Customer Reviews

Samsung Galaxy 5.0 Android MP3 Player

5 star:		(156)
4 star:		(51)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

My son got iPod Touch 8G (4th Gen) last Christmas and he likes it overall, but there were several issues that we are not so happy about. So, I've decided to try out the Galaxy Player for my daughter. I preordered it through Amazon and, with Amazon Prime, the Galaxy was delivered on Mon, Oct. 17, which was two full days earlier than promised. :-) So, here's what our family's experience has been over last two weeks.

- Galaxy 4.0 vs. 5.0: I settled on 4.0 since it is mainly used as a music player and a hand-held game machine for my daughter and, thus, the smaller size makes it more convenient for her to carry it around. I did try out Dell with a 5-inch screen at BestBuy to get the feel for larger 5" screen, and, although I liked it better for web surfing and videos, I felt the 4" would be just fine for her. So, if you are going to use the Galaxy to stream shows over NetFlix or consume media on the web, then you might be better off with 5.0.

- Galaxy vs. iPod - Screen: There's only an half inch difference between them, however Galaxy looks much larger and much, much brighter than iPod. Although iPod has slightly higher mechanical resolution at 960x640 than Galaxy's at 800x480, I like the Galaxy's screen better and find it to be easier to look at than iPod's.

- Galaxy vs. iPod - Sound:

(1) For both machines, sounds coming out of earphones are nothing special. Some earlier post mentioned that the Galaxy's earphones are 'crappy/horrible', but in my opinion, they are pretty much dead even; iPod's earphones are equally 'crappy/horrible'. So, if you want much better sound quality, I recommend you to buy a set of more expensive earphones. For non-audiophile, both of them are adequate and serviceable.

(2) For sounds from built in speakers, Galaxy is much better than iPod. Galaxy produces clearer and more crisp stereo sounds than iPod does.

(3) For in-car sounds, they are comparable. They both generate much better sounds than through earphones.

- Galaxy vs. iPod - Web surfing: For Youtube videos, Galaxy performs faster than iPod. For other general websites, iPod tend to be slightly faster, but it is because many websites have flash contents and Galaxy loads all of them. Actually, I do like the fact that you can view all the videos on the regular Youtube site with Galaxy; it's not limited to just Youtube Mobile videos. Also, that small difference in screen size makes a big difference in viewing web pages, so Galaxy shines here.

- Galaxy vs. iPod - Apps/Games: It depends on whichever app/game you prefer. For my daughter, Galaxy has a full range of free games/apps that she can play, including Angry Birds, so it's a non-issue.

- Galaxy vs. iPod - Battery: Yes, we all could use longer lasting batteries. But we found Galaxy's battery to be excellent for music listening and video playing. However, if you play games all the time, then you'll find both Galaxy and iPod batteries to be inadequate.

- Galaxy vs. iPod - File Management: If you're married to iTunes, you are going to like iPod better, but I found iTunes to be extremely buggy and slow, not to mention very limiting. So, it felt very refreshing not to have to be tied to iTunes to manage my files. In addition, I didn't have to convert videos to play on Galaxy since it plays most of the known video types. Again, if you're tied to iTunes and don't know what else to do, go with iPod. But if you want flexibility and know what you're doing, Galaxy is better.

- Galaxy vs. iPod - Camera: This is one of main gripes that I've had with iPod. Galaxy's camera wins, hands down. Also, Galaxy handled Skype video chat with ease and we didn't have any issues with casual picture taking. However, if you want to take really high quality pictures, buy a separate digital camera.

In summary, my son likes his iPod and my daughter is happy with her Galaxy. However, if I'm interested in a media player/mobile internet device and wouldn't want a phone/data contract, I'll definitely pick Galaxy over iPod Touch. I'm actually considering buying Galaxy 5.0 myself this Christmas. :-)

I've owned several mp3 players and tablets from microsoft, apple, sony, etc, but none of them attended most of my expectations.
When I bought my Samsung Galaxy Player I also bought an iPod touch to compare both at the same time.

The Galaxy Player was faster at web browsing, navigating throughout the device in general, etc.

Even the ear-buds that come with it are good quality. Better than Apple's. Deep bass and nice distribution on the trebles and mediums. I had just bought a Klipsch s4i which is a really wonderful pair of ear-buds, but not needed after I tested this samsung one.

The screen quality of the iPod touch is still superior due to the 960x640 pixel resolution, but the bigger size (5 inches) of the galaxy's screen makes it way more comfortable to your eyes (the quality is still really impressive though).

