Radio, Voice Recoding, Datacasts, File Brower and Settings.

Three LEDs are lit for a while when a touch button is applied. The LED lights should be one of the reasons that caused to name the YP-U4 player to Litmus. The design of Litmus looks gorgeous.


Enhanced Sound Quality

DNSe is a 3D sound effect that Samsung developed for MP3 players. I could easily distinguish various sound effects provided by Litmus including DNSe. The provided earphones with 20mW and 16Ω also helped enjoying the sound quality.


Voice Recording and FM Radio Recording
The FM recording feature is another useful one. While listening to an FM radio, I could record favorite music or interesting stories by touching the Record button simply. The recorded quality seemed to be better than the original sound. The voice recording feature is also useful during a conference and when recording a lecture at school.


Datacast Support
Datacast should be a very useful feature. Unfortunately, I could not transfer Datacast data to Litmus using Samsung Media Studio. There must be some problems with the Media Studio and my Litmus. I am sorry I could not specifically explain about the Datacast feature.


Pros
Good design, nice color gradation, simple design
Good FM radio recording quality
Good voice recording quality
The LEDs make the Litmus look alive.
Convenient built-in USB plug


Cons
Touch pad is so sensitive.
The LCD looks a little small.

In conclusion, the features of Litmus are quite similar to U3. But the design and appearance have been changed a lot. Still, Litmus is compact and easy to use. In general, I am quite satisfied with Litmus.

Thank you!

Reviewed by Sean.
Date: July 27, 2008