Samsung P3 Is A Solid Touchscreen Media Player But Nothing More

By Noel Kuhlman | Mar 30, 2009

With the Samsung P3, the company has delivered one of the most solid portable media players available. As with all higher-end PMPs, though, it’s slotted in a field dominated by the flexible functionality of the iPod Touch, the esoteric styling of the Cowon iAudio S9 and the amazing sound of Sony’s S-Series Walkman. How well does it fare?

Form

In no uncertain terms, the P3′s build quality is a leap above anything else Samsung has rolled out. Instead of the typical plastic heap, the device comes in a brushed metal finish with a sturdy glass screen. The physical design is almost just an exact rendering of the older P2, which isn’t bad at all. In fact, I rather enjoy the appearance of the curving front edge much more than any of its competitors.

Touchscreen UI

Apple kills everyone when it comes to interface and, while Samsung decided to overhaul that for this iteration, the P3 still suffers from a lot of issue on that end. The menu and command structure is great, allowing you to get to anywhere easily after getting acquainted with the right tapping areas. Sadly, though, the same accuracy problems that plague many capacitive touchscreen devices ring true for the P3 as well.

Media

The Samsung P3 supports a good host of media types, including music (MP3, Flac, AAC, WMA and Ogg), video (H.264, MPEG, WMV [version 3 and above] and DivX/Xvid), images (PNG, JPG and BMP) and Flash (.SWF files). There’s also onboard FM radio with a recording function. Video isn’t perfect, though, and you’ll have to convert resolution for some files before getting them to work.

Overall Use

With stereo Bluetooth, rich sound modification features and a vastly improved sound, the Samsung P3 is right up there with the best PMPs when it comes to audio capabilities. Volume is especially generous – you won’t be left wanting, that’s for sure. Even the onboard 0.8W speaker sounds unbelievably pleasant, compared to what you’ll normally hear from portable units.

Next to the iPod Touch, it’s easy to note the lack of web connectivity (and a browser, for that matter), rendering it a non-competitor to that device at this point. If all you’re looking for is a solid and stylish media player, though, it’s easy to make a case for the Samsung P3 – it does music playback that good.