Samsung 5-Inch Galaxy Player

by Samsung

Product Features

• Powered by Android 2.3.5 , with access to over 250,000 apps including games, productivity software, and more
• Uses a Wi-Fi connection (802.11b/g/n) for Internet access
• 8 GB internal storage with a microSD card slot for adding up to 32 GB
• 5-inch touchscreen with WVGA (800x480) resolution
• 3.2-megapixel rear-facing camera and a VGA front-facing camera for video calling

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Product Description

From the Manufacturer

Surf the Internet, take photos, play games, and carry your music, videos, and other media wherever you go with the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0. Powered by Android 2.3.5, the player features a 1 GHz processor, a beautiful 5-inch touchscreen, and front- and rear-facing cameras. It also gives you access to over 250,000 apps including games, productivity software, and more.

Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 At a Glance: Brilliant 5-inch touchscreen display 8 GB internal storage with a microSD slot to add more Compact for easy portability Powered by Android 2.3.5 with access to over 250,000 apps Listen to music and watch videos anywhere Includes travel adapter so you can charge the battery away from home

A front-facing camera lets you make VoIP video calls using the Qik app. View larger.

The compact player is easy to take with you anywhere.

Android Market has over 250,000 apps including lots of great games.

Play On-The-Go Without a Contract or Monthly Fees
The Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 gives you portable freedom, letting you connect to any Wi-Fi hotspot while on-the-go without any monthly service fees. The player uses a Wi-Fi connection (802.11b/g/n) for Internet access. Once connected, you'll have access to games, music, video, and the whole Internet including Adobe Flash Technology. The sleek player easily fits in any pocket so you can take it everywhere you go.

Beautiful 5-Inch Touchscreen with 8GB Storage for Media Playback, Games, and More
Samsung is a leading manufacturer of displays, and puts their expertise to work by including a beautiful 5-inch touchscreen with WVGA (800x480) resolution. Show off your latest vacation photos or watch your movies in stunning HD. The player has built-in stereo speakers, or you can plug in the included headphones for private listening.

The Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 includes 8GB of internal storage for your apps and media, and it has a microSD slot so you can add up to 32GB more. The player includes built-in support for MP3, WMA, Ogg, FLAC, and AAC files; avi, mp4, 3gp, wmv, ast, mkv, and flv video files; and JPEG, GIF, BMP, and PNG images. It also has a built-in radio. And when connected to the Internet, you'll have access to your favorite Internet radio, Pandora, and YouTube, so you'll have all the media you can handle.

Front and Rear Cameras for Great Photos and Video Calling
The Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 features a 3.2 megapixel rear-facing camera for taking photos. With a built-in flash, you'll be able to take crisp clear shots even in suboptimal lighting. Additionally, the VGA front-facing camera lets you make video calls using the Qik application, making it easy to stay in touch with your friends and family while on the go. And because the player features an embedded mic, you can make video calls without having to wear a clunky headset.

Powered by Android 2.3.5 with Over 250,000 Apps
Android 2.3.5 turns your mobile device into an easy-to-use pocket computer. It includes a full web browsing experience and access to more than 250,000 apps through Android Market. These apps include Pandora, Facebook, and tons of games and productivity software, so you can get your work done, listen to music, and keep connected with your friends and family with just one small device.

You'll have the whole Internet thanks to the fast and full featured Android browser that gives you seamless viewing of any webpage, including the latest Adobe Flash Player 10.1. And with ThinkFree Office included, you'll be able to access Word, Excel, and Powerpoint files on the go.

Built-In GPS and Bluetooth Hardware
The Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 has a built-in GPS, giving you access to GPS positioning and letting you take advantage of location-aware apps. It also has support for Bluetooth 3.0, so you can connect your favorite Bluetooth headsets for hands-free VoIP calls, music listening, and video viewing.

Powerful Rechargeable Battery for All-Day Use
The player uses a lithium polymer battery (included) that provides 2,500mAh of power for all-day use. The battery offers up to 60 hours of audio playback and up to 8 hours of video playback, so you won't have to worry about running out of juice in the middle of watching your favorite movie. Easily charge your player anywhere using the included USB 2.0 cable.

Includes Travel Adapter
An included travel adapter plugs into any standard A/C outlet so you won't need a PC or laptop to charge the player. The adapter features a detachable USB to micro-USB cable.

The Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 measures 5.56 by 3.07 by 0.46 inches (H x W x D) and weighs just 6.42 ounces. It is backed by a limited one-year warranty.

What's in the Box
Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0, earphones, USB cable, travel adapter, quick start guide.

Product Description

Surf the Internet, take photos, play games, and carry your music, videos, and other media wherever you go with the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0. Powered by Android 2.3.5, the player features a 1 GHz processor, a beautiful 5-inch touchscreen, and front- and rear-facing cameras. It also gives you access to over 250,000 apps including games, productivity software, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1,014 of 1,042 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very surprising device October 21, 2011

By Biel85

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 responsive.

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 galaxy player has now many softwares that allow you to put music in it just like the iTunes for apple products. If you have all your music sorted by genre in playlists on your iTunes and you want to transfer to a software comparable with the galaxy player, you can download the software called Samsung "Kies" which is recommended by the Samsung company. There are other softwares out there, but this is the one I've been using to sync music, videos, and pictures. You have do download an app for the device as well (same name).

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
- Good synchronization software like the iTunes for apple products

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

I hope this review was useful to you!

420 of 430 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good balance between tablet and MP3 player October 31, 2011

By maxmasa31 VINE™ VOICE

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.

110 of 113 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Swiss Army Knife of Android Mp3 Players (Updated 3/7/2013) November 25, 2011

By Brandon Dalton

Amazon Verified Purchase

First off I'd have to say I am pretty happy with my device. For all of you putting in low 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

*UPDATE 10/29/2012*
It has been almost a year since I first reviewed the device. Read more ›