SAMSUNG, YP-S2

New, Fresh, Awesome
While the majority of MP3 players making progress endlessly is a juke box type with a large memory, the new concept MP3 player was released by Samsung. It’s not a juke box with a large memory, but this design like an accessory is a good cloth of small capacity MP3 players, as we saw that the small capacity MP3 player with a Disney character was very successful. At this point, most of you have an MP3 player. If you want to buy one more, I’m wondering that you want to have an accessory type player or a hard disk type which has a lot of functions with a large screen.

The simpler, the more popular?
It’s a while ago, but according to a report I read, Koreans tend to be more sensitive to a trend, and the cycle is very short, so they want to listen to new songs rather than have many songs. I don’t exactly remember if it was about Asians or Koreans. The conclusion was that Koreans prefer flash type and light MP3 players to juke box type. Of course, there are people liking filling their players with favorite songs, but I think the people who prefer new songs are more. Besides, they have a tendency to like smaller instruments, so flash type MP3 player are more popular than the hard disk type.

Simple package
It consists of a main body, earphone with a neck strap, and a small adaptor 3.5 pi to USB. The regular selling model will have an install CD, but mine didn’t have it. As if a transparent crystal case package is a trend, I could see what the S2 is before opening the package.

The unique design reminding a pebble
I felt uniqueness which hasn’t seen in Korean products before. As some people might have seen an image or promotion, they are designed to remind a pebble with an emerald color, and even some product had a cute pattern.
Meeting a thing nobody has tried before is interesting. To be honest, this pebble concept had tried in a foreign country, and they were designed differently one by one like pebbles are different. The cheap price also was a good merit.

‘Is it the same as a pebble?’
When I looked at the YP-S2, it really seemed pebble. It feels like a pebble, but the color is more beautiful like jewelry women like, and it’s better in real. With the expectation ‘Is it the same as a pebble?’ when I held it, it was very light compared to a pebble. Because it is designed to hang on a neck, it must be light. If it had been as heavy as a pebble, there would have been so many claims about it, other than complimentary about realization.

The YP-S2 is an accessory type product like the iPod shuffle by Apple, or the Mplayer by iRiver. It took out LCD, and all status is confirmed by the LED indicator. At the front, there’s a cross-circular button for all control, while there’s nothing at the sleek back for minimalism. I meant it’s tanned.
　
Because an earphone connector at the top is decorated with something, so it feels like united with the body when connecting to the own neck strap. There’s a connection ring, and the body is so light, that you don’t have to worry about that the MP3 falls out, when carrying.

It’s more comfortable to hold it with hands than I expected. You can wrap it with your thumb, index, and middle finger, and once you learned how to adjust it (Actually, you don’t need this), it’s very easy to control it because the control part is designed with a dent to locate your thumb easily. The feeling of click is so clear that it’s very satisfactory.


One earphone terminal for transfer and charge at the same time
I couldn’t see any extra USB terminal. Yes! The S2 has only one 3.5 pi terminal for earphone to listen to music and data transfer and charge. The adapter is so small that it’s good for carrying. Once you have this adapter, you can make a copy and charge with a PC.
It takes about 2 hours to charge it fully. When charging, the LED blinking with red light, and when it’s done, it turns green on. The general playing time is 13 hours long, and if the battery is not enough, the LED shows red and the current color with blinking.
When connecting to PC with the USB terminal, it is recognized as a movable disk, so moving, deleting, and copying files are possible. For those of you wondering the speed of copy, I tried it with 893MB data (186 files, 18 folders). It took 7 min 10 sec. It’s fast as much as USB 2.0, but it’s similar to a general memory stick. Considering the 1 GB capacity, it’s not inconvenient.


Soft LED instead of LCD
The S2 supports MP3, OGG, and WMA. If you play other format files, it is rejected with the sounds ‘beep’. When the file is okay, the LED blinks with blue every 3 seconds.
MP3 players which doesn’t have display have disadvantage that users don’t know the information of songs, and can’t easily play a specific song. (Of course, I think most of the users already knew that..) Shuffle type players play only with shuffle mode, but the S2 has 3 playing mode. You can change it by pushing the smart button when playing. There are normal mode(Blue), shuffle mode(Green-Blue-Purple orderly), and playing list mode(Purple).
　
Small but with DNSe
Files are played by the name order and special letters, capital/small alphabet, and Korean order. If you want to turn off the LED, you can do it by pushing the smart button longer on pause. There’s another smart button at the right bottom side of the front control button. This smart button applies the Samsung’s DNSe by pushing it shortly. It only supports 3 modes, and change to Normal, Studio, and Concert hall order.
Due to the cheap price, I thought the sound quality is poor, but I was wrong. The volume range is quite good(volume 1~30), and with built-in EQ I could feel the DNSe enough. Because the bundle earphone is a neck strap type, you have to be cautious of loss.



Useful playing list in the S2
The playing mode couldn’t be made on the normal mode, but on shuffle mode when you want a song to add a list, pushing ‘+’ button longer, the song is added with ‘beep’ sound, and it’s possible up to 30 songs. If you want to take a song out, just push ‘-’ button longer.
If you didn’t make a playing list, you can choose only 2 modes except the playing list mode. There’s a reset button just in case at the right side.


Enjoy the S2 without a burden
Heavy hard disk type players are not good for exercise. Flash type is the best choice to listen to music while exercise. And this model is not only flash type, but also designed very well. So, isn’t it great to give files recording them with lovely messages?
Like a wedding ring, I imaging a couple wearing the same MP3 players on a neck. I’m finishing my review with an idea that because it looks great, the memory will be wonderful..