The galaxy's internal stereo speakers are not like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 inches' which are wonderful, but they beat the iPod's " mono speaker" without a doubt.

The iPod has an upper class quality microphone to record voice memos and videos. The galaxy's one is not the best, but they still pick up instruments' sounds pretty well. If you want to record a concert with your galaxy player, you can do that with this 5 inches one.

The notification bar in the iPod touch with the new iOS 5 is pretty much not useful. It works better with an iPhone, but the galaxy player's notification bar works well just as if you had a mobile phone.

The super advantages of the galaxy player over the iPod is: - it has a microSD card slot (which you can expand up to 32GB). You can have all your videos, movies, music, and pictures in different microSD cards if you choose to. It is really easy to install in the device. - it has GPS built-in. It works really well with pre-loaded maps. - it has FM-Radio which works really well.

The touch screen of the galaxy is very responsible.

I could find all apps I had in my iPod in the android market and they all work fine. For example, Netflix, Skype, Pandora radio, YouTube, Facebook, Kindle (the screen is big enough to read books), B&N Nook, MySpace, UsaToday. etc.

The Netflix image quality on the iPod is superior, but not very noticeable. The galaxy's quality is still very good.

The 3.2 MP rear camera on the galaxy player is way superior than the iPod's one. Pictures (with flash and videos are really good.

The front facing camera on the galaxy is superior as well, but if you want to record with it, you have to download an app that will allow you to and the quality is not the best. The iPod's front facing camera records just as good as its rear camera.

The battery life in the galaxy is superior to the iPod's one (that is my personal experience). Some people are just lucky with batteries.

The only big disadvantage that galaxy player has compared to the iPod is the lack of a software to sync your files like the iTunes for apple products. I had all my music sorted by genre in playlists on my iTunes that I could just sync with my iPod. I don't have that with my galaxy player yet, but that's not the end of the world. You can easily search for the song, album, or artist you want with the search option in the galaxy music player. Samsung will probably come up with one pretty soon.

Well, that is a pretty long review, but I just decided to write everything that I tried to find, and I couldn't, when I wanted to know which music player would be the best for me.

Just to sum up what I'm saying in this review:

Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0
- Fast web browsing and navigation
- Good quality ear-buds
- Excellent screen size and good quality of image
- Good internal stereo speakers
- Ok microphone to record, but excellent for video chatting
- Useful notification bar (e-mail, updates, facebook, etc)
- MicroSD card slot, GPS, FM-radio
- Diverse and still expanding android market (app store)
- Good video streaming function (Netflix)
- Good quality rear camera with flash
- Good battery life
- No versatile sync software like the iTunes from Apple "yet".

I took my iPod back and stayed with my Galaxy Player very happy so far.

I hope this review was useful to you!

There are a lot of people who are comparing this to the iPod touch, and rightfully so. But I thought I'd give it a different perspective, as someone who has owned both the 4.0 and 5.0.

First off, I love these Galaxy Players. They both run the Android OS 2.3.5 (Gingerbread), which is a very slick, smooth, easy-to-use interface. In my opinion, it's a little more complicated than iOS, but nothing that's overwhelming, and if you've used a touch-based OS, you can get the hang of this in no time.

Both players are solid and well-built, with GPS, rear and forward-facing cameras, a microSD slot and stereo speakers. Aside from the power and volume buttons, there are no other hardware buttons on either device; the home and menu buttons are touch-sensitive. This can be a bit of a pain if you hold the device in landscape mode, though, as the buttons are sensitive and I find myself accidentally pressing them. This is of course, easily remedied by holding it from the other side.

You can also access the Android Market from both devices, which opens them up to thousands of apps which enhance each unit's useability and functionality. And because both have microphones and speakers, if you have access to wifi, you can use Skype or Google Voice to use the Players as phones. Truth be told, judging by Samsung's bundling headphones with microphones and how much they look like phones, I'd imagine that's what they're thinking most people will use these as--phone replacements.

And speaking of replacing gadgets, because Google Maps now allows you to cache maps for use offline, you can replace your GPS unit with the SG Players. It has built-in GPS and turn-by turn navigation software. You'll still need internet before you leave for your destination, but once you've cached the maps, you're good to go. I've only tested it once, but it seems to work like a charm. And using wifi and GPS, your location can be displayed startlingly accurately with satellite maps.

