Customer Reviews

Samsung YP-K3JQB 2GB Ultra Slim MP3 Player - Black

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

You can stop looking because you have just found the best MP3 player on the market today. Yes, this is the fabled "ipod killer" that beats the ipod Nano in almost every conceivable category. It probably won't actually outsell the ipod, because lets face it: if features were what sold ipods, Apple would be out of business. But I digress.

Unlike other players on the market, the Samsung K3 focuses itself on being an audio player first, and ignores some of the more gimmicky features found on other players such as video support. Personally, I would rather drive nails into my eyes then watch a movie on a 1-inch screen, but maybe that's just me. The other notable feature missing on the K3 is album art support, although I have my fingers crossed that a future firmware upgrade will correct this. Samsung more than makes up for the missing features by offering what is (in my opinion) the best sounding player on the market. The sound quality and number of customizable sound options such EQ settings, 3D sound, bass boost, etc are outstanding, particularly in the latest firmware versions. Personally, I listen to my K3 in normal mode with high quality Sennheiser buds (CX300) and I have zero complaints about the sound quality. This is a music player, not a media player. Some other cool features of the K3 are a great sounding FM radio, photo viewing, and text / lyrics viewing.

The K3 also wins out in the looks department, being the slimmest, most stylish player you can buy. I have the red version of this player and I actually get complements on my MP3 player! Everyone who picks it up tells me how cool it looks. The K3 also has nice a solid feel to it in your hand - it just FEELS like a quality product. This is an important consideration, because some other players on the market, such as the creative Zen-V, feel like a children's toy that just fell out of a box of Frosted Flakes (seriously, go hold one!). But where the K3 really shines is in the looks department. No other player on the market comes close in terms of style. Not only is the player razor thin, but it has a nice clean design. The great menu designs and graphics on the player all combine to offer up a sense of style that is rarely found in electronics. And then there are the ultra-cool touch buttons. They take a little bit of getting used to, but once you have them down, you will never want to go back. The touch buttons are a great rival to the ipod click wheel.

So the player itself is great, but where most MP3 players fall short is in the software / media management side of things. A short explanation of the two main types of MP3 players is necessary here: MTP vs UMS. MTP stands for 'media transfer protocol' and refers to the scenario where software running on your computer manages the transfer of media to your portable device. This is the ipod / itunes model, where only itunes can get music onto your ipod. The alternative is UMS, which stands for 'universal mass storage' meaning that the portable device acts like a mini hard drive and can be connected to any computer. There are pros and cons to each method, with the primary advantage of the MTP model being ease of use and transparency, while the UMS devices offer simplicity and portability at the expense of placing the responsibility (and control) for managing the player onto the user.

What makes the Samsung K3 so great is that they cater to BOTH of these markets by making the K3 firmware upgradeable and offering both an MTP steam of firmware AND a UMS stream of firmware. This does not seem to be a well advertised fact, and I will warn you that it is not exactly easy to do the upgrade, but the point is that it CAN be done. Any experienced computer user should be able to manage it.

Myself, I cannot stand MTP devices or itunes-like software, which is what makes the K3 so attractive to me. Unfortunately, the K3 comes out of the box as an MTP device, meaning that you have to install the bundled Samsung software at least once to get things running. The Samsung software is about as good as any MTP software (i.e. complete crap), but it does what it is supposed to. The nasty little surprise that Samsung bundles with their software I could live without though. Samsung has silently bundled some DRM software / spyware called "Markany" with their program. After installing the software, you will notice two new programs that will run at all times in the background on your computer. One is the Samsung software, the other is the Markany program. Some people won't care about things like this, but it drives me completely bonkers!

The good news is that by upgrading the firmware to UMS, you can successfully ditch both the Samsung software and Markany, and enjoy all the great features of the K3, without having to bother with any software at all. Just plug in the player and copy your music over like it was a flash drive. Simple, easy, clean. Once this minor headache is over, you are left with one of the most powerful, best sounding, and definitely most stylin' music players you can buy.

Been looking around for a good mp3 player for about 6 months now, ever since I realized my iPod sucked (between the lack of real battery life and the complicated software intrface, I had had enough with Apple).

