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

Silver Award by Accelenation.com: Samsung YP-T10

Samsung's YP-T10 has received a Silver award from Accelenation.com. Its article is described below.

Introduction
Samsung has long been a player in the MP3 market along with the likes of companies such as Creative. However, most of these companies have been relatively unsuccessful in breaking into the market the way that Apple has with the iPod. Now with iPods everywhere, Samsung is trying to attract part of this market with the YP-T10, a slim, video-enabled, digital audio player. How does it stack up?

The Test
Let's go through a list of features offered by the YP-T10.

The Samsung YP-T10 comes in various storage capacities, including 2GB, 4GB and 8GB. The 8GB version was the one tested here. It also comes with a small QVGA screen (320 x 240) for the UI and for playing videos.
Some "extra" features from the basic set include support for FM radio, voice recording as well as Bluetooth compatibility.

The rated battery life is 30 hours for audio and 4 hours for video, which is quite impressive for a digital media player. It also takes only 2.5 hours to charge up the battery. Play speed can be adjusted (i.e. increased by several factors) as well as EQ presets (and user adjustments) courtesy of DNSe.

The YP-10's front is finished with a glass plate to give it a sophisticated and clean look. Under the glass panel, you'll find the QVGA screen along with a light up control pad. The control pad dims off when there is no user feedback. The display does not span the whole front of the player and it is not a touch-screen UI, but nevertheless an interesting concept.

The power button is located on the right hand side of the player. You slide and hold that position to turn it on. Upon power up, you'll be greeted by a cartoon dog appropriately named "Sammy". Afterwards, the keypad lights up with the controls and once the music starts playing, the dog starts jumping around on screen.

As previously mentioned, if there is no user input, then both the keyboard light and the screen turn off to conserve the battery.
The UI on the YP-T10 provides the user with many options to adjust. The "Sound Effect" options allow the user to turn on "Street mode" and adjust "Clarity" for a better experience when out and about.

There also a range of DNSe EQ presets such as: Normal, Studio, Rock, Classical, Jazz, Ballad, Club, Rhythm & Blues, Dance, Concert Hall as well as a User mode. The User mode allows adjustments of EQ, bass as well as 3D.

Play speed can be adjusted anywhere from 0.7x to 1.3x although listening to an MP3 at 1.3x speed sounds like the Chipmunks singing.

In terms of audio quality, the default settings with the provided headphones seem to deliver a rich sound that is better in my opinion to the defaults of other audio players I have tested. The bass is acceptable and the 3D effect is fairly apparent.

The touch pad looks nice although sometimes the response lags a bit and because the keys are close together, people with larger fingers might find it hard to press the desired key.
When holding the player in the hand there is the possibility that one of the keys may be pressed accidentally. A useful feature would have been a keypad lock to reduce the likelihood of this happening.

Transferring files to the player is quite easy with the supplied USB 2.0 cable. You treat the player as a storage device in Windows and drag the files directly to it. The player supports MP3 and WMA.

In terms of video support, the formats are limited to mostly WMV (no DiVX). Even so, some WMV files I downloaded didn't seem to play.
Watching the pre-loaded trailers on the screen gave fluid playback, although watching a movie on a 2.5" screen takes some getting used to.

Conclusion

Although a nice concept, the touch pad still needs to be tweaked for better responsiveness. I'd prefer manual buttons versus these controls because on occasion I found it hard to press the right key. The screen is also quite small for watching video. This could be increased but I guess at the expense of battery life.

Overall, the Samsung YP-T10 offers plenty of features, good storage capacity and a reasonable interface all in a small, stylish package. Support for Bluetooth, direct USB file transfer and audio EQ DNSe, give this player a leg up on the competition. The 4GB version of the YP-T10 is available for around $119 Canadian.

Review: Samsung's DMB MP3 Player YP-PB2, "P2 DMB"

Samsung launched a next generation of YP-P2 in Korea, so called “P2 DMB”. The previous version, P2 has been popular among the MP3 users in the world since it was launched last year. Recently, Samsung developed P2 DMB, a sister product of P2 which supported DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) for Korean users only. Unfortunately, the DMB feature will not work in the USA or other countries. This means that P2 DMB should be used only in Korea to use the full advantage of the DMB feature.

