Review: Samsung YP-K3 mp3 player

Black and gorgeously glossy, Samsung’s latest sounds as good as it looks

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Price: £89

Manufacturer: Samsung 0870 726 7864

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Verdict

Pros: Great sound; good looks; a cinch to use; good battery life
Cons: Case smudges easily; no AAC support; PC connectivity only via proprietary cable
Overall: A sleek, good-looking mp3 player that’s very easy to use and sounds terrific. Just pips the iPod Nano on price, but is PC only

Karl Foster, Personal Computer World 06 Jun 2007

Samsung has seemingly taken a leaf out of Henry Ford’s book. Unlike Apple’s rainbow of iPod Nanos, the YP-K3 PMP is liveried in black, although with an attractive chrome trim.

Switched off, you can’t see the front-panel controls, while the screen, a 1.8in organic display (OLED) is barely visible.

A flip of the dual-mode power/latch slider and its touch-sensitive icons spring to light giving access to a slick navigation system. The supplied Samsung Media Studio 5 is Windows (including Vista) only, but does an efficient job of ripping CDs to mp3 at rates of up to 320Kbps (WMA is also supported). There's also a tab that’ll bring up Samsung’s UK online music store.

USB2 connectivity makes for speedy upload of files, while navigating your portable library and customising device settings is a breeze thanks to well-thought-out menus and navigation buttons. Of course, the downside to the K3’s high-gloss finish is that finger smudges are quick to accumulate, so expect much polishing.

The supplied EP370 earphones deliver a sweet response and you can further tweak playback tone with one of five effects settings, including a handy bass boost for those lacking ear-canal phones, and an unusable over-ambient Concert Hall mode.

A built-in FM radio enables you to create a list of favourite stations, quality of reception depending on your location, while the OLED offers a passable view of stored Jpegs - the screen isn’t high-res enough for quality viewing.

Those with a penchant for slinky black gadgets will find the YP-K3 a tempting alternative to a Nano. With a suggested price that’s a fraction less, it’s a mite tastier than the Apple, but doesn’t have such extensive file support.

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