Samsung YP-T9

We enjoy using Apple's iPod nano, but the best thing about the slim player may be the competitive spirit it brings out in other companies. Samsung has responded to the nano's success with the YP-T9, a tiny, gorgeous player (in 2GB and 4GB capacities) packed with features and personality. If you're not a die-hard iTunes fan, there may not be a better player for the price.
 
The YP-T9 is slim and flat, with elegantly curved sides to fit nicely in the palm. When active, the 1.8-inch screen dominates the front surface, with a five-way selector switch located underneath. Our YP-T9 came in Piano Black, but you can also buy one in Deep Purple. Four buttons grace the right side: Record, Back, Menu, and a dual-duty Play and Power button. The left side is decorated only by a sliding Hold switch, while the top edge features the headphone and microphone ports and a small loop presumably for connecting a lanyard.
 
Those buttons on the side may be four more than you'll find on a nano, but the YP-T9 feels no less navigable for their inclusion. It takes a few hours of use to remember that Menu opens a set of options for whatever the player is currently doing, while Back navigates the player's menu hierarchy, but once accustomed to the system, we found the YP-T9 easy to use. We wish the five-way switch were quieter, however, as it produces an audible click with each press.
 
Scroll through the intuitive, pleasing interface and you'll see a series of action icons (headphones, film reel, etc.) that represent the player's options. After a moment on screen, each icon displays a text tag describing it, which we would prefer to have appear immediately with the icon.
 
On our tests the YP-T9 sounded as good as it looks, with clear highs, a good midrange, and enough bass to satisfy listeners who want some extra thump. The Street Play mode adds a bit of volume to compensate for outside noise, and several EQ settings further customize your sonic experience. If you like visual distraction along with a song, the YP-T9 can display a flash screen saver of album art or your own photos.
 
The screen is too small to make the YP-T9 a primary photo and video player, but the display is sharp enough for showing off your favorite images and watching television episodes. You'll have to transcode video files to MPEG-4, which is painless through the included Media Studio software. You'll need to use the app to transfer all video content.
 
Adding to the music, photo, and video options is a set of flash games, an FM tuner, and a voice recorder, each of which feels fully integrated rather than tacked on. The tuner isn't remarkably powerful, but it was able to receive a weak college-radio signal in addition to powerful commercial stations, and creating presets was a simple process. The voice recorder, which can be set for three different quality levels, won't replace a dedicated microphone but is capable when it's time to take voice notes or record a small meeting. No need to go into the Voice Record menu option to make a voice note: Just hold the record button for a couple seconds. 
 
The YP-T9 may sport an eye-catching physical design, but we wonder why a standard USB port couldn't be part of the package. Samsung, like other manufacturers, relies on a proprietary port, located on the bottom edge, for data connection.  Even so, the YP-T9 can be recognized by PCs as a standard flash drive while a separate main menu option lets you easily browse through the stored files.
 
The proprietary software and data connection are small concerns when measured against the player's staggering battery performance: 30 hours of audio use per charge. (Video rates an impressive six hours.) That equals or beats every competitor in the YP-T9's class. In conjunction with the feature set and sound quality, such performance makes Samsung's player an ideal alternative to the nano, especially for Windows users not tied to a specific jukebox application.