Although P2 DMB is limited to Korea territory, I hope that the following P2 DMB review is helpful for MP3 users in other countries.

P2 DMB looks very similar to P2 in shape and features. The main features supported by P2 DMB are video, music, pictures, DMB, Datacasts, text view, English/Korean dictionary, alarm, calendar, address book, world clock, FM radio, file browser, and Bluetooth which can be connected with stereo headset and mobile cell phone for listening to the music, transferring files, and phone calls.

As you can see the features above, P2 DMB is very much similar to P2. Samsung announced that coming firmware upgrades would include new functions such as DMB program guide, DMB schedule recording, games, and other convenient features as well as unknown bugs.

Now, let’s see the package first.

Gift Package

The gift package is not a normal box. I had to spend a little bit more time to open it. Two boxes were crossover each other. You may realize the structure of the box once you get one. The contents of the package are P2 DMB player, earphones, ear cushions, USB cable, quick user’s guide and an LCD protection film, Samsung Media Studio installation CD, DMB antenna, and a “For You” card which implies that you are so special and valuable for Samsung.

Stylish & Thin Design

P2 DMB looks so simple. The front side is full of 3” touch screen LCD. The hold and power buttons are on the left side, the volume up/down buttons on the right, the 24-pin port and earphone port on the bottom, and the DMB antenna port on the top. The dimension is 52x100x11.95mm (WxHxD). P2 DMB is a little bit thicker than P2 but I could not feel much differences. P2 DMB has a steel strip around the player which looks more durable, and valuable.

After detaching the DMB antenna from the player, the antenna can be connected to the hand strap for portability.

Easy-to-Use User Interface

The menu is composed of three types: Cosmos, Matix, and My Skin. The Cosmos menu type displays only three items per screen. I had a hard time to figure out how to get to the next menu items such as Music, Video, Picture, Settings, etc. And finally, I found the way. It was a stroke method. This is a similar gesture when you turn a page of a book. Put a finger on the screen, slide the finger a little bit on the screen, and release the finger. The stroke method also works when you change the volume. On the Music, DMB, or Video mode, touch the right side of the screen and apply the stroke method to change the volume.

DMB Support
The DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) feature including DAB is a popular system in Korea. Many cell phones, Navigation devices, and Personal Media Players now support the DMB feature in order to allow users to watch TV channels in live. I believe P2 DMB is the first MP3 player that supports DMB in the MP3 player product category. P2 DMB supports only the Terrestrial DMB which means that broadcasting area is limited. If you take it to a mountain where a DMB transmitter is not supported, it may not work.

However, DMB is a useful outdoor TV. While we are moving around by bus or subway, we can enjoy a live sport, drama, or show. Samsung announced that the future firmware upgrades would include EPG (Electronic Program Guide) which is a kind of TV guide. Through the EPG feature, you can make a reservation to record or watch a channel. Using the EPG feature is free of charge while other companies charge certain amounts. Samsung will provide the EPG information to the user through EmoDio™. Once the user connects P2 DMB to EmoDio™, one week EPG information will be transferred to P2 DMB for free.

Video Support

Samsung Media Studio automatically converts video files to SVI format, the Samsung’s video file format for P2 DMB 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 converting 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 movies on P2 DMB.


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 P2 DMB 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. The 3D is three dimensional sound effect added to the music. And the street mode boosts the lower sound so that you can use this mode at a noise environment to listen to the low sound music more clearly. I could distinguish various sound effects provided by P2 DMB including DNSe.


Bluetooth Support

The Bluetooth feature is one of the useful features. Through Bluetooth, we can wirelessly use a stereo headset, mobile phones, and any other Bluetooth devices such as home theater systems. The range of Bluetooth supporting wirelessly is 10m. I have a Bluetooth cell phone which is not made by Samsung Anycall. I could easily download photo files from my cell phone to P2 DMB and also listen to the music through my Bluetooth headset. However, I could not do a phone call from P2 DMB. There must be a conflict between my cell phone and P2 DMB. This means that P2 DMB is not fully compatible with all the Bluetooth cell phone. But it is still a good feature.


