Samsung's latest miniature MP3 player offers standard music and photo capabilities. It's also PlaysForSure subscription compatible and includes an impressive 30 hours of battery life. But is it ready to dethrone Apple's nano?
Review summary of the Samsung YP-Z5:
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 The Samsung YP-Z5 offers good sound and excellent battery life. Unfortunately, it's controls are difficult to use and take some getting used to (unlike Apple's Click Wheel). Sound is crisp and photos look bright and colorful. An FM tuner and video playback would have been nice perks. Release: March 2006. Price: $199.
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Full review of the Samsung YP-Z5:
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Music playback - Very good
Music sounded crisp but some vocals were a bit soft. Bass was also a bit weak on several songs, but generally the YP-Z5 produced an enjoyable listening experience. There are 11 EQ presets and most worked well. The YP-Z5 supports MP3, WMA, and OGG files, but doesn't work with lossless or Audible content. Windows Media Player is needed to transfer music onto the YP-Z5; overall the process was painless.
A bright 1.8-inch screen displays photos and album art. Images look clear and vibrant. You can even use a JPEG image as the background. Unfortunately, the YP-Z5 doesn't play video clips or include an FM radio.
Ease of use - Good
The YP-Z5's controls have a learning curve to say the least. A touchpad below the LCD controls the action with rewind, fast forward, play/pause/power, and back buttons surrounding it. It's not as smooth as Apple's Click Wheel, and we had a hard time controlling it at first - often skipping the function or song that we were trying to select.
Once you get the hang of the touchpad it becomes easier to control, but be ready to scroll backwards should you move your finger too fast. Volume controls on the right side are large and easy to adjust. The YP-Z5's interface is fairly simple to navigate.
Battery life - Excellent
The YP-Z5's battery life is rated at 35 hours, which is excellent. Even after using the player on several commutes from New Jersey to Manhattan, the battery meter barely moved. This longevity beats almost every player including the nano.
Price and availability
The Samsung YP-Z5 will start selling for $199 to $249 () in March 2006.
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