ONE Power/Hold button on the right side of the player is the only visible nodule on this music player.
Power on the Samsung Yepp YP-S3 and its LED-lit, touch-sensitive buttons come to life.
Samsung Yepp YP-S3
$129 (2GB) and $189 (4GB), from major electronics retailers
Cleverly hidden from sight when you don't need them, I found these controls - a standard five-way navigation pad as well as Back and Menu buttons - highly intuitive.
In music-playing function, the gizmo plays the MP3, OGG and WMA formats. Think easy listening.
Video will require some work on your part - you must use the bundled Samsung Media Studio software to convert and upload video files.
Battery life: you can milk 10 hours of music, videos and photo browsing on a full charge. The battery is not removable and you must charge the gizmo via the USB cable to your PC.
Audio quality was impressive. I was blown away by UK funk band Jamiroquai's Love Foolosophy - the bass lines enjoyed good enunciation and lead singer Jay Kay's vocals were well articulated.
Not enough bass? Bring on Samsung's DNSe 2.0 technology, which promises digitally enhanced sound, and select the Bass Boost preset. The compelling rhythm of bassist Paul Turner instantly sounded funkier without sounding too overpowering.
The S3 is not without fault though.
It suffered from very discernible slowdowns during operation. It seemed underpowered and unable to keep up with its graphics-intensive interface. Even scrolling through my playlist was a sluggish affair.
Video playback though - even on its 1.8-inch TFT LCD screen - is adequate. Colours were very nicely reproduced and images pleasant to the eye.
FINAL SAY
Nice touch-sensitive controls, snazzy good looks and excellent audio quality make the S3 a winner on many counts. Its sluggish interface is a letdown though.
This article was first published in Digital Life, The Straits Times on Oct 8, 2008.
