Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 & 5.0, Available October 16
by Anand Lal Shimpi on September 26, 2011 6:38 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Mobile
- Galaxy Player
Alongside availability of the Galaxy Tab 8.9, Samsung also announced the availability of the Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0: Samsung's iPod Touch competitors. Both will be for sale starting October 16 for $229 and $269. Both players use 1GHz Samsung Hummingbird SoCs running Android 2.3.5. The two modem-less players primarily differ in displays and dimensions, otherwise they seem pretty similar at a high level. More info later tonight!
| Samsung 2011 Galaxy Player Lineup | ||||||
| Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 | Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 | |||||
| Network | 802.11 b/g/n | 802.11 b/g/n | ||||
| OS | Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) | Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread) | ||||
| Display | 4-inch S-LCD WVGA (800 x 480) | 5-inch LCD WVGA (800 x 480) | ||||
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 3.0, Mini USB | Bluetooth 3.0, Mini USB | ||||
| NAND | 8GB, microSD slot (up to 32GB) | 8GB, microSD slot (up to 32GB) | ||||
| Battery | 1200 mAh | 2500 mAh | ||||
| Dimensions | 2.53 x 4.87 x 0.39" | 3.07 x 5.56 x 0.46" | ||||
| Weight | 4.27 | 6.42 oz | ||||
| Price | $229 | $269 | ||||
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silverblue - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
If the music app is the same as with the Galaxy S, I'd replace it with PowerAmp as the latter, amongst all its features, doesn't normalise your sound output (unless you like that sort of thing).MadMan007 - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
I guess I'm a bit of an audio purist, so no I don't normalize output with replaygain. Maybe if I'd encoded my mp3's that way it would though? Doesn't really matter to me in any casekmmatney - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
It will be interesting if this succeeds where the Zune failed. it's priced the same as the iPod touch (like the Zune's were) but has expandable memory. A 32GB iPod touch is $274 at Amazon, while upgrading the 4" version of one of these to 24 GB would cost about $252, so you don't save that much money with the expandable memory. I really think these need to go lower in price if they want to sell. My wife's LG optimus Android phone, with no contract, was only $99 - it slower and a smaller screen, but can be turned into a phone anytime.jalexoid - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
These have a better LCD panel and they're bigger. In addition a getting it to 40GB would bring the price point to iPod Touch 32GB.DanNeely - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
At least these are feasable to upgrade the memory in them (Sandisk and Creative's initial mp3 player with SD slot models had crippled integration); but with a 16gb uSD card only costing $10 more than an 8GB card being so miserly with the built in capacity is rather sad in a relatively high end device. I've been looking for a 64GB non-apple device for the last year and a half and it's only been since the 1st 64GB uSD cards have appeared that a DIY solution has been possible.A few friends of mine with large music collections and full 160gb ipod classics have been waiting even longer for a new device.
name99 - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
I don't want to be a prick here, but it seems a bit strange to have a review of a supposed iPod competitor which doesn't actually mention how well it performs this task.(a) Does it support Bluetooth? Because I didn't see a BT icon in the menu bar of any of the screen shots.
(b) How well does the music player SW work? Of course it offers the basics, but how well does it interface with desktops? If i LIKE iTunes, does it play well with that? Does it offer transcoding of songs (eg down to 128kbps AAC) in the transfer from desktop to device, so that I can fit more songs on the device? etc etc
(c) How well does it handle spoken word audio? Does it remember my place within a long spoken word file? Does it remember my place in a playlist (representing the files that make up a full book)? Does it allow me to play audio at faster than realtime --- and with what granularity of control over the speed? etc etc
(d) Likewise does it play VIDEO at faster than realtime --- this is important if one view a lot of podcasts and lectures which can be, let's say, leisurely paced.
(e) How well does the UI for random access within large files work? Does the device offer quick and easy ways to jump back a few seconds if you missed something, or forward a few seconds to skip over the boring intro to a talk?
Apple is not perfect in this space. The sad FACT, however, is that I've been following it for about 10 years now, and I still haven't found a company that can offer even the basics of what Apple offers, let alone a BETTER experience. Look, for example, at what I have listed in terms of better ways to handle spoken word audio/video --- Apple is pretty lame in that area. And yet everyone else (as far as I know) is even worse. It's like they are utterly incapable of original thought --- if Apple doesn't offer faster than real-time video, or multiple speeds for faster than real-time audio, they don't have that feature to copy and so don't offer it either.
steven75 - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
but without the slimness, AirPlay, and the other nifty things that make the iPod the top tier device.steven75 - Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - link
Oh, and if you want to acquire music legally, you can... Do what exactly? Notice I didn't say rent or stream since this isn't a 3G device.MadMan007 - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
There are other ways to get music legally than iTunes...sheesh.pcgeek101 - Wednesday, September 28, 2011 - link
The average consumer isn't going to be interested in all the problems that come with Android, if it's just intended as a simple MP3 player. I hope Samsung locks it down (only by default) to a few functions, so that Android doesn't get a bad name.Honestly, it's disappointing to see Gingerbread still coming out on new devices .... where is Ice Cream Sandwich? It better be rock solid when it comes out ......