Prime Pack
The Prime Pack consists of text viewer, English/Korean dictionary, alarm, calendar, address book, world clock, and FM radio. Among those features, the dictionary feature would help students or people to learn English.

Also, I mostly use the FM radio and test viewer features. P2 DMB is useful when reading some text files of novel books rather than taking the real books to read.


Music Menu
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 CD animation is displayed.

Optional Accessories:

Docking Station (Cradle)

The docking station is an optional accessory. It has a built-in speaker. When P2 DMB is inserted in it, the docking station uses the P2 DMB’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-P2, YP-T10, and YP-S3 with a provided rubber adapter which fits in the contact area between the docking station and the player.


Zenon Speaker

The Zenon speaker is also an optional accessory which can be a useful speaker when watching a DMB channel together with some people around me. There is a coin holder on the back of the Zenon speaker. Once you insert a coin in it, you can make the P2 DMB player stand alone. This is a pretty good idea.

Specification
Audio Format: MPEG1/2/2.5 Layer 3 (8kbps~320kbps, 8KHz~48KHz),
WMA (48kbps~320kbps, 8KHz~48KHz), OGG (Q1~Q10)
AAC-LC2 (24kbps~128kbps, 44.1KHz, 48KHz)
AAC-Plus (16kbps~256kbps, 16KHz~44.1KHz)
Enhanced AAC-Plus (16kbps~56kbps, 32KHz~44.1KHz)
Video Format: SVI (Video: MPEG4 Simple Profile, Audio: MP3 (CBR 44.1KHz, 16bit Stereo, 128kbps)),
Resolution: 480x272, Frame Rate: 30fps)
WMV9 (Video: WMV9 Simple Profile, Audio: WMA9 (Max 860kbps),
Resolution: 320x240 or 480x272, Frame Rate: 30fps)
Image Format: JPG (Baseline only)

Color: Black/White
LCD: 3” TFT LCD (Touch Screen)
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: 97gram
Dimension (WxDxH): 52mm x 100mm x 11.95mm
FM Frequency: 87.5~108.0MHz
Battery Type: 1200mAh / DC 3.7V
Playback Time: Max. 46 hrs of music (at volume level 15, normal sound effect, LCD off), Max. 7 hrs of video, Max. 5 hrs of DMB

Pros:
Advanced Multimedia Technology: Allow users to watch DMB, listen to music and FM radio, view the music lyric, pictures and text, play video files, and Bluetooth.
Terrestrial DMB: Can enjoy DMB with clear sound at any place while moving.
Touch screen menu: Navigation is easily performed by touching the screen.
Wide color LCD screen: The wide screen displays as many as information colorfully.
Stylish & modern design: very thin and compact, vivid color & nice finish
Rounding design on the edge provides a convenient grip feeling
Long playback time
Wonderful DNSe2.0 sound quality
An optional compatible docking station (cradle) that can be used with YP-T10, YP-S3 and YP-P2
An optional Zenon speaker
FM recording and Datacast features
Future firmware upgrades for games, EPG and other features

Cons:
The touch pad is too sensitive.
The DMB antenna is a little bulky.
Voice recording is not supported.
P2 DMB can not be used while being charged.

Conclusion:
Although P2 DMB is limited to Korea, it is a quite impressive MP3 player. Koreans might like P2 DMB instead of P2 while P2 does not support DMB. The optional Zenon speaker for P2 DMB would also be a necessary accessory for watching DMB with friends together. I hope P2 DMB becomes a famous MP3 player among Korean users.

-Reviewed by goitworld -

Review: DecoMag, Music Video YP-P2 of Samsung

The Decomag Magazine has also posted Samsung YP-P2 review.

The coverage can be found at: DECORMAG Magazine, Section: Techno, Article: “To kill time while travelling”, Issue: July/August, 2008

Here is about the article:

Music Video YP-P2 of Samsung
Approximately 219 $ (8 GB)

At both compact and elegant, the YP-P2 of Samsung meets the main features we are entitled to expect in a media player: reading, photos, with slide show, music, videos and even radio.