Believe me I looked into everything from Microsoft Zune to Creative Zen to the 30gb iPod, and a few lesser known players. THIS PRODUCT IS THE BEST ALL AROUND MEDIA PLAYER OUT THERE RIGHT NOW, and here's why:

1) Unprecedented battery life! It's been 4 days of on-and-off play for me since I first charged it out of the box, and I STILL HAVE 2 BARS LEFT.

2) Easy software interface: uploading songs and pics through the samsung program can get tedious if you want to make playlists, but other than that, I simply use the plug-n-play option (simply dragging media files into the removable disk folder).

3) Awesome sound quality! I was truly amazed with the cd-quality sound of the FM radio feature.

4) Plays WMA along with MP3: you will find that this NECESSARY feature is lacking in many of the other big wig players out there right now (ie Creative Zen)

5) Beautiful seamless controls (no "buttons")

6)YOU CANNOT BEAT THE PRICE!

This device has lots of good points and only a few bad points and bugs.

First, the good.

1. The sound quality is fantastic, much better than my first generation iPod. I am using my own headphones, the provided ones have not been opened.

2. Transfering files is fast and simple, no software is needed although a CD is provided.

3. The response is super fast. This is also bad, see below.

4. There have no glitches, no freeze-ups, no occational skipping. That last one is important as my old iPod got jittery all too often.

5. Although it is not the cheapest, it is substantially less that the iPod Nano.

6. The screen is bright, colorful, and clear, at least indoors.

7. The battery charges quickly and lasts forever.

8. I don't use pictures much on these tiny devices but the images I tested by loading them through the Samsung software were excellent, considering the tiny screen.

9. It looks nice!

Now, the bad.

1. The controls are so fast I still haven't figured out how to avoid holding them down too long. The screen sometimes goes wild jumping from menu-to-menu as I clumsily try to stop pressing buttons!

2. The provided software is mediocre at best and doesn't run very well under Vista. Everytime it starts up, it goes into convulsions before settling down. After that, is is fine. Works properly on my XP desktop.

3. I have yet to figure out how to get playlists over to the device. Every playlist, rather than being a reference, starts copying duplicates of the files already there. I don't have the space for that.

4. It is easily scratched even just sitting there. Get screen protectors for it before you even take it out of the box.

Finally, the ugly.

1. My 1 Gig iPod was never filled so I got the 2 Gig Samsung. Wow, it holds less that the smaller iPod. However, I think the sizes are larger which may be why the sound quality is so much better. Get the 4 Gig model.

2. The device is really geared for Europe. None of the free-for-30-days music stores with free downlaods are available to those of us in North America.

3. The on-line registration is crazed, I filled out the form at least 5 times and each time some silly tiny "mistake" was made. It didn't even like my address! I gave up.

Over all, this is a great compromise between the expensive iPods and the error-prone cheaper models of mp3 players.

This thing really looks much better in person than the pictures would have you believe! I was in a retailer to pick up a different model, but when I saw this one.. the search was over. The menus are animated in a very cool way, and the sound quality is EXCELLENT. Even the supplied headphones are not that bad. It took just a few seconds to get used to not having an actual button to hit, but it really is a sleek little player. 5+ stars!

Let me preface this by saying that I have been looking at MP3 players for almost 9 months and couldn't find one that had the right features for a price that I was willing to pay. Samsung has always been able to hit my "sweet spot" when it came to technology and the K3 is no exception.

Pros
1) FM Receiver - This was a big one for me. When I started my search, only the lower end units even thought to add this on.
2) Incredibly slim and sexy design - This says it all. The K3 is perhaps the skiniest electronic device I have ever seen.
3) Durability - I have already dropped it, banged it, and kicked it... It still holds up.
4) Seamless controls - This adds to the sleek image and the controls are incredibly responsive
5) Ease to upload - The firmware interface is extremely easy to use.
6) Hold button - The hold button (which you need due to the incredibly responsive controls - see above and below) is perfectly located.

