Samsung YP-P2 Flash-Based MP3 Player

Equipped with Bluetooth and a 3-inch touch screen, the YP-P2 shines at video and delivers top-notch, tweakable sound.Tim Moynihan

Friday, March 21, 2008 11:30 AM PDTSamsung's YP-P2 multimedia player is the Whopper Jr. tothe Apple iPod Touch'sWhopper. The YP-P2 looks like aslightly smaller and skinnier version of Apple's flagship MP3 player; and like the Touch, it provides a touch screen fornavigation.Available in 4GB ($200) and 8GB ($250) flavors, the YP-P2 features a crisp and colorful 3-inch wide-screen (480-by-272-pixel) display, which makes video viewing a pseudo-cinematic experience. Its abundant EQ settings and audiopresets are ideal for people who love tweaking audio settings.Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity lets you pair the YP-P2 with aset of Bluetooth headsets or speakers. Unfortunately, theplayer's FM radio doesn't support Bluetooth 2.0, so you canuse Bluetooth only for digital audio and video playback.We tested the YP-P2's wireless performance withSamsung's own portable BS300 Bluetooth speakers, andthe device demonstrated good wireless range. Given aclear line of sight to the speakers, audio streamed withoutinterruption from about 85 feet away. Through a closeddoor, audio streamed uninterrupted from about 30 feetaway.Though menu navigation is clean and intuitive, it took me alittle while to get used to the YP-P2's touch-screen control.When you turn it on, the main screen displays threeoptions: videos, music, and pictures. But more menu options lurk below those; to see them, you must swipe your fingerdownward on the screen. Doing so brings up the Bluetooth menu, settings options, a file browser, an FM radio with 30presets, and podcasts (which Samsung calls "datacasts").File support is a bit limited. The YP-P2 works with WMV and MPEG-4 video, MP3 and WMA music files, and JPEGimages. Digital video download/rental service support is restricted toCinemaNowandVongo. You can drag and drop files directly onto the player or use the bundled Samsung Media Studio software to put music,movies, photos, and datacasts on the device via the bundled USB cable.To supplement its touch screen, the YP-P2 has volume buttons (on the right side), a power button (on the left side), anda hold switch You'll definitely want to engage the hold switch while wiping off the screen because, otherwise,accidentally wiping the player with your sleeve can trigger the player's customizable "horizontal swipe" function, resultingin skipped tracks.I found the touch screen responsive and even a bit better than the one on myApple iPhone. The screen does smudgemore easily, however, and a few navigation shortcomings make the iPhone or iPod Touch's interface slightly more user-friendly.For one thing, the YP-P2 screen lacks the pinching and multitouch gesturing features of Apple's touch screens. And toselect menu items on the YP-P2, you must double-tap them. Though this makes for fewer missteps when you're

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