Samsung YP-Z5 (2GB) review

Features
The Samsung YP-Z5 will play MP3, WMA and secure WMA DRM audio files, so you can use subscription services like Napster To Go. There's also a JPEG photo viewer that can zoom in and out of photos -- you can select one of these as the wallpaper for your player. If you're feeling sentimental, you can play music while watching a slideshow of your pictures.

Given that Paul Mercer's team designed the menu systems on the YP-Z5, it's no surprise that it's both functional and visually impressive. The menus use a flamboyant zoom effect. Each time you select an option, it appears to fly towards you before evaporating somewhere in the foreground of the virtual world inside the player.

It's a metaphor that makes sense. You get the impression you're peeling away layers of menu hierarchy. It's not a vast functional improvement over the iPod's simple hierarchical menus, but it's fresh and easily understood. It also gives the YP-Z5's interface a strong identity that distances it from Apple's legacy.

When you want to transfer music, the YP-Z5 pulls a trick the nano can't match. Unlike an iPod, the YP-Z5 will mount on almost any file system as a generic USB drive. This means that whether you plug it into a Mac, a Windows or a Linux PC, the YP-Z5 will transfer MP3s using a simple drag and drop interface. There is no proprietary software to use -- it just works.

It can't be overstated how valuable this seemingly obvious approach is. Take Sony's players, for example, which refuse to mount on anything except a Windows PC running Sony's proprietary software. Or Creative's players, most of which refuse to mount on an OS X or Linux machine. It might seem obvious to consumers that using the tried and tested method of just dragging files onto a drive is the best way to transfer audio, but not, it would seem, to the major MP3 player manufacturers. Even Apple forces its users to run iTunes if they have an iPod.

With the YP-Z5, Samsung has sidestepped all the pitfalls of proprietary transfer software, and produced an MP3 player that doesn't put you in a software straitjacket. The perfect accompaniment to this easy transfer method would have been a standard USB connector on the player, but unfortunately the YP-Z5 uses a proprietary cable. It's a bizarre decision, given the otherwise flawless accessibility of the player. Also missing are an FM tuner and a microphone, both of which, it should be noted, are missing from every iPod.

While the YP-Z5 may fall tantalisingly short of improving on the iPod, it never works against you when you're trying to put music on it. Whether this is enough to compensate for the absence of something as easy as the Click Wheel is up for debate -- certainly this is the closest anyone's come to threatening the iPod to date.

Performance
We plugged the Samsung YP-Z5 into a pair of flat-response monitor speakers and a studio reference amp to compare audio quality between it and the iPod nano. Listening to This Isn't It by Giant Drag, the YP-Z5 sounded tight and punchy -- snare hits snapped like a prize-fighter cracking his knuckles, and the low-end was controlled and unmuddy. Our recording was a 256Kbps MP3 encoded by iTunes from the original CD.

Auditioning the same track on the iPod nano, there was little, if any, audible difference between the digital-to-analogue conversion (DAC) stage of both players. In fact, using a mixing desk to set up a cross-fader between the YP-Z5 and the nano, so that we could rapidly fade between them, the difference in clarity and tone was negligible.

Listening to Portions for Foxes by Rilo Kiley, the YP-Z5 gave this dynamic track almost the same drive and energy as the CD version. The complete frequency range was well-represented.

The YP-Z5 didn't over-emphasise the low-end and there was excellent separation between instruments. Listening to the same track on the nano, the difference was extremely subtle. The iPod nano has a very good reputation for sound quality among audiophiles -- this is largely attributed to the high-quality DAC stage and the inherent low noise of solid-state flash storage. Our tests demonstrated that the YP-Z5 can also compete at this level.

Listening on headphones, the YP-Z5 delivered a volume that went well beyond what our ears could bear. You won't want for volume on this player. The bundled black ear-buds are well made and deliver a fidelity of sound that will be good enough for all but the most discerning listeners. Insulation on the ear-buds could be better, but the fact they're not white makes a refreshing change.

If you're tired of MP3 players that force you to use proprietary software, the YP-Z5 is one of the best options out there. For those who are unsure, we'd recommend trying the YP-Z5's interface before you buy -- the shadow of the Click Wheel looms large.

Edited by Mary Lojkine
Additional editing by Nick Hide