Simply touch the icons on the screen and who represent these functions to access it. Despite weighing 85 grams and a thickness of less than 1 cm, this device features a touch screen more than 7 inches diagonally, widescreen. Better still, it is compatible with the standard Blue-tooth 2.0, for those who would like to pair it with a wireless headset.

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"

Review by PCMAG.COM for Samsung YP-S5

The PCMag.com holding 6,600,000 unique users/month gave a very positive review result for YP-S5.

by Tim Gideon

When the YP-K5 was released by Samsung in 2006, its unique built-in, slide-out speaker design was a real head turner. And though the device was bulky, it had strong battery life and even a pair of decent earbuds. The update, the new flash memory–based YP-S5 (commonly known as the S5), keeps its predecessor's innovative design but loses some of its bulk. Available in 2GB ($130 list) and 4GB ($180) capacities, the S5 features the familiar Samsung graphics, a top-notch interface, and the snazzy feather-touch buttons found in all of the company's players. The pull-out speaker is a fun option for the beach or a hotel room, and you get nice Bluetooth 2.0 features here, too. The player's robust EQ options—particularly when paired with an upgraded pair of earphones—make your music shine.

The sleek S5 comes in black or white and appears to have no buttons on its front face when its 3.8-by-1.8-by-0.6-inch (HWD) frame is powered down. In fact, the only physical attributes are a 1.8-inch, 176-by-220-pixel screen, a power/hold switch, a headphone jack, and a proprietary connection (which connects to USB via provided cable for PC syncing). Turning on the 3-ounce player reveals a four-button array of controls, with an Enter button in the center, along with Back and Menu keys. The underlit controls switch orientation depending on what the device is doing at the time. The slide-out speaker offers stereo output through a good-looking circular design imprinted on its metallic surface. I found the included earbuds better than average, but as always, I advise upgrading if you want to maximize the audio quality from your player.

Navigating the menu system is intuitive and enjoyable. Samsung players have developed a reputation over the years for superb graphics and intelligent interface organization. The only annoyance that folks are likely to encounter with navigation is the sensitivity of the touch controls: It's easy to misfire, and the buttons often fail to respond to a first tap.

File support, however, is not a strong suit. For audio, you can load MP3, WMA, and unprotected AAC files. Video is limited to SVI—Samsung's proprietary codec (you'll need to convert files with included software), and photos are JPEG only. No one wants to do homework to load video and photo files onto a player, so it's beyond me why manufacturers don't make devices with better compatibility.

The menu is broken down by Music, Videos, Pictures, FM Radio, Datacasts, Prime Pack, File Browser, Bluetooth, and Settings. The former three selections are organized in the typical Samsung way, allowing you to search music by artist, album title, and various other factors, while video and photos are organized by filename or folder. Photos can take a while to load and don't look particularly good on the player's small screen. The same can be said of videos. I've seen poorer displays for viewing, but the S5's certainly isn't a joy to watch.

The FM radio is easy to use, with 30 programmable presets—and it offers FM recording. Datacasts houses podcasts and audiobooks, keeping them separate from your music. Prime Pack is a odd designation for a grab bag of extra features—like voice recording, which works simply and organizes your recorded files for you; a world clock; an alarm; and preloaded games. (I'm not so hot at the included baseball game—I've got no swing whatsoever, and I hit about seven batters with the ball when I pitched.) The File Browser is simply a grand list of everything on the player, organized by type.

Samsung has started to step up its Bluetooth 2.0 offerings, and it shows in the S5's list of wireless capabilities. You can pair a stereo headset or a mobile phone, and transfer files to and from the S5 to other Bluetooth devices. Pairing your phone means you can place and receive calls via the player's mic and a pair of earphones—without ever having to pick up your phone. When Samsung's P2 debuted this feature, pairing was a big deal, and we like seeing the company roll it out in less-expensive devices.

Like Sony with its Walkman line, Samsung outfits its players with high-quality EQ settings. I wholeheartedly urge you to bypass the Rock and other standard presets and play with the user EQ, where you can easily customize your own sound. When I checked out the audio through a pair of Ultimate Ears UE11 and fiddled with the EQ to my liking, the results were fantastic.

Powered by an internal rechargeable battery, the S5 has a claimed battery life of 24 hours for audio and 4 hours for video. Its results on our own battery rundown tests will be posted here shortly.
I like the S5—I really do. It just wouldn't be my first choice among Samsung's quality line of portable media players. The slide-out speaker looks cool but sounds, well, like a tiny speaker with little bass. To some, this won't matter, and the ability to break it out on a bike trip or at the swimming pool and have some background music, without toting around an extra speaker dock, is a huge plus. I tend to gravitate more toward models like the YP-T10, which has an almost identical user interface and feature set but is slimmer. One last bit of advice for Samsung: We want better video support! Compatibility with more files would make every player in the company's line far more valuable.

For more information, link to http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2314477,00.asp

Backbone Magazine Review: YP-P2

The Backbone Magazine reviewed Samsung YP-P2 digital MP3 player in the May/June issue.

Earphones test for YP-P2

Samsung made a video clip that compares various earphones for YP-P2.

YP-P2 for Laptop computer

Samsung introduced how to utilize your YP-P2 with a Laptop computer.
P2 can be inserted into a PCMCIA slot.
Here is how to do it.

Review summary of the Samsung YP-S5

The Infosynkworld.com reviewed Samsung YP-S5 as follows. S5 got a Good grade.

In a big way, the Samsung YP-S5 is the most competitive MP3 player from Samsung, even more than their flagship YP-P2. It doesn't fill a room with sound, no surprise there, but it does use the speaker intelligently to back up some of the other bonus features on the device. The alarm clock, for one thing, was versatile and loud, with battery life that makes it great for travel. And the Bluetooth phone functions were a clever surprise, especially when paired with the speaker for speakerphone capabilities. We still think Samsung needs to think twice about all those touch buttons, and some serious interface redesign is in order, both on the device side and the desktop software. But with its unique capabilities, the Samsung YP-S5 fills a wide niche. And did we mention the music sounds great? Release: April 2008. Price: $170.

Pros: Excellent sound quality and battery life. Surprisingly good alarm and speakerphone features.

Cons: Small speakers still sound small. Interface could use redesign, and maybe throw in some real buttons. Samsung Media Studio needs serious improvement

Design - Good

The Samsung YP-S5 is a unique design for MP3 players, though it won't be so new to diehard Samsung fans. With its slide-out stereo speakers, the YP-S5 updates the Samsung YP-K5 player we saw more than a year ago, though the changes aren't too significant. We like the look of the new player better. While the K5 was a glossy obelisk, the S5 uses a glossy front with a soft touch black exterior around the rest of the player. The device is a bit smaller than its predecessor, and has a gentle angle to it, making it more visually appealing.

Unfortunately, Samsung stuck with the no-button theme for which they seem to be fond, and we think its time for the fat lady to sing on this design concept. The touch buttons are less responsive than hard buttons, and lack the acceleration and subtlety of the iPod's scroll wheel. Also, the player seriously needs a volume rocker. Instead, the only button performed two tasks. It turned the player on and it activated "hold," which kept us from pressing the touch buttons accidentally, which always happened when we tossed the player into our pocket without engaging the hold switch. It's a bad sign when a player's only button keeps you from doing things.

Interface - Good

Samsung's interface is simple and pretty, but it could stand some improvement. First of all, browsing long lists of songs was strangely both jumpy and slow. The imterface jumps page to page, but doesn't accelerate quickly through letters. Second, the organization structure could use some rethinking. Samsung players mostly share the same interface, which keeps secondary functions like Bluetooth phone controls and the alarm clock features hidden under submenus. That makes sense on other models, perhaps, but we think the S5 might be more useful as a Bluetooth speakerphone and travel alarm clock than as a player, at least for some customers. These important features should be high-level menu options, while pictures and videos, which should be a secondary feature on this device, could be buried deeper.

