The Samsung YP-K3 has a easy-to-use interface, good price and good sound quality, but unfortunately you can’t connect it with a MAC for simple data storage, the controls are tricky and it doesn’t have the record feature. Also, there aren’t many files compatible with it, but it’s a nice-looking player, fitting perfectly with your pocket.Currently, it’s only available in 2GB and 4GB capacities and the 8GB one should be available in a few months. It’s price is reasonable, at $119 for 2GB and $169 for 4GB. It has touch sensitive keys, that light up, making it look very stylish. It has Menu, Select, Back and directional keys and is available in green, black and red versions.

A 1.8″ OLED display offers you a great view of the menu and everything you need, but it doesn’t have the highest resolution. The connectivity is ensured by a dock connector, along with 3.5mm standard audio jack, for headphones.

Unfortunately, it lacks a loudspeaker, along with the alarm clock, that would be useless without it. Also, another minus is that you have to look at it while using it, because you won’t feel the touch sensitive keys, so you won’t know which one you press, so you have to take it out of your pocket.

The K3 is plug-and-play, so you just have to attach the USB cable to the PC and it will be recognized by Windows, but MAC users are having an issue, with no USB Mass Storage Class drivers for them.

It will only recognize MP3, WMA and ASF file formats, being an issue for some, that prefer to listen to OGG and AAC files. But, at least, it has an FM tuner, so you can listen to radio stations. Video playback or recording are also not supported, being only able to playback music, view images and tune radio.

It’s sound quality is good, with a great bass boost, but the equalizer won’t help you much, being almost useless. The included earbuds are not great, but you can stick with them, if not looking for the highest quality. But if you do, the player can support powerful headphones, that may cost more than itself. Also, an optional speaker is available.

The battery lifetime is quite low, with just 20 hours of playback and the battery can’t be removed. Other minus is the fade-in at the start of each track, that, unfortunately, can’t be disabled. It is designed so that the music pauses when the headphones are unplugged. Another issue is that the player’s system settings are reset to default when it’s plugged with the PC.

The Samsung YP-K3 isn’t the best player, but it does look nice and surely is an alternative to iPod and other well-known players. It’s price is reasonable for it’s features, being a above-average player, but not the best.