Samsung YP-P3 MP3 Player
May 4th, 2009 | By DavidAs a proud owner of the Samsung P2 for a little over a year now, I am well aware of the few bugs and inconveniences of the player. My main gripe about the P2 is the buggy touch screen and more few customization options. I was very excited to review the P3 to see if it improves upon the P2.
Being an avid music listener, I never leave the house without a media player and headphones. The P3 did a great job as being my main MP3 player, being able to listen to music, watch videos, and play some fun games. The LCD is very nice and bright, and reproduces good colors. The touch screen is drastically improved upon the P2 because it is made of glass, so even if you push down on it hard, the LCD screen underneath is never disturbed. The touch sensitivity is great, and is not a guessing game like it was with the P2. The added touch screen surface below the LCD was a great addition, as it can be easily located within a pocket and operated without having to take it out. However, the P3 shuffle feature is still the same as the P2; skipping to the next song will play a random song and skipping to a previous song will also play a random song instead of playing the previous song that was listened to.
The Bluetooth connectivity works great, and has a range of about 5 meters. The ability to use wireless headphones and being able to transfer files wirelessly is a great feature.
Charging the unit takes about 4 hours to complete, and can last a very long time when only listening to audio. The Samsung website advertises the expected battery life as 35 hours, and the actual life would probably be higher. Watching videos is another story, as it takes more processor power in order to play a video. The battery life sharply diminishes to about 5 hours. Also, the VibeWoofer feature which vibrates the player in sync with the low tones of a song also takes away from the battery life.
The size of the P3 is very thin, compact, and light-weight which is great for portability. The sleek brushed metal and chrome finish is very attractive, and when pulled out in a crowd, it’s bound to attract attention away from the iPods that scour the population. The interface that Samsung has implemented into the P3 is very fun and customizable. Navigating through songs on the P2 was a little annoying because all songs were organized into set pages, but on the P3, they are more fluid and free to sort just like the Touch. The haptics on the P3 also make the player more intuitive, because it vibrates whenever the touch screen is used. This helps especially when the P3 is in your pocket, and you are just “feeling” for the controls.
The sound quality that comes out of the player is up to par with onboard sound cards. Listening to music is very enjoyable with no static or distortions. The included earphones however are average. The treble is very crisp and clear, but the bass output is definitely lacking. Those looking for a great sound experience should invest in a pair of better headphones. I ran a comparative test between the P2 and the P3 using Audio-Technica ATH-ES7 headphones. On the P3, I set the DNSe preset to “Normal”, and turned on the Audio Upscaler (which is supposed to restore lost quality due to file processing) and on the P2, I set the DNSe preset to “Normal”. The differences between the two players are very minimal, and with the Audio Upscaler on the P3, the midrange sounded a little crisper, but that’s about it.
The DNSe 3.0 adds more sound customization options than the P2, with more presets and being able to control “Concert Hall” and “Clarity” options on the user made preset. Personally, I only adjust the equalizer to make my music sound more accurate depending on the headphones I use.
The FM radio function on the P3 is very clear and can handle a number of pre-set stations. FM radio recording is also available, and the playback is very clear and accurate. And lastly, the new flash player allows for user-created applications to be used with the P3, offering limitless possibilities for homebrew applications and games.
where did you get the p3 at?
What country are you in? Our particular P3 was provided to us by Samsung Canada. I haven’t seen it at any retailers yet though….
Oh… if this had a nice camera, Wi-fi, and SIM card support so we can use it as a Mobile
IT WOULD BE THE BEST DEVICE ON EARTH
i just cant get this anywhere in South Asia
@ hunting for the best Device:
Well to tell you the truth, I live in Taiwan and it is a small island. There are some stores that is selling it right now and it cost around $230 CAD ish. Still, $174 is still a great price.
I have the YP-P2 and i will buy this one for €89 throught REDCOON. Is amazing the YP-P2, a really good deice. Everything works with the decent firmware. Funny is, here in Portugal is not so very known and no such popularity as ipod and Creative
I want to buy that device and I’m in Canada! Can anybody tell me where I can buy this device..? So sad….
Can audio BOOKS be downloaded to this from sites such as http://www.netlibrary.com ?
If yes, can the audiobooks be bookmarked?
Can storage be increased from 8GB?
Audiobooks work so long as it’s in a .txt file. And the storage cannot be increased, but the P3 is manufactured in 8gb, 16gb, and 32gb.
So (excuse my being a bit dense on this?), my library says:
“eAudiobooksare available in one of two formats:
1. MP3 file format may be used on any supported player including iPod.
2. WMA format may only be used on Windows-based portable devices.”
And from their website I also see the following Samsung units are supported:
K3, S3, S5, T10, T7J, U5, YP-K3, Z5
Can you deduce from this information whether or not I will be able download books from my library via eAudiobooks to the Samsung YP-P3, whether or not I can stop listening and restart listening from that same location?
Thanks!
So sorry I misunderstood you. I read eBooks when you wrote AudioBooks. Yes, audiobooks will work perfectly fine with the P3 because it supports most audio formats including .mp3 and .wma. And yes, you can play/pause when you listen to books, and even if you turn off the player, it will resume to where you left off. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Damned if I can get the thing to talk to any of my computers. Driving me nuts.
I have the Samsung yp- P2Jby MP3 touch screen. can you tell me where I can find a instruction book on how to download audio books from my computer to the MP3 player, it will have to be a step by step simple (not computer talk) instruction. I am very bad on computers could be I’m 71 yrs young and have not mastered the computer yet…
Thanks
Doris