Samsung YP-P3 Reviews (MP3 Players)

Samsung YP-P3 Review Finally, and after additional 50 bucks on FedEx Express, my Samsung arrived directly from Korea. For those, who can’t wait to the official launch, I’d highly recommend G-Market. This is in fact the only Korean site which allows you to pay A. with PayPal and B. which does not necessarily require a registration. Anyways, first let me start with the boxing. The boxing of the Samsung P3 is pretty average or classic. Besides the P3, Samsung only provides you with an USB cable, ear buds and an installation CD. This was actually pretty disappointing since I expect, at least, a printed version of the manual in this price-range. I mean Apple has one, plus, they’ve also added an iPod dock to the package. However, a good packaging does not guarantee a good product, and vice versa. So let’s take a closer look. The P3 is supposed to be the successor of the P2, which is also a full-touch device. Like the P2, the P3 is using a 3’inch touch-screen to display your actions. The two most significant changes can be found on physically and on the top. Contrary to the P2, which always looked pretty weak and “non-luxery” due to the plastic-case, the P3 is covered in an aluminum case, which gives the P3 is completely different feeling, for your hands as well as your eyes. I guess this is something everyone needs to judge for himself, but at least, I was satisfied with this change. On the top of the P3, 3 buttons can be found; a button to start your P3, two buttons to change your volume. Furthermore, Samsung placed the mono-speakers on the top of the P3. However, besides the described changes, separating the P2 from the P3 visually, might be as difficult as separating the first and second generation of the Apple iPod Touch. Anyways, as said, visually both devices are pretty much the same, but inside the P3 (I’m talking about the new interface and stuff), that’s where the changes have been made. Whereas the P2’s interface was kinda 08/15, Samsung has done a better job this time. The interface of the new P3 is really breathtaking. I would even go that far to claim that the P3 has a better interface than the iPod Touch. An inch difference, but I’d say that the P3 provides the “more” user-friendly interface. Plus, Samsung added one great and, until now, unique feature to their P3: A responsive interface (vibration), Samsung calls “Haptic”. Haptic already has been used and proofed itself on Samsung mobile-phones across Korea. To keep it short, the P3 interface reacts to each of your actions individually. Even if you listen to music, your P3 will respond and mirror the beats of your track, in terms of, vibrations. Sounds weird or uncomfortable? Believe me it’s not! Furthermore, another great feature the Haptic features is, are the available widgets, such as the “bulb”, to adjust your screen-brightness, or a “cat”, for automatic shutdown. In total, the P3 supports up to 12 widgets (8 functional widgets and 4 are more to make up your display), which easily can be placed among 5 of the available desktops. Well next in my list of features, I’d like to introduce is the new, upgraded, DNSe-technology. This time, the version is 3.0 and just in advance, but this version could be called 5.0 since it’s like almost a galaxy better than the 2.0, which can be found in pervious Samsung-models. However, after using the 3.0 version of DNSe, I can assure you, that this is one of the best audio-qualities I’ve experienced so far. Creative and Sony provide great outstanding sound, and Samsung joined their ranks. Yet, I was unable to find the “best” EQ-settings, but already in default mode, the P3 sounds better than most of the MP3-devices available, including the iPod Touch. The high-quality sound also can be adapted to videos, you can watch on the P3. Although the video-function isn’t as good as the competitor’s one, it’s enough to watch videos on road. But I wouldn’t recommend it to those who are really looking for a mobile cinema. This is actually a pity, since the P3 belongs to the “support of more file-formats”-players. In general, the P3 supports various format files. I could only test H.264 (Video) and OGG (Music) on the P3, but the P3 is supposed to support a wide-range of file-formats, which shall provide you with additional comfort. (Since you wouldn’t have to covert them all over again, eh?) However, as great and good the positive aspects are, the negative aspects of the P3 cannot be ignored. In the first part of this review, I told you that the “Haptic”-interface is a nice innovation, but it’s too bad Samsung didn’t spend more time on research. Don’t get me wrong the interface is fine, but at some points, it just responds too slowly. Luckily, Samsung is aware of these problems and they’ve already prepared firmware’s, which speeded up the whole interface enormously but for those who are used to the fast, smooth interface of the iPod Touch, the P3 interface will be almost like a torture in the beginning. In addition, and this might be the biggest edge Apple and co. might have in opposition to Samsung: Wi-Fi. Creative, Apple are supporting Wi-Fi. Samsung doesn’t. De facto, the P3 only supports Bluetooth. Regarding Bluetooth I was actually uncertain, whether I have to say it’s a “Pro” (since I’m someone who uses Bluetooth headphones) or a “Con”, and, well, in the end, I decided to put this in the “Con”-section. I assume, most of you guys require Wi-Fi, especially for a product within this price-range. And, well to be honest, I have no idea why Samsung didn’t put Wi-Fi in their devices, but one thing I know is, it’s missing and I’d love to use it. Of course, I also like Bluetooth and I’m glad Bluetooth made it to the P3, especially under the circumstance that the iPod Touch doesn’t support Bluetooth, but WiFi + Bluetooth would have been great. Another product the P3 faces is battery-time. I don’t have any numbers, but from what I’ve experienced so far, Apple and the other companies are better. Anyways, and concluding my review, I’d like to express that I’m a very delighted Samsung P3 user. Samsung has done their job, and finally they are now among the top MP3-companies such as Apple, Cowon or Creative and I think that the P3 is without doubt, going to be a real contender. Still it’s missing a few things to be as good as the iPod Touch, mostly due to missing Wi-Fi and the immature interface. However, I can recommend this product to everyone, who is interested in high-quality sound, a new innovative display and a player which supports almost every available format. For the very rest, it will be best to test the products right at a nearby mall but the P3 is definitely a good, or even a great choice.

Soundquality (DNSe3.0), Haptic UI, Format Support

No Wi-Fi (only Bluetooth), Battery-time