Cons
1) Incredibly responsive controls - It took a little getting used to quick taps. If your finger hangs out to long, you zoom right by the menu that you were looking for.
2) Owners manual - The menus are not exactly straight forward for a first time user. So you will need to skim the owners manual (which is only provided on CD).
3) Location of earphone jack - The earphone jack is located at the bottom of the unit, which while it keeps it out of the way of the controls, isn't the most convenient for everyday use.

All in all, the Pros WAY outweigh the Cons on this device. If I were starting from scratch or buying a MP3 player as a gift, the K3 is the way that I would go... hands down.

Just purchased the K3, and I have to say, "WOW!" This beauty is sleek, stylish, and packs a powerful, rich sound.

I'm 34, and have been listening/playing music devices since I could walk. I've been through 4 differnt MP3 players over the course of the past few years to include: iPod and Sansa models. All I can say, is the K3 is a listening experience second to none. I'm sure if you have thousands to spend on a music player/earbuds, etc, you could beat this device in the sound quality department, but for the majoriy of us wanting a quality player without taking out a loan, this is a winner!

I have several aftermarket earbuds ranging from $10 to $40 in price. I was expecting to use them when this product arrived (I ordered through Amazon.com). However, I was surprised to discover the included earbuds produced a much richer sound than my other buds. I switched these buds between all my other MP3 players, and the results were the same, the Samsung ear buds won hands down. To verify the sound of my new K3, I checked it against the Sansa and two iPods, and it too won hands down (using all different configuration of earbuds/players). I can't stress enough, the K3 puts out a great rich sound. The sound remains constant throughout the volume spectrum which was really impressive. The insanely picky individual might detect slight distortion at the maximum volume level, but I did not. The K3 drives loud at max volume, and is uncomfortable but still clear, crisp, rich and un-distorted. Although clear and crisp, I couldn't imagine anyone needing to crank this device up. In fact, the K3 has an option under settings to limit the maximum volume level if you so desire.

I haven't read a bad review yet concerning the K3's appearance. Therefore, I won't go into details except to say, the awe factor is a definite plus.

This device does everything I want out of an MP3 player, it plays my MP3/WMA collection and allows me to have an FM radio on the fly. This is a handy feature in my opinion for bad weather days, when power goes out and you don't have batteries for the boom-box/radio you haven't used in 5 years. The FM tuner has 3 settings from low, medium, to high sensitivity. This allows you to pick up distant stations. In my experience, this tuner is very good (close to excellent).

The picture viewer is a non-issue for me, but it can be used as such. If you are wanting a quality picture viewer I would look elsewhere (personally, I think the majority of us use our cell phones for this purpose). However, if this is an important feature for you, I would suggest going to a Best Buy or CC and look at this model on the floor (it comes pre-installed w/approx. 15 pictures so you can decide for yourself).

I've read numerous complaints about the software that came with the K3. I decided not to install it. In fact, I have yet to even open the CD case it came in. Windows/XP will recognize and install the K3 as soon as you plug in the usb connector. I use Window Media Player 11 as my sync interface. Reviews have complained about playlists, etc. What I do, is create several playlists in WMP such as: workout, easy listening, country, rock, etc. I then go through my WMP library, and add songs to these playlists. When I'm done, I just drag and drop the WMP playlist over to the K3, and it catagorizes all the music via the ID3 tag, as well as creating the actual playlists I just tranferred over. I never drag and drop individual songs/artist/albums to the K3 (just playlists). Because of ID3 tags, the K3 will not only catagorize the song in the playlist you just transferred, it will also catagorize all the songs according to artist, album, and genre. Therefore, if I have several songs from AC/DC in my workout playlist, I can still go to artists, and listen to AC/DC seperate from the playlists.