While everything I've written so far is true for both devices, there are differences between the two, and some potential buyers who are on the fence may want to know about them before deciding:

- The 4.0 has a much sharper screen than the 5.0. Both have an 800 x 600 pixel display, but because the 5.0 uses a 5-inch LCD, pixel density is obviously higher on the smaller 4.0. Plus, Samsung incorporated their Super-Clear technology, and the colors really pop on the 4.0, with blacks looking deeper. The 5.0, though, is still very nice.

- The 4.0 has a user-replaceable battery, which is easily accessed when you pop off the rear cover. The 5.0's rear cover cannot be removed, so no access to the battery.

- The 4.0 has a 1200mAh (5 hrs. video/36 hrs. audio) battery while the 5.0 has 2500mAh (8 hrs. video/60 hrs. audio).

- The 5.0's rear camera has an LED flash, while the 4.0's camera does not.

- The 5.0's microSD card slot is easily opened via a small flap on the side. The 4.0 requires you to open the entire back of the unit to access the slot, much like on a cell phone.

- Both units have a vibrate function, but it appears that full haptic feedback is not an option available for use on the 5.0. I checked the settings on both, and haptic feedback and intensity are both options on the 4.0, while it's not on the 5.0. I'm not sure why.

- And finally, maybe it's just my unit, but the touchscreen doesn't seem as accurate on the 5.0 as it does on the 4.0. I make more mistakes typing, open up wrong apps, or click on incorrect links on the 5.0 than I did on the 4.0 (despite the 4.0's screen being smaller). Like I said, maybe it's my imagination or just my unit, but the 4.0's touchscreen seemed more precise. Not by a lot, and it's not a major issue, just my personal observation. I'd probably not have noticed it had I not owned both devices and used both side-by-side for a few days.

Again, these are all small differences, so it'll depend on what you're looking for. If you want a solid multimedia device in place of an iPod touch, get the 4.0. If you want a small tablet, like I did, I'd go for the 5.0. It is a little large (I get strange looks from people who think it's my phone), but it's perfect for viewing movies, maps, and photos. It's a great device that suits my needs perfectly.

I'd have given the SGP 5.0 five stars, but I don't like how I feel like I had to compromise between the better quality screen and user-replaceable battery of the 4.0 and the larger screen, LED flash, and easily accessed microSD slot of the 5.0.

Still, I love both, and though I returned the 4.0, I'd easily recommend it over a similarly-priced iDevice (and this is coming from an Apple fanboy). But for me, the 5.0 is in a class by itself!

**UPDATE** - I also wanted to mention something I noticed about the cameras on these units. Yes, they are both 3 MP cameras, so they take much better pictures than the iPad or iPod touch, but they also suffer horribly from shutter lag (the time it takes from button press to the picture being taken). You press the shutter button, the camera hunts for focus, and then it goes off. From the ten or so pictures I took indoors, they all took at least a second or two between shutter press and the photo actually being taken. This may be acceptable for still subjects, but for kids or moving subjects, this renders the camera nearly useless. It wasn't a deal breaker for me, as I'll probably just use the camera to scan receipts or barcodes, but everyone else should keep in mind that the SGP will most likely not replace your dedicated digital camera.

My own video review: search iTubeDevon on YouTube.

First I'd like to say that the IPOD Touch 4G was my FIRST ever MP3 player and I've been using iOS forever. These are MY opinions about the device. so please don't bash my review. Thanks!

I just bought this device and I've been playing with it all day. At first I wasn't sure if it was worth the price, but after a while I decided to give it a try.

The Device itself:

All I can say is WOW! I never expected this SGP to be this nice. A lot of people have been giving negative feedback about this thing, and I have no idea why. I'll lay out the Pros and Cons just to give you guys a summery. But anyway, the device is not heavy at all, it's a pretty good size for my pocket(5" Version), and it's not that thick either. Surprisingly the screen looks amazing, even though it's a WVGA (800 x 480) Resolution- it still looks clear and crisp(expected from Samsung). The touch screen is also very responsive, just like the IPOD Touch 4G. Camera is pretty good for a 3.2 mega pixel with flash. Pictures are clear, a little better outdoors than indoors. It has 720p Recording(Not HD, it has 720x480 recording and HD would be 1280x720) and all that good stuff. Recording is better on the iPod touch, but the camera is better on the SGP. It has microSD which rocks! The devices white plastic cover has a pretty nice feel to it, although it feels kind of cheap- not terribly cheap, but it could have been A lot better. Not a huge issue though. The capacitive buttons seem responsive(The international SGP has a dedicated button, US Version doesn't) as well.

