Samsung is one of the most widely recognized electronic brand names in the world. Known mostly for its televisions, though, Samsung has dipped its toes into the world of MP3 players and media players with its Yepp line of players. The name Yepp comes from the model numbers of the Samsung MP3 players that all begin with the letters YP. Their first offerings to the media player market were less than impressive, but the Yepp 7 line which can hold up to 1 GB are helping their profile in this arena a bit.
Samsung MP3 players are easily recognizable by the joystick-like control on the front of the player. This is Samsung’s answer to Apple’s wheel, and while it’s nothing like that top-of-the-line Apple navigation device, it does work. The small players are boxy, like matchbooks, and come with lots of features you don’t find on other players. Even the small Samsung MP3 players with 512 MB of storage come with a color LCD screen and a picture viewer. And unlike some other MP3 players that are compatible with only one time of online music purchasing service, Samsung MP3 players use “PlaysForSure” technology, which makes their players compatible with every online music service.
The sizes range from a stick flash player to the 20 gig models, also complete with LCD screens. No MP3 and media player experts are wild about the Samsung MP3 players, even though the newest Yepp models could actually show great improvement over original designs. Still, Samsung MP3 players run about 10 hours on a charge, which is no significant improvement over other players. And the FM radio really isn’t a big consumer draw—who listens to the radio when they have their custom music selections at their fingertips? You can record FM radio, however, so for true radio buffs this could be a consideration. The color screen is small at 96 x 96 pixels, so it hardly seems a great feature for viewing pictures. The good contrast does make the menus easy to read, however. The ability to play music from all services could certainly be a draw for some consumers.
But despite these few features that might make some people seriously consider Samsung MP3 players over others, the price could be a deal breaker. Samsung MP3 players that offer similar storage as iPods cost up to 25% and 30% more. With the joystick in place of Apple’s standard click wheel, and a screen good for little else than reading the menu, few will opt to pay extra just for the ability to record off the radio.
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