Product Description

The stunning new metallic Samsung Z5 is an ultra-slim music player that brings newfound freedom to music lovers with an unbeatable package of versatility, style, strength and reliability. Providing a variety of features in a sleek and sexy, yet strong and scratchproof, aluminum case, the Z5, which is available in both silver and black colours, is a flash memory music player that was designed to maximise user choice by supporting a wide variety of music subscription services and music formats.Ultra-slim and weighing in at a mere 58g perfect for the pocket or the smallest handbag, the Z5 delivers heavyweight audio performance with DNSe Portable 3D Sound Technology, a dedicated sound engine designed to reproduce music in 3D surround sound. As svelte and stylish as it is, the Z5 is also capable. With a 4GB memory (1GB and 2GB model also available) that can hold up to 2,000 WMA tracks or 65,000 photos it also packs an outstanding 35-hour rechargeable battery, so even long trips can fly by with a musical accompaniment.The Z5 doesnt restrict you to one source of music either, (MP3 and WMA file playback)..While many other players restrict compatibility to one online service for downloading, the Z5 lets you expand your download options with Windows Media DRM 10/PlaysForSure technologies, for use with such download sites as Virgin Digital and HMV and many more.With a 1.82 colour TFT-LCD screen thats one of the largest in its class, the Z5 is a visual treat, letting you view photographs and album art with ease, create exciting slideshows or pan and zoom in on the photos. An easy-to-use, customisable navigation interface, also allows you to tailor the look and feel of the players background with your own photos to suit your personal style.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47910 in Consumer Electronics
• Brand: Samsung
• Model: YP-Z5AB/ELS
• Released on: 2006-03-22
• Dimensions: 1.10 pounds

T3 recommends
Great sound and control make this a cool nano alternative July 2006

Manufacturer's Description
The stunning new metallic Samsung Z5 is an ultra-slim music player that brings newfound freedom to music lovers with an unbeatable package of versatility, style, strength and reliability. Providing a variety of features in a sleek and sexy, yet strong and scratchproof, aluminum case, the Z5, which is available in both silver and black colours, is a flash memory music player that was designed to maximise user choice by supporting a wide variety of music subscription services and music formats.Ultra-slim and weighing in at a mere 58g perfect for the pocket or the smallest handbag, the Z5 delivers heavyweight audio performance with DNSe Portable 3D Sound Technology, a dedicated sound engine designed to reproduce music in 3D surround sound. As svelte and stylish as it is, the Z5 is also capable. With a 4GB memory (1GB and 2GB model also available) that can hold up to 2,000 WMA tracks or 65,000 photos it also packs an outstanding 35-hour rechargeable battery, so even long trips can fly by with a musical accompaniment.The Z5 doesnt restrict you to one source of music either, (MP3 and WMA file playback)..While many other players restrict compatibility to one online service for downloading, the Z5 lets you expand your download options with Windows Media DRM 10/PlaysForSure technologies, for use with such download sites as Virgin Digital and HMV and many more.With a 1.82 colour TFT-LCD screen thats one of the largest in its class, the Z5 is a visual treat, letting you view photographs and album art with ease, create exciting slideshows or pan and zