- $248 (2GB), $348 (4GB), $428 (8GB)
- Get it from authorised Samsung retailers

I am just as sick as the next reviewer of the term "iPod killer". But Samsung seems determined to come up with MP3 players that revive that misnomer.

Enter Samsung?s YP-K3, the challenger to the iPod Nano.

At just 50g, the K3 does not function well as a paperweight. And to all intents and purposes, it is similar to the bulkier K5, minus the external speaker.

The feature list includes an FM radio and a photo viewer, but it does not play videos or record voice memos.

On the arguably most important area of audio quality, I like the K3?s default equaliser setting, which managed to bring out the best of the various genres of music.

For example, the warmth in Michael Buble?s jazzy vocals or the dynamic symphonies of an orchestra.

And, yes, the powerful guitar driven tracks of bands like Coldplay and U2 are rendered with a great feel too.

I am not a fan of photo slideshows on tiny 1.8-inch Oled screens for the most part, but the K3 does a decent job if you want to impress people with your baby photos set to the current funky music track.

The battery can outlast a flight to New York, running over 25 hours with constant playback - at the default equaliser settings and at mid-volume.

Finally, the K3 connects to a PC using a proprietary USB cable for transferring photos and songs, and charging the battery too.

The widget works not just with the bundled Samsung Media Studio software, but also syncs with Microsoft Windows Media Player, and - surprise, surprise - iTunes on a Macintosh computer using the drag-and-drop method to shift songs over.

FINAL SAY

It may not be the famous last word in "iPod killers", but the K3 can well wear that label. It is a cool music player with impeccable audio performance.