Sound - Very good

Samsung players have always impressed us with their sound quality, and the YP-S5 is no different, at least through a good pair of headphones. The included earbuds aren't horrible, they certainly weren't as bad as the torture devices included with the YP-K5, but they aren't the buds we chose to do our close-listening audio tests, either. The device couldn't handle advanced formats, like Ogg or any lossless files, but it played the standard MP3, WMA mix just fine. In fact, MP3 files encoded at a respectable bitrate sounded very good on the S5.

With the speakers, the sound was clean, but not very powerful. We didn't get much distortion, if any, at higher levels, but we also didn't hear much bass, let alone feel a nice thump. Alarm clock sounds, shrill as they are, were even louder than music, but as a travel alarm clock, the Samsung YP-S5 made a nice fit. When it was time to fill the room with sound, however, we turned to other options.

Features - Very good

The Samsung YP-S5 includes more features than it needs, but has some innovative ideas packed in that work surprisingly well. The player can handle music, JPEG photos and MP4 videos, and videos looked fine on the small, low-res screen, but this is more of a novelty act than the S5's real purpose. The alarm clock was a good feature, and we liked being able to set up multiple alarms on the device. But we wish we could have chosen different songs for each alarm. Instead, you assign one song as the alarm track, and that's the only song that will play on time, besides the included alarm tones.

The Samsung YP-S5 also has some of the Bluetooth phone features we saw on the Samsung YP-P2. When paired with a Bluetooth phone, the YP-S5 will not only stop playback during a call, it will actually let you answer, using the built-in microphone and your normal headphones to take the call. Also, the phone packs a primitive dial pad so you can even dial a call from the YP-S5, which then acts as a handsfree device for your phone. When the speakers are open, you can use the S5 as a Bluetooth speakerphone, which is an especially neat trick, and it worked pretty well in our tests.

Transfer - Good

Samsung's transfer software has not improved since we last saw it. The interface is confusing, and not at all intuitive. Transfers are painfully slow, especially when you have to encode a video for the device. The Samsung Media Studio has a cheesy mood reading tool that supposedly analyzes your music for your mood, but more time and effort should have gone into making an intuitive, pleasant interface that was easy to manage for music transfers and playback instead of these gimmicks. Of course, you can simply use Windows Media Player instead, but if Samsung, or Microsoft for that matter, wants to compete with Apple's iPod / iTunes one-two punch, serious thought needs to go into the synchronization and sideloading half.

Accessories - Good

The Samsung YP-S5 comes with headphones that did not cause the same immediate pain and discomfort we felt with the YP-K5's strange buds, but they were still oddly shaped and slightly uncomfortable. We managed a few hours of use without soreness, but why not go for something smaller? Sound isolating buds are pretty much the way things are going, anyway, and would be an easy way to one-up Apple, who sell their in-ear buds at a premium.

Otherwise, we're continually frustrated by Samsung's avoidance of simple mini-USB plugs. Like we've seen on Samsung phones, the YP-S5 uses a very proprietary looking cable. If you forget it, you're out of luck, as it's also the way the player charges.

Battery - Excellent

To end on a high note, Samsung's player's have always impressed us in terms of their battery life. Like it's predecessor, the K5, the Samsung YP-S5 manages a full day of playback, more than 24 hours, in fact, in a single charge. We stopped testing after a day, but that's what Samsung promises anyway, so we were more than satisfied. With the speakers on full volume, which was an annoying test to sit through, we managed just shy of five hours, so we imagine Samsung's five hour estimate is for a more soothing volume.

Comparison

Compare the Samsung YP-S5 with similar products

Who is the Samsung YP-S5 for?
Globetrotters
Outdoor enthusiasts
Video lovers

Price and availability

The Samsung YP-S5 is available now for about $170 at various retailers.

For more information, please click here:

http://www.infosyncworld.com/reviews/portable-media/samsung-yp-s5/9268.html

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

You may click the following link for more information:
http://www.dreamwarecomputers.com/reviews_2008/samsung_ypp2/index.htm