Battery:

I didn't have any problems charging this thing. When I got it out of the box it was almost out of juice, so I plugged it in and it took about an hour to get full battery. I saw some other reviews where guys were saying it takes a very long time to charge- well mine doesn't take that long. The battery lasts quite a while, as I said I've been using it all day. it's at about 50% battery life when I started typing this review.

Interface/Android/Apps:

Awesome. Skype video calls are working ok- a bit buggy and it has some echo in the voices, but it should be fixed sooner or later. The android market works like a charm, no lag at all. I downloaded a few apps like engadget app, weather widgets, ect. downloading apps are smooth as well. I haven't really had a chance to download games and all of the Samsung apps. I'm sure they run smooth, but I'll update the review when I do get a chance. Movies/Videos look sharp and beautiful on this 5" screen(never had a device this big before). Audio/Music is clear and sounds great.

Samsung galaxy player VS Ipod Touch 4G:

Well to put it this way, it's up to the person. me personally... I would go for the galaxy because of the expandable storage space(microSD),the bigger screen, Flash player in browsers, support for basically ALL video formats(Drag and Drop. WOOT!), no iTunes to waste my time. although, iPod doesn't feel cheap like the SGP, which I still think is not a big deal. The sound a a bit better on the galaxy player, plus you can set up the audio the way you want it. Ipod has a better screen, hands down. It's sharper then the SGP even though Samsung did a good job with the way it looks, since it's only a WVGA (800 x 480) Resolution.

I'll be doing a SGP VS Ipod touch vid on youtube so yeah.

PROS:

- Huge screen.
- Runs the latest Adobe Flash Player.
- Runs the latest Android(2.3.5, most likely up-gradable to Ice Cream Sandwich since Android devices running 2.3 are going to able to). Quote from Engadget posted Oct 19th 2011 12:04AM (Samsung and Google's Ice Cream Sandwich event) "Okay, so we've already seen Ice Cream Sandwich running on the Nexus S, but that was decidedly... unofficial. We've just heard straight from Google's Gabe Cohen that the Nexus S will definitely be getting ICS. In fact, both he and Matias Duarte think most Gingerbread devices will see an upgrade, saying: "Currently in the process for releasing Ice Cream Sandwich for Nexus S. Theoretically should work for any 2.3 device." It's hardly a surprise and there's no specific word on timing just yet, but hopefully it won't take long to move that vanilla Android device up to something with a breaded exterior."
- MicroSD for more space.
- GPS.
- Adroid Market.
- Support for most video formats(no conversion needed).
- 3.2 MP Camera(Hey! it's pretty good for a PMP).

CONS:

- hardware is not really that great, I haven't dropped it yet(Hope I never do!!). But I would suggest getting a protective case.
- No SuperClear AMOLED screen(Awwww... it still looks amazing though).
- 1Ghz processor(Not an issue for me, although people would prefer dual core).
- A little thick- not as slim as the iPod touch, but it will do.
- Battery charging it not as fast as I'm used to. Since I've been using the iPod touch for so long, I'm use to the speed of charging with it.
- Only 8 gigabytes of storage when it SHOULD be 16.(Thank god for microSD).
- 328MB of ram.
- Only has 480p video recording, although the 3.2 MP Camera makes up for that.

Conclusion:

Over all, I love this PMP- I've been watching it since February and I finally got my dirty hands on it. Should you buy this device you ask? It's up to you. I jumped from my ipod 4G to this, so yeah. it depends on the person! I'm not a fan boy, I just want a PMP that works for ME. I don't care what people say about something when I haven't even given it a try yet.

if there's any errors in this review or false information please let me know by leaving a comment-

Thanks.

POSITIVES:

I have an ipod touch and it is the best BUT the camera is horrible. I bought the Archos 43 because it has a 2.0 megapixel rear camera BUT the touch screen is horrible and almost unusable. So, I decided to buy the Samsung Galaxy 5.0 because on paper it has everything I needed.

Number 1...
it has a 3.2 megapixel camera with a flash.
Number 2...
it gives me access to the android market. The Android version of Siri called Iris works great on the Galaxy 5.0.
Number 3...
the screen size is a bit bigger and more reader friendly.
Number4...
the touchscreen is basically the same one on the ipod touch, not like the Archos 43.

NEGATIVES:

Number 1...
my favorite app "Sirius Radio" does not work on the Samsung Galaxy 5.0 (as of Oct. 17, 2011). Update: Oct.22, 2011.....The Skype App has been updated, now BOTH front and rear cameras work with skype, plus volume problems have been fixed....YEAH! now they just need to update the Sirius Radio app.
Number 2...
storage capacity. Only some apps can be moved to the microSD card. I guess thats not the Galaxy players fault, its the fault of the app makers.
Number 3...
the camera. It takes the best "outdoor' photos of any camera I have ever owned BUT "indoor" photos with the flash are kind of grainy.

