When it comes to sound quality, a tiny speaker like this is never going to fill a room up, or even give you full, thumping bass response. Once you’ve opened the K5 up the screen also switches orientation, while the controls also switch – this is also where the second back button comes into play, although I’m still not convinced that it would have been hard to use just the one. The sliding mechanism feels very similar to the system employed by the Samsung mobile phones – it slides smoothly and then tilts upwards, allowing the K5 to balance in a landscape orientation. Obviously LCD screens can also suffer in bright sunlight, but not to the level of this OLED example.īut as I said at the beginning of this review, the K5 is all about innovation and that comes to light when you slide the front fascia of the device sideways and reveal an integrated stereo speaker. Talking of the screen, when you’re indoors it’s incredibly easy to see, but if you’re out in bright sunlight, it can be almost impossible to make anything out.
#SAMSUNG MP3 PLAYER MOVIE#
Conspicuous by its absence is any form of movie playback, but to be honest I wouldn’t ever want to watch video on a screen this small.
You can also view photos in JPEG format – they look surprisingly good on the OLED display too.
The K5 also has a built-in FM tuner, which works surprisingly well, even in the poor reception area of the TrustedReviews office. Samsung informed me that OGG support may be included in a firmware update, but if that’s true, I don’t see why it’s not there now. Unfortunately the K5 doesn’t support OGG Vorbis, which produces better sound quality than both MP3 and WMA, even though previous Samsung players that we’ve looked at did support OGG. The K5 supports MP3 and WMA codecs up to a maximum bit rate of 320Kbit/sec and 192Kbit/sec respectively. The K5 definitely sounds slightly better than my 4th generation iPod, although still not quite up to the standard of a Sony player such as the NW-A1000. Changing tack completely I fired up Cochise by Audioslave and despite the overdriven guitars I could clearly pick out every syllable of Chris Cornell’s vocals. I kicked off with Glory Box by Portishead, with its combination of haunting vocals and heavy beats – the result was a clean sound where the subtle tones were not overpowered by the heavy bass.
#SAMSUNG MP3 PLAYER PRO#
I tested it using a set of Ultimate Ears super.fi Pro dual-driver headphones and the K5 gave a decent account of itself. Unfortunately the Samsung headphones are not the most comfortable I’ve ever used, and even though they’re better than most bundled items, I’d still recommend spending some cash on a decent set.Īssuming that you do invest in a decent set of headphones, you’ll be treated to some pretty good sound quality from the K5. Rather than standard ear buds, these headphones do insert slightly into your ear canal, but not completely like the Ultimate Ears or Shure headphones that I’ve reviewed lately. They’re described as bass boosting headphones, and they go some way to living up to that moniker. The headphones that Samsung bundles with the K5 are definitely a cut above the norm. There’s no mains charger in the box, but the K5 will obviously charge over USB while it’s connected to your computer.
It’s a shame that Samsung hasn’t gone for a standard mini-USB connector, but then neither does Apple. At the other end you’ll find a standard 3.5mm mini-jack and the charging/synching connector. Push this the other way and it acts as the hold switch. On the top edge of the K5 is a sliding power switch that toggles the device on and off. You definitely need to flick the “hold” switch when you put the device in your pocket though, unless you want the volume randomly increasing or the track jumping. I’m not the biggest fan of touch sensitive buttons, but I can’t complain too much about the controls on the K5. You also get a menu button and two back buttons – more on that later. Control is handled by four arrow buttons, with an OK type button at the centre – pretty standard fare.
#SAMSUNG MP3 PLAYER FULL#
Once you feed it some juice though a bright OLED screen bursts into life and you notice a full array of touch sensitive buttons. The K5 looks pretty sleek, with what appears to be an all black fascia when it’s not turned on. The YP-K5 is the result of many design concepts and focus groups, with the goal being a truly innovative digital music player that could not only compete with the iPod but better it. Samsung is well aware of this situation and has decided to compete with the dominance of Apple by innovating.
Rightly or wrongly, given the choice, most consumers will go for an iPod if it’s not going to cost them any more than a similar device from another manufacturer. With its recent price drops, even Apple’s players don’t command a significant premium over the competition – a fact that makes life very hard for non-Apple branded products. MP3 players are fast becoming commodity items.
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