Product Specifications Model Name YP-U2J Power 3.7V (Li-Polymer Rechargeable) Built-in Battery Power 280mAh MPEG1/2/2.5 Layer3(8kbps320kbps, 8kHz48kHz) Compatibility File WMA(48kbps192kbps,8kHz48kHz) Supported Number of folders and Files Folder: Max. 2000 20mW(16Ω) Earphone Output Output Frequency Range 20Hz20KHz Noise Ratio. Just plug this Samsung 1GB digital audio player directly into an available USB port to both charge the player and transfer songs. Easily transfer mp3, WMA and WMA-DRM10 files, unplug it and go for 15 hours of playback time before you need to plug back in. Because it's a direct plug in player you don't have to listen to it through headphones alone. A portable media player (PMP), or digital audio player (DAP), is a consumer electronics device that is capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, video, documents, etc. The data is typically stored on a hard drive, microdrive, or flash memory. The Good The affordable Samsung YP-U2 is a supercompact MP3 player with a convenient plug-in USB design; it includes an FM tuner, a voice recorder, subscription compatibility, a legible LCD, and an.
The Samsung YP-S3 is a small, slick, touch-sensitive portable audio/video media player priced at $100. SPCR’s first Short Take article.
March 31, 2009
YP-S3 MP3 Player YP-S3JCB/XAC – 8GB model |
Portable MP3 players have been around for a little over a decade, and they
are so ubiquitous today that it’s difficult to find anyone, young or old, who
doesn’t own at least one. Preceded decades ago by the likes of the Sony Walkman
cassette players, the digital media player has become a hugely important niche
in consumer electronics. The highly successful iPod, first released in 2001,
was probably the most important milestone for Apple in the past decade, signifying
its entrance into consumer electronics and triggering a major increase in brand
value and profitability. The iPod line dominates this market, but the number
of choices is staggering; almost every consumer electronics brand and many computer
brands offer media players in various price and feature configurations.
Giant corporation Samsung is one of the many Korean companies in the market, with several lines
of media players models on offer. The S3 is not the smallest, but probably the
smallest one that features video playback capability with a 1.8″ 176 x
220 LCD screen. It’s not dissimilar in size and shape to an Apple
iPod Nano, which is also similar in features, but with a 2″ higher resolution
320 x 240 display. The market
price of the Nano is some $30~60 higher, which helps give the YP-S3
a competitive edge.
The black YP-S3 with both display and touch sensitive controls lit up while playing a music MP3. It could be a bit too small for comfort with a large hand and fingers. If the control area is not touched for more than about 10 seconds, the control display blanks out. Leave it another 10 seconds, and the LCD blanks out, leaving an
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The S3 is similar to an earlier Samsung model, the YP-K3. It has a touch sensitive 7-button navigation menu, with a display that changes in response to the menu commands. The top menu choices are Music, Videos, Pictures, FM radio, Datacasts, Prime Pack, File browser, and Settings. Like other MP3 players, you drill down into the menu to find specific titles or files. Datacasts accesses podcasts and audiobooks and the Prime Pack section has games, a clock, alarms, and explanations of player functions. Settings allows you to change the menu style, set the audio EQ, and adjust the display sleep timer and screen saver, and other options. The menu system does not match the intuitive standard-setting wheel menu of the iPods, but it is easy enough to use after a short period of acclimatization. There is sometimes an annoying delay in response after a button press, perhaps a half-second or so, which can slow navigation. The menu controls can be easily locked down to avoid unneccessary interruptions, useful given the nature of any touch sensitive control pad.
The music files on the player can be accessed by artist, album, song, genre, playlists, recorded files (from FM radio), or music browser (all files listed alpha-numerically). There are shuffle and linear play modes as well. Supported media files are MP3, WMA (including Lossless) and OGG — not vast, but good enough considering the many audio file conversion utilities that abound. Naturally, iPod-specific audio files are not supported. The sound quality through the supplied earbuds is decent with enough clarity and bass to be listenable, but it improves tremendously through better headsets we had on hand, like Shure SE-210 earphones, Bose QuietComfort 3 or Grado SR60i headphones. With the better headphones, the sound quality is very good, on par with any iPod, and EQ can be tweaked to suit your personal taste.
The still photo viewer worked as well as could be expected on a 1.8″ LCD screen, as did the video function. The video files have to be uploaded via the Samsung Emodio software after conversion to SVI format. It’s difficult to imagine many users watching anything except short clips on this tiny screen, no manner how nice it looks, but judging by the absorption of some gadget-tethered commuters on big city subways and buses, there are always exceptions.
The Emodio software manages media files on the supporting computer and synchronizes it with the YP-S3. It also makes firmware updates to the player, a process achieved by downloading the update file from Samsung, then uploading it to the root directory of the player, which is updated when unplugged from the PC and powered up.
The FM radio is easy to operate, with multiple tuning options, including presets. Recording FM is also simple, and the recording quality can be set by the level of compression. Overall FM sound quality is very good, dependent much more on the stations and source material than the player, though reception quality can vary when you’re moving about, as with any radio.
Playback time with a full charge battery is specified as 50 hrs on music and 8 hours on vide, but these numbers seem exaggerated. No formal tests were conducted, but it’s doubtful that more than half the music playback time was achieved during several weeks of trial usage.
In conclusion, the Samsung YP-S3 is a slick and functional media player that offers good performance and lots of useful features for a hundred bucks. It’s not the epitome of user friendliness, nor the most versatile (limited file type support, no live audio recorder function), but for the casual use this product is likely to see, it’s an attractive, price-competitive balance.