Conclusion:

The Samsung Galaxy 5.0 is the BEST Android player on the market. 100% better than the archos 43. The Galaxy player has a better camera than the ipod touch BUT the ipod touch has a better choice of apps.

By the way, I posted some sample pics taken with the Galaxy 5.0 camera (click on "customer images" at the top of the page). Hmm? the quality of the pics changed when I uploaded them to this site. The outdoor pic is not as clear and the indoor pic with the flash looks better. Not a good representation of how the pics actually look.

First off I'd have to say I am pretty happy with my device. For all of you putting in lot ratings you need to remember such facts as

Its not a phone (but you can use it like one given you use skype or other apps to call on) no 3g or 4g here nor edge.
Its not up to the current techonogly used in phones due to its price (its got a single 1 ghz proecssor compared to the 1.2 dual core and 1.5 dual core processors in the current Iphones and Android phones)

With that in mind let me continue with the Review. As far as How I like it...I love it! The built in Micro SD card slot more than makes up for its low storage capacity. Samsung got it right with this feature and one I feel that Apple got horribly wrong granted you have the cloud but it still doesn't beat having it right there. You can swap in and out up to 32 gb SD cards and it works great (granted it does take some time for the media scanner to find whats on the sd card).

Battery life with this Device is what I expected for music playback. You can have this thing on all day and charge it when you go to bed if you listen to music on it (because you most likely will be doing more while listening to music anyways). Music I feel is clean and crisp and the earbuds that come with it are Amazing...beating out a pair I have had for a bit that cost 60 bux and have noise cancelling. You have a equalizer (forgive me if i spell that wrong LOL!) which you can change the base and treble as much as you like. Granted you have to have headphones or earbuds to use the feature and tell the difference it is still a fabolous feature to have.
Another thing I love about this device is the build in radio. Since the device is very portable It will require you to use your earbuds as a antenna, when I use my samsung earbuds with it the radio is crystal clear. With others it is not as clear and gets fuzzy.

Applications on the device are very easy to install a majority of them work but Android creators need to fix the os a little so it is more universal. Currently some applications will not work because they have to be tailored for the device. Not a samsung flaw just a android flaw in general. That said most apps run streamline and work great. That said there is a drawback to this device if your using it to multi task. I have noticed that sometimes the music will stop for a second but it really isn't that much of a pain Music resumes after a second if your really multi tasking and using apps is enjoyable...note that some apps that have sounds will play along with the music player on the device so keep that in mind. App installing is easy you can do it from the mp3 players market application or online via the market website one click and it auto downloads and installs in the background...pretty genius

Caught in the dark or the power goes out and all you have is your fancy samsung galaxy player? There is a app for that...get a flashlight app and turn your mp3 player in to a flashlight to light the way! Using your led flash as a flashlight you will be able to see in the darkest of areas at the press of a button! cant beat that! I love it!

Got a Samsung TV (some models this works on) you can get a wireless Remote app from samsung to control your tv...Also you can use the DLNA with this device so you can watch all your favorite recorded shows/movies from your home server (granted it works with DLNA)

On a Side note the only thing I have against marketplace is that the Free applications if you do choose to restore you have to redownload...other than that its pretty streamline

Now the main reason I love this device is because of these reasons
Front and back facing camera....This feature is awesome and having the ability to not only video chat but to also take great pictures outside and good indoors (make sure you have great lighting and dont use flash indoors)
For PDA Use such as a calandar, keeping up with contact lists, if you use facebook or twitter it has that too as well as all the chat programs you could ever want...so as far as keeping up with your every day live its a life saver, also there are apps for banking taxes and other things...if you can think of it you can do it.
The ability to check all your e-mail accounts on this Mp3 player is very handy and it syncs with your email as well as google email and the others you can get a app for so you can check them so e-mail is in easy reach
Google apps on the device will allow you to sync your pictures taken from the device,calandar entrys,contacts from the player to the services on google without you having to do a thing but signing in for syncing options. This feature is a godsend for people that are on the move.

Now the apps I love for this device are the apps that allow you to login to your computer at home (note: you will need windows XP professional Windows 7 professional or windows 7 ultimate to remotely log in). Forget that file at home your covered if you have a wifi connection.

Sorry to go back to the Google Contacts but I have to bring it up for this reason. If you have contacts that you have put your information in for and say you dont know how to get where they are going. As long as your connected to your wifi you can go to google maps and find directions. If you are still thinking wow this is going to be hard...there is a navigation option in google maps that will basically turn your mp3 player into a navigation device (you have to turn gps on for this feature to work right). As soon as you have the navigation working you dont have to be connected to the wifi and it will guide you where you need to go. Only had one time where it lost gps signal other than that its flawless.

Hate wearing headphones or earbuds with cords? Easy fix is you can Enable the Bluetooth (yes I said bluetooth) on this mp3 player and play music via your bluetooth headset or you can go buy a nice bluetooth headset and rock out! A very nice feature and it is really awesome to thing of using wireless headsets with your wireless device.

Video Recording is okay to good. Front camera isn't going to make you look amazing...its not hd so dont be crying when you record and its not absolutly perfect.
Video Playback is amazing and flawless....Netflix looks great (not as great as ipod touch but its a smaller screen and higher resolution so of course it will look better). A big Issue Android has is no support for WMA or DRM files...if you have DRM music or movies it will not work on this device. This is more the fault of the companies putting protection on everything and Linux (what android operating system is based off of) not supporting it yet. In the near future I'm sure google will be addressing this issue and fixing it. Until then you will have to Rip your own dvds or blu rays legally and porting them to the sd card for use with your sweet samsung galaxy player.

You can make voice and video calls to people on skype and other apps on this android mp3 player. In the future I will be upgrading to the next generation Galaxy Phone after having this for a couple weeks. I'm giving it 4 out of 5 Stars because dispite what people say...Android is a desktop os on a mobile mp3 player or device. The Ram being 500MB (377MB is whats listed on my device currently for use) It will not react as fast as say a pc. Mobile phones currently have better memory so do not judge this device unless you know the technical aspect of it. Its not going to be as on the fly as a pc. I'm not trying to argue but I'm just being dead serious about it.

All in all 4 out of 5 stars....Amazing product Samsung I will be looking forward to buying more products from you in the near future.

Update December 6, 2011
I found that with the new Ultraviolet Digital copy you can start watching movies directly from your device...I have the streaming working but I'm working on the downloaded file...not perfect yet but at least you can stream it.

For you music fans...as most of you may know and for those that don't google came out with a new service google music. Basically its the Cloud service like Apple has but it allows you to upload "ANY DRM FREE MP3" (remember it has to be drm free) to the google music and from there you can stream or download the songs you have put up on the service. It comes with free songs and alot of them are hits old and new!

Also I have found from using my device alot it does get pretty laggy at times but its the only drawback of having such a powerful device that doesn't have enough memory to make it run like the s2 or other dual core phones.

Also for those debating between the 5.0 and 4.0 I'll list the Differences here so you have a easier time deciding Between the 5.0 or 4.0.

Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0
Removable back cover for battery replacement and micro sd slot is internal (very nice for those with kids prone to being destructive to there devices)
No Led flash on the camera
1200 mAh Li-ion battery

Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0
No removable back cover for battery replacement (you may have to send to samsung to replace the battery)
Led Flash on the camera
2500 mAh Li-Polymer battery

For those curious about differences in battery types or how to properly cycle (basically how to charge properly charge your device the first time to get optimal battery life)your battery on both of these batteries check out battery university on the web. This device is so good you should know how to properly charge it. Hope everyone enjoys..Comment with further questions if you have any. If this helped you on your purchase by all means put that it did. Till next time

This is a review of the 4 inch model. I bought this mainly for it's ability to surf the web and check email at WIFI hot spots, as I was searching for an economical solution of not lugging around a laptop on trips, and I did not want to incur expensive monthly smartphone / data charges.This unit is very lightweight, slim, and easily slips unnoticed into a pocket.

Until this came out, there was only one other choice: the Apple iPod touch. I evaluated both and decided on Samsung for the following:
Easily replaceable / accessible battery
Wins the "drop" test (see various videos on the web)
Expandable memory (just drop in a microSDHC card)
Larger screen

Tip: I went to Samsung's Website and downloaded and read the complete 140+ page manual, to get familiar with this unit before purchase, and also to quickly get it up and running when it arrived.

WiFi: I can honestly say that this unit exceeded my expectations. When it arrived, the unit charged up quickly ( 1 hr). I headed out to our local library to check the WIFI, and it was excellent. Pages loaded quickly. No dropped connections. I repeated this at several other hotspots around town, all good. Although the screen display resolution (800 x400) is arguably not as nice as the Ipod's retinal display, it was nice and clear, even when "pinched" to high magnifications.YouTube videos played with ease. I was quickly able to set up all my bookmarks, set up all my email accounts, customize the home screen to my liking, and load a few free android apps all within an hour.

