Vulpix
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2002
- Posts
- 138
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The player
Size comparison with my Dopod 838Pro phone (HTC Hermes/TyTn for America)
Specifications
Well, it looks like I finally found the perfect MP3 player for me. I've been looking for a certain player for myself, but most of the time none of them fit my requires. My requirements?
- Must be a flash player
- 8GB and above
- 3" screen minimum
- Preferably widescreen resolution
- Screen quality must be good
- Must be reasonably sized
- Must look good
After reading about the YP-P2 at Engadget, I waited patiently for the player to surface. When the player came to the local stores here eventually, I picked up one with a crystal case. It fits every bit of my requirement. It looks good, sounds good and with decent screen quality.
Interface
The player boots up without much delay, and has its own bootup music. Another nice touch is the *ping* sound that you get when you are changing between modes. This sound is only around when you are not playing any music or video.
Copying music in UMS was too easy. The only thing I did was drop and drop all my folders of music organised in folders, and after disconnecting the player, it parsed everything, and I could browse via album/artist without having to use any special software. And my folder structure was still intact!
The player is controlled by the touchscreen, aside from volume and the power button. The touchscreen is surprisingly sensitive when using my thumb, and I had no problems skipping to the next song using the motions recommended in the manual, like sliding left to skip songs, etc. This video will be able to explain what I'm saying better.
The music interface comes with some pretty visualizers, and customisable.
Sound Quality
I had a huge problem with the iPod Touch. The sound quality and the untweakable EQ. Mind you, I am not using the earbuds that come with it. I have tried using my Livewires T1 and Mylar XB, and I do not bother with bundled earphones ever. The sound of the iPod touch in any of the EQ mode was bland to me, and I did not enjoy using it for music. (This is just my opinion.)
The Samsung was fantastic. The player comes with a customisable 7 band equaliser with 15 steps on each bar, plus another 2 settings, one for enhancing the bass, and a gimmicky "3D" sound setting which I did not bother with. I could only store one EQ, but it's fine with me since the EQ somehow works with most of my music. Output is strong, and it overall sounds great with my earphones.
As for multiple formats supported, their new firmware added ogg support, so more choices for us. Let's be real, there is no point in putting lossless formats in a flash player. I'm very comfortable with 192kbps MP3s/OGGs.
Screen and Movie Quality
The screen is not as good as the AMOLED iRiver Clix2 unfortuantely, but it still looks great. The screen resolution is 480 x 272, perfect for widescreen shows. Almost every DVD and TV show out there is in widescreen format, so this is a good thing. My favourite part about the player? Their .svl format is actually a container for xvid, so videos actually look good when using Samsung's Media Studio for conversion. There was no skipping or lag in fast sequences from what I have tried out so far.
This is the output result of the file after going through Samsung's software.
The player also supports WMV9 format which I have yet to try out.
Bluetooth Functionality
I tried pairing it with my SonicGear SR300 A2DP headset, and it works well. Sound quality was not fantastic, but decent. Do note that any EQ settings applied will not be activated in BT mode.
Firmware & Support
Samsung has always been pretty prompt at releasing firmware fixes, plus their players have always been pretty stable. Just recently a new firmware was released to fix some bugs and added ogg support. Unfortunately, they are not known to add features like Cowon, but things are changing. Below is a quote from Samsung Korea's main page, their future plan for the YP-P2:
Quote:
| Originally Posted by Reported by YeppYepp.net The 1st Wave will be released in Mid December 2007 and bring a technology called Hands-Free Profile which will enable you to make phone calls with your P2. How? Well, it uses its unique Bluetooth technology to connect to your mobile phone and make & receive calls this way - now you can leave your phone in your pocket. It will also bring something called Object Push Profile, which will allow you to exchange data or files with any Bluetooth enabled device, like a phone or laptop. In addition, the P2 will now support AAC music format, which will allow superior sound quality at low bitrates in small filesizes. Excellent! The 2nd Wave will be released in Mid January 2008 upgrade the P2's GUI to EmoTure 1.5, which may include enhancements like smoother animations, bigger album arts, added glass effects...etc. You will also get 3 EmoTure based games fully utilizing the P2's touch screen, with more to come soon. FM Recording is also on the list, with DNSe 2.0 support while playing back your recorded files. For the Korean market, there is also an Electronic Dictionary to be integrated (Korean <-> English & English <-> English), as well as a Seoul Metro Navigation System, with built-in maps and shortest route planning & calculation. The 3rd Wave...well, according to Samsung, it will be 'Beyond your imagination' and will be out by Mid March 2008 |
Seems like there are many exciting changing for the player that are coming in the near future! As for fansites, there is only one major one, but the forums are kinda dead compared to the DAPReview/Anythingbutipod ones.
Final Thoughts
The player is nice, but it does come with its faults. I have no idea why Samsung had to use a proprietary connection instead of a mini/microUSB connection. It's one hell of a fingerprint magnet, and not everyone will like the touchscreen.
Despite the flaws, it's definitely one of the better players that is currently out in the market. I will definitely recommend this to anyone looking for an alternative to the Touch.
