Product Reviews

Samsung's slick and well-designed YP-K5 is a bit pricey.

Apple's iPod is so successful that it seems that everyone wants to copy its design, with varying degrees of success. Refreshingly, Samsung has decided to go its own way with the YP-K5 and the results are quite impressive.

It's a little bigger than many other MP3 players, with no obvious controls other than a sliding on/off and hold switch. Turn it on though, and the front panel comes to life with some illuminated touch-sensitive buttons and a fair-sized colour screen. This can't play videos, but it's bright and clear enough to make an occasional photo viewer. It also displays an attractive menu system that blends from one page to another.

The YP-K5 is Plays For Sure compatible,

ADVERTISEMENT

so you can synchronise songs to it using Windows Media Player 10, or just copy them across in Windows Explorer. It took just five minutes and 27 seconds to fill the player's 1GB memory with songs, and its battery lasted for a little under 23 hours' continuous music playback - an impressive result.

We've had mixed experience with touch-sensitive controls, but those on the YP-K5 work well. They respond faithfully and consistently to inputs, and are fairly easy to work out. It doesn't take long for the front panel to get covered in greasy finger marks, though.

The player's large earphones are some of the strangest we've seen. Their drivers are at right-angles to the ear and their sound is channelled to you by odd rubber spouts that make them look like miniature hairdryers. They're bassy, but muffled, and you're probably better off swapping them for a better set. Alternatively, you could use the MP3 player's built-in speakers, which are revealed by sliding it open like a clamshell mobile phone. They're not very loud, but they're otherwise surprisingly good.

You can buy the YP-K5 with different capacities, but all the models are a little pricey. The 1GB version reviewed here costs around £15 more than the 2GB Sandisk Sansa e250, and you can pick up a 4GB iPod Nano for £15 less than the 4GB model.