Battery life: very reasonable; able to surf for all day with music in the background and still had some battery power left. Tip: turn of the WiFi and GPS when not needed. It is easy to access this function- just swipe a finger from the top of the screen downwards- you now have a quick menu to turn these functions on or off. Also you can access the "task manager" wigit and shut down all running programs not needed.

Music player: It synced very easily to all my tunes stored on my Windows media player software on my laptop. The earbuds provided with the unit are a step above the usual cheapies, with a pause and skip button. They fit snugly and comfortably into the ear canal (silicone) to block out external sounds and give a better listening experience. Sound is average.

Warranty: It is 1 year. Initially I could not find any warranty info,so I called Samsung to confirm this. I was able to speak to a customer rep quickly, which is nice.

This unit is based on Samsung's famous Galaxy smartphone series. It Comes with a 1 Ghz processor (not dual core), 512 Mb RAM, 8Gb memory (expandable to 64 Gb with external micro card) and Android's 2.3.5 Gingerbread software platform. It has 3.2 MP camera (no flash on this 4" model, only the 5" has flash), and GPS, It is basically a smartphoone without the phone.
Warranty is 1 year.

One annoying note: if you accidentaly push the volume control bar simultaneously with the power on button when you initially turn on the unit (easy to do, they are on opposite ends) the unit goes into a scary "download mode" . It's eay to get out, just power the unit completely off then on again.

I think most of the other reviews give good feedback on most of the device's features so I will focus on things I want to point out or others neglected to mention.

Size:
Overall, I found the size comfortable and pocketable. I would have preferred something just slightly smaller say around 4.5 - 4.8 inches and closer to the Samsung Galaxy S2 form factor, but the screen size is certainly a plus for the device. Shorter people with smaller pockets and hands may want to see one in the store first to see if it will work for them.

Display:
Absolutely gorgeous black levels and color saturation on the display. It is truly a good looking screen and video playback looked great despite the lower pixel count per square inch on the 5 inch model. I would suspect that most people will be quite happy with it. I would add one minor caveat if you are thinking about reading pdfs on the device. Diagonal text lines have a noticeable "step off" look (especially with black text on a white backgrounds that might annoy some people. It is very minor, and if you are not looking for it, it may not even bother you. I noticed it the most with smaller, denser text like you would find with pdf articles. For reading in Google Books, the larger text sizes make it less noticeable and the screen size allows you to compensate. The screen can be seen outdoors, has good viewing angles, and great touch response.

Camera:
The video recording is decent, but could use better image stabilization. I would say it is comparable to a flip video camera. The camera is good and perfect for snapshot type pictures, but seems to adapt its resolution in lower lighting that makes the picture look more grainy (probably combining pixels to gain sensitivity). There is a slight delay (~1 - 2 sec) between pressing the picture button and the actual shot so it may not be the best camera to for action shots. There are some different shooting modes that might help with this that I haven't played with yet.

Radio:
Very nice app that works great. I just wanted to point out that you have to have the earphones plugged in for it to work.

GPS:
I was most curious about this when I bought the device having never owned anything like it before. So I tested it out. The device actually has a GPS antenna built in along with a Google beta navigation app. In order to plan a route, you have to have a WIFI connection to load the map information for the trip. Once that is in the device's memory, it works almost as well as a Garmin GPS device. I say almost because it does have a number of limitations. I found that it tracked my real time location pretty well and it could adapt its instructions if I went off course; however, it will only guide you to the last destination that you chose when connected to the WIFI. You cannot change destinations in route without a WIFI connection. It can overlay the map with information about some points of interest such as gas stations and restaurants, but I didn't take the time to see how good this information was and I suspect it is probably not as good as a Garmin. It does show and speak street names, but it is not always consistent as it does not know the names of my neighborhood streets but they do appear physically on the map. I haven't explored if there are any work-arounds for these limitations, but there are 3rd party software that might get you a better experience. I didn't take the time to try them.

Headphones:
I have seen a few people call these cheap, and I disagree. I think they sound pretty good and the soft ear buds are very comfortable in my ears (I hate the hard plastic apple style). They are not particularly amazing, but I would definitely not call them cheap.

WiFi:
I was a little disappointed here because I was expecting a big improvement over my ipod touch 2G. It takes noticeably longer for it to connect to my wireless router (Linksys E4200) at home than my ipod, and the load speeds are about the same or a little faster. I love the voice input function in the browser.

