Hands-on with the Samsung YP-U1

We had a little something on the site yesterday about the YP-U1, but just a few hours after we posted that up we actually got a chance to get hands-on with the new flash-based MP3 player at Samsung's Christmas in July 2005 event (apparently no one had the heart to tell them it's already August now). Samsung's rep was pretty straight up about how the YP-U1 is their response to the iPod shuffle, which is the sort of candor you don't always get from a megacorp. Anyway, five minutes wasn't enough time to really put this thing through its paces, but you could tell right away that YP-U1's big selling point is its 128 x 64 pixel mini LCD (another nice feature is the built-in hinged USB plug, which means there's no cap to lose). They're going to selling the 512MB version for $99.99 (which is what Apple charges for the 512MB shuffle), with the 1GB version priced at $149.99.

The YP-U1 in black.

[Dan Schwartz @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Anyone know if this has an FM tuner?

[Aaron @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Now that's pretty slick.

good job, samsung.

[Magic182 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

the black one is cool....wonder how the sound quality is?

[Huey2k2 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Not bad, I would take it over a shuffle any day of the week.

[izzy @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

anyone know where i can get one?

this is the perfect mp3 for me
(more perfect if it had radio)

[Andrew @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

The only two things the Shuffle has going for it are sound quality and posers. This certainly looks good enough to satisfy the latter group. If it sounds equally good, Samsung has a winner on its hands.

[CJ @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

It's almost a nice design. Why do companies like this insist on putting type on that says things like "digital audio player"? Is that in case you forget? And the chrome wheel looks junkie.... but thats just me. Neat otherwise tho!

[Paul Smith @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Definitely looks like a nice player. Not as nice looking as the shuffle, but I'd take the screen any day. I have a shuffle and love it, but every so often I miss having a screen.

I've said it before - let's hope they can spend some time developing good software for it. A good reason I love my shuffle is itunes. If they can make it half as good I'd buy one.

[ConceptVBS @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

It's to prevent you from claiming its a USB key drive when your aboard an airplane.

(Sign on Airplane: NO RADIO)

[Huey2k2 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I would argue that the sound quality of the shuffle isn't even very good. Apple in general doesn't make players with terribly amazing sound quality. I remember when I was searching for a HD based mp3 player, it ended up coming down to either an iPod or a Creative Zen Touch. I ended up getting the Zen Touch because:

1) iPod's sound like crap on anything but the ear buds they come with. I tested them both out on my Bose Triport headphones, the iPod sounded horrible whilst the Zen Touch had amazing sound quality.

and

2) Battery life -> 8 hours just doesnt cut it for me.

And that's my 2 cents.

[Merv @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Wait, but how do you press the button without your thumb/whole palm obscuring the tiny screen?

unless you do it from the short-end of the player, which i think, sucks.

[ebp2k2 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I agree with #7, why this "DIGITAL AUDIO PLAYER" stuff on what's otherwise a clean facade...

iRiver does it, Samsung does it, why o why.. maybe it's cool to have some english characters on gadgets in Korea... that's probably it..

[Tupper @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

hey Huey, you can have your change back...

my 1G shuffle lasts closer to 18hours on a full charge, and the audio sounds as good as any other flash player out there.

I do like this one, expecially for the USB cover idea. I will take a listen as soon as I hear it in person.

[z22 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

the shuffles sound quality has been judged by many to be better than than a lot of other players, Huey2k2. check out head-fi.org.

the shuffles (and the new ipods, for that matter) have much better battery life. the shuffle gets over 15 hours.

maybe you should check out the facts before you try spreading your BS.

i do think this looks like a nice player, but i'm curious about battery life. and is the part oposite the USB end removable? looks like theres a seam all the way around.

[Huey2k2 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I was not specifically speaking about the Shuffle in regards to my previous post. I was talking Apples HD based players which do infact have horrible sound quality and battery life. I can get easily over 24 hours of battery life off of my Zen Touch, and I dare you to try and get 24 hours off of a 20GB+ iPod.

[z22 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

well, contributing to a story about flash based players with your feelings on the hard drive ipod makes sense. i agree there are shortcomings with the hard drive ipods sound quality, but the newer ipods have much better battery life (im guessing around 17 hours). the reason your touch gets more is because it noticeably bigger and heavier.

[JimJam @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

Wonder how this thing compares with iAudio U2. You can get one of those for about the same price, FM tuner included, as well as a line in so you can burn MP3s from any device that has a line-out.

[troublemaker @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

"I will take a listen as soon as I hear it in person."

I think I'll wait to view this until I see it.

[ada @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

i heard it has fm radio.
the black one is cool, i like it ^_^

[Marina @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I don't know about the others cause I wasn't going to buy any in any case but I won this one in a competition and it's really really nice. I got the 1 GB white one. It's light, it's little, it reads oggs also, you can easily hide the usb behind it and the sound is really good. I am not an expert but it seems almost perfect to me :)

[Gel Ven @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

nope the YP-U1 doesnt have an FM tuner... but it works pretty well... what i really like about it is the lcd... quite sleek... nice job samsung!

[Bobby @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I'm using this mp3 player. I bought this in Korea. I think this mp3 player is much better than suffle(I got suffle too). People says this one's sound quality is the best in samsung mp3. So it cannot be compare to suffle's damned sound. People, I really recommend this mp3 player. I also want to sell my suffle.. I live in NYC, if you want to buy it, send me a E-mail plz. Thx..

[R&B @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

a nice player..the quality of sound is wonderful..all the things are good..but I have a little problem.I have updated the firmware and this time on the bars of battery in the screen havent disappeared when the battery get low..what can I do?

[Enver @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I get the Player today but have Problems with
Win-XP-SP2 Support with USB 2.0 connection.
USB 1.1 work is ok.

[DAG @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I needed a portable flash drive for transferring files. After looking at the prices I saw that if I spent a little more I could get this MP3 player that would also work as a flash drive.
The one thing I needed was a unit that did not require a USB cable. This unit has a hidden flip out USB connector so there is no cable needed.
This is my first experience with an MP3 player. I charged the internal battery, ripped some songs with Windows Media Player and was listening to music in no time at all. Very easy to use. It comes with it's own music management software which I haven't used yet.
The sound quality is superb. The navigation menus are easy to navigate.

I highly recommend it.

[Rui Moura @ Dec 19th 2005 12:18AM]

I've just buyed one for me here in Portugal in sales for 55 Euros !!! :w00t: ! 512 are enough for me, the display kicks ass and the sound is great !!! I recommend it for everyone.

[WT @ Dec 25th 2005 8:58PM]

Does anyone know where I can download a manual on this thing? I like it but the Quick Guide really sucks...



I'd appreciate any help on this....



Thanks,

[Kevin @ Dec 26th 2005 2:39AM]

Ok, i just bought one of these, and it looks nice, but every time i plug it into the usb port, it says its an unrecognized device. My sister has the yp-f1 and it works fine, and mine worked fine on a friends computer. Any suggestions? does anyone know if it's not compatable or something?

[Eleanor @ Jan 7th 2006 11:27AM]

Just bought one of these the other day..... was playing music in no time and I think the sound quality is top notch...... very easy to use. Just one thing, how do you recharge the battery if you don't have access to a computer (eg when on holiday)??? If anyone knows I'd appreciate it..... can't find anything on the CD based manual.