So why did I say the K3 was "almost" the perfect MP3 player? The only fault I have with this device is the touchpad interface. As mentioned by everyone else, this touchpad is sensitive. In my experience, if you don't pick it up by its sides, you'll end up touching a button causing the track to FF or REW. There is a lock feature which disables this problem, so it is not a great concern. However, if you're the type of person who likes to change songs, volume, settings often, you'll hate switching back and forth from lock/un-lock. If you don't lock it, you'll inadvertantly touch buttons each time you pick it up to change settings. However, if you are the type to push play and forget it, the lock feature makes this unit a perfect fit. I would imagine this would be for the person who listens to music at work, or on runs/walks where you push play, lock it and forget it. While not a design engineer, I would suggest Samsung make the device less sensitive or recognize the difference between and actual input versus random touching. This would bring this device closer to perfection. There is also a feature which shuts the screen off after a user defined time limit. This helps combat the above problem. When the screen shuts off under this feature, the first touch brings the screen back to life (instantly with no delay), and the subsequent touch will provide input commands. Therefore, as long as a random touch is limited to 1, you won't have a problem. If you keep the device in a pocket or hold it in your hand, you will have to lock the device to prevent inadvertant inputs.

My last complaint, while minor and of personal preference, is the inability to go direct to the "Now Playing" mode. For instance, if you are listening to a playlist and decide to change the EQ settings, you must navigate back through the menues to get to the "Now Playing" mode. The "Now Playing" mode allows you to jump around within the selection of music you are listening to.

Overall, I'm extremely impressed & pleased with this device. Sound quality is excellent. Firmware version 3.05 (latest version, and installed on my device) allows user defined EQ settins along with bass boost. Extremely slim and elegant looking with a sturdy construction of stainless and plastic. This device feels solid in your hand (not like a plastic toy). The pros definitely outweigh the cons on the K3. If the sensitivity issue with the touchpad were addressed, this would be the Perfect MP3 player.

I bought this MP3 player because my CD/MP3 walkman had died and an iPod that I liked was a bit out of my price range. What sold me on this player was the size (this thing is really small!), design (super sleek!), and the FM radio receiver (Ah, radio...). Also it seems to hold up well. I dropped mine right out of the box, and it works just fine. I bought the red one, though I think the color could more accurately be described as garnet. I love that the only real button on the player is the power/lock button located on the side. The rest of the interface is touch-sensitive. There are severeal different sound equalizer presets, an equalizer you can set manually, as well as repeat and shuffle modes. The sound quality from this player is great, but I'd recommend discarding the earbuds that come with it and getting some quality earphones to truly enjoy the sound. The music organizing software that comes with the player is a little difficult to figure out at first, not terribly intuitive to use. Once you figure it out, though, you can set up your playlists in that program and then load them onto the player. Be aware that if you do a search for music on your computer with that software, it will only recognize MP3 files. If you have any of your favorite music saved in wave format, the program won't notice it. I have yet to try to sync my YP-K3 with Windows Media Player. Also, be aware that the radio dial only goes up to 107.5. If you like any stations located above that on the dial, you're out of luck. Other than that, this is a high quality music player. Battery life is awesome. There is plenty of volume available to blow your ears off if you want to. It holds quite a bit of music and pictures, too. I would buy this player again.

this is by far the best mp3 player ive ever used. i have an ipod video and that thing is too big and the battery sucks. i used to have a sansa by sandisk but the program on the mp3 player was horrible. this one is amazing. i just bought it and im very satisfied. i recommend this to everybody even ipod users.

Loved it at first but the playlist function does not work. You are suppose to be able to create an album out of whatever songs you have in your library and when you transfer to the unit, it should show up in your Playlist (according to samsung support). This did not work despite several attempts. I was hoping the playlist function would solve the annoying issue with playing music on this unit. You have two choices when listening to songs on the unit, If you select "All Tracks" it puts every single song in alphebetical order!. Or you can listen to each Album and when the all the songs for the album are done the unit stops and you must select the next album. You cannot listen to all the albums in a row without telling it to play the next album.

Bought it after an extensive market research. There would be no research if iPods came with FM tuners, but they don't. Well, Samsung YP-K3JQB beats iPod in this respect. Here's the skinny:

Sound quality: very decent especially with a pair of high-end headphones.
FM tuner: automatically searches and sets up up to 30 presets at the push of a button.
Interface: very intuitive, you really don't need a user's guide.
IT-factor: most definitely. Cool and practical.