Much thanks to Samsung Canada for the YP-S3 sample.
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Samsung YP-S3JCB/XAC Specifications
(from the
product web page)
| Type | Product Type | Flash Memory MP3 Player |
|---|---|---|
| Physical | Storage Type | Flash Memory |
| Memory Capacity | 8 GB | |
| Display Screen Size | 1.8″ | |
| Display Type | TFT LCD | |
| Display Resolution | QCIF (176 x 220) | |
| Embedded Speaker | No | |
| Embedded Mic. | No | |
| SD MMC Expansion Slot | No | |
| Available Color | White, Black, Red, Green, Blue | |
| Features | FM Radio | Yes |
| Picture Viewer | Yes | |
| Text Viewer | Yes | |
| Line-In Recording | No | |
| Voice Recording | No | |
| Video Viewer | Yes | |
| Game Mode | Yes | |
| Bluetooth | No | |
| Podcasting | Yes | |
| Time | Battery Playback Time (Audio) | 50 Hours |
| Battery Playback Time (Video) | 8 Hours | |
| Music Storage Capacity(@128kbps MP3) | Up to 2,000 songs | |
| Packaging | Dimensions W x H x D | 1.73″ x 3.74 x 0.39″ |
| Weight | 1.76 oz. |
| Format | File Format Supported | MP3, WMA, MPEG4(SVI), Ogg (UMS only), JPEG, TXT |
|---|---|---|
| Recording | FM Recording | Yes |
| Voice Recording | No | |
| Additional Features | Adjustable Play Speed | Yes |
| Alarm | Yes | |
| Album Art | Yes | |
| Wallpaper | Yes | |
| Clock | Yes |
| Connectivity | OS Compatibility | XP, Vista (+2000, ME: UMS) |
|---|---|---|
| USB Connection(MTP/UMS) | UMS, J(MTP) | |
| USB Host | No | |
| File Management | Mobile Playlist(Favorite) | Yes |
| Library( Artist, Album,Genre,Title DB sorting) | Yes | |
| File Navigation | Yes | |
| Sound Effect | User EQ | Yes |
| Custom | Multi-language | Yes |
|
* * *
Thanks to the iPod, the explosion of MP3 players has hit critical mass. With manufacturers all clamouring for a piece of the pie, the options for the consumer are wide and varied. The objective should be to create a unique and interesting product, either by design or features and offer it at a reasonable price. Samsung has come to market with the YP-U2 and while the 1GB of storage and the price point is welcomed, it may not be enough to lure you away from the competition.
The YP-U2 is about the size of an average USB memory stick and has a monochrome screen on the front. To the right of the screen is a four-way navigation pad with a central menu button. The top of the unit has two multi-purpose buttons, one for recording and menu interaction and the other for play, pause and on/off. The bottom has a small 'hold' toggle, used to lock the player to avoid undue track skipping while it is in your pocket. This minimalist design is fairly standard nowadays and didn't particularly win any favour with our team, while the iPod white colour scheme is quite plain and not exactly innovative. Inside the cover are two neon blue lights which turn on during start up, shut down and any time a button is pressed. The lights quickly become annoying and cannot be turned off.
The player can be attached to a lanyard affixed to the USB cover. The cover feels secure and clicks firmly into place but we were concerned that should the fastening abilities fade over time, users may find themselves walking around with a lanyard and USB cover but no player. The other end of the chassis would have been a much more logical and safe option.
The audio player supports WMA, MP3 and WAV files, all of which work well. It is however a basic device, and thus doesn't incorporate sorting by artist, title or album like the majority of MP3 players, making it less than appealing to those used to their comprehensive digital audio searches. What it offers in replacement is the ability to divide files into folders and navigate that way, which is a nice touch considering many entry level players simply group files in the root directory. Navigating was easy and moving in and out of folders was a breeze.
The quality of the audio is very good and will make listeners with high-end headphones quite happy. However, the supplied earbud headphones were underwhelming, with muffled bass and average mid-tones and treble. Again, since most of these kinds of players don't come bundled with exceptional headphones, we were neither surprised nor disappointed that the YP-U2 followed the trend.
The voice record option creates files in WAV format but the quality is sub-par. The microphone is quite good at cutting out ambient noise but the recorded voice is muffled and sounds distant. The microphone is also too sensitive and picks up the sound of your hands touching the device making it impossible to use as a hand held device.
The FM radio feature performed well in our tests with an adequate number of stations found, delivered in crisp stereo. You can also store preset channels as well and quickly switch between then with the press of a button. However, we were disappointed that recording the radio broadcast to the internal storage was not supported.
Samsung Yp U2j Digital Audio Player Recorder
Samsung also bundle their proprietary software called Samsung Media Studio with the YP-U2. It provides a hybrid of the functionality of iTunes and Windows Media Player but with less functionality. It's only function is to list all the music files on your computer and transfer them with one click of the button. There is no option to sort via artist, album name or any of the regular features of this kind of software. While the design and layout of the software is attractive, we don't really understand why anyone would need to install it since it isn't needed to transfer files. The YP-U2 supports drag and drop functionality so opening up this program to move files across is pointless.
Samsung Yp-u2j Digital Audio Player
The YP-U2 comes at a good price for a 1GB USB audio player but it is far from a ground-breaking piece of technology. It may be exactly what you are looking for, but in an already flooded market its lack of innovation leaves it at risk of being overlooked.