Samsung YP-S5

When I reviewed the Samsung YP-K5, although the product was innovative it didn’t really impress me with regard to its features. So I've been waiting to see what Samsung would come up with next in the same range of devices... and voila, here comes the YP-S5.

Form Factor
The YP-S5 looks the same as its predecessor except that its white. It still has a touch-sensitive keypad under the display with 5-way navigation, a key for selecting various menu options, and return keys as well. The 3.5mm earphone socket and the proprietary USB charging / data transfer / audio-in port is located at the bottom, and the power-cum-hold slider is located at the top.

Like the K5, the S5 has a set of slide-out stereo speakers. The mechanism, thankfully, is still as smooth as ever so it’s easy to slide them out and back. I'm impressed by the fact that Samsung has managed to pare the player down to just 14.95mm – around 3.1mm thinner than the K5. Even though the screen size has remained the same at 1.8 inches, the resolution has been upped to 176 x 220 pixels.

Features and Performance
From the audio perspective the earphones are comfortable to use, though I rather missed the older design that came with the K5. The output of the player through the integrated slide-out speakers leaves a bit to be desired. It has a relatively pleasant decibel level when you’re in a quiet place, but then again, so are plenty of mobile phones with integrated stereo speakers.

The S5 supports MPEG4, JPEG, MP3, AAC, and WMA, and although the screen is a bit too small to watch a full-length video without a visit to the optometrist later, it’s okay for viewing short clips. Images may take a while to load (at full size), but they don't look too bad.

There's been a definite improvement in the FM radio, but a problem persists with reception indoors. Once outside, however, the pick-up is more than decent. The radio lets you record music on to the drive and also use the FM as an alarm. Other features include a text reader, a voice recorder, and a world clock. Samsung has also included five games with the device in case you get bored with music.