Flash:
You can download flash support for free off the android market. Note to the curious: it won't make Hulu work due to their subscription system). Since I don't have Netflix, I can't comment on that.

Overall, an excellent device that anyone interested in an ipod touch should consider. I hope Samsung continues to make and improve them.

If you dont like reading or want to see the device here is a video review: [...]

Form/Design: The player is very light me and saleswoman both agreed. For its size you would think it would be alot heavier but it is a nice weight and fits comfortably in the hand. Its is easy to use with either 2 hands or one to control the whole screen.

The player looks really sexy haha, people have said it looks like a white iphone from the back at a quick glance. Everyone asks me if i got a new phone and i say no, and they start to tell me i did its kind of funny to watch people fight about it cause noones heard of it

Screen: The screen looks great, and i choose the 4.0 for this reason. the 5.0 has the same resolution so i figured this screen would look better with a higher pixel density. looks the crisp and colors stay true from all viewing angels. the screen is different from the galaxy s but it looks just as good

Performance: Runs smooth, very responsive, i haven't got it to lag at all, and as far as i know it doesnt heat up much either.

Headphones: I love the headphones that came with this, comfortable and good quality.

Camera: 3.2 rear facing camera is surprisingly good quality with a res of 2048x1536. It also records 720p but the audio on the videos isnt too good, and it wont let you record with the vga (front) camera :(

Reception: Everyone thinks its a phone and will continue to think so until you tell them. Then once you say its like an ipod touch they add in "except way better" its pretty amazing how people are drawn to it

Battery: I have had some weird stuff happen with the battery. It should last you all day, but whenever your not using it put it on idle, the display uses 50-60 percent of the battery on the lowest brightness. Also be aware of applications that use WiFi, they will use wifi even if you exit them in the task manger.

Its a galaxy phone without the phone part, and i love it. I prefer this over the ipod touch and would recommend this to anyone looking for an ipod or mp3 and more. i use this for way more then audio and video its a great device

The unit itself came in a nice box, that is reminiscent of the box for the iPhone 4. It has a top piece that slides off of the rest of the box, with the unit on top, and then all of the associated items are beneath it. The unit comes with a pair of in-ear headphones as well as a miniUSB to USB, a power adapter, and a quick start manual. The unit comes with a minimal amount of charge in the battery, and therefore, you will want to plug it in immediately and charge it for about 8 hours before running it off of pure battery.

The Galaxy S Wifi 5.0 has, as the name would suggest, a 5.0 inch diagonal screen. This is much larger than most phones and other touch screen devices that you may have(other than, of course, a tablet). Before you buy the unit, you will want to try out how a 5 inch device will feel in your hands. A good unit to try something like this out on would be a Dell Streak(if you know someone with that particular device). The screen is 800x480 in pixel resolution, and very responsive. It is also a capacitive touch screen, and therefore, does support multi-touch gestures. Compared to similar Android PMP's(Personal Media Players), the Galaxy S Wifi 5.0 has an excellent screen.

When you first turn on the device, there wont be any calibration. This is because the PMP comes pre-calibrated. Also, you will have to have a google account, but that will not be a huge issue for most people. It comes with both the Google Marketplace, and Samsung's own App Store. Beyond that, Samsung hasn't installed many apps. There's Qik for video calling, as well as Think Free Office(for sharing of documents). Note that the device doesn't come with Flash pre-installed, but can run flash if you go out and download it from the market place.

The CPU is very fast. It is a 1 GHz Hummingbird processor, single core. In other words, it is the same processor that the iPhone 4's processor is based on. While it is disappointing that the processor in the Galaxy S Wifi 5.0 is single core, it still works well.

The device has a microSD card slot on the top of the device, both the power and the volume rockers on the right side(sorry left handed folks), a miniUSB and a 3.5 mm headphone jack on the bottom. There is no HDMI in the device, as well as no TV antenna those two items are only on the Korean version of the device). There is also a microphone on the bottom, allowing for the PMP to act as a Phone, without voice, 3G, or 4G coverage. The back side of the device is white, while the front is black.

One of the complaints about the device, however, is that while the device does have about 8 GB of total space, only about 5 GB can be used for things such as movies and music. Also, the device comes with 381 MB of RAM(a 256 MB stick and a 128 MB stick), which is very easy to run out of on an Android device. It would be nice to have 512 MB or 1 GB of RAM, but that's not here. Samsung may be waiting for the release of the Galaxy S II Wifi 5.0 to add that(along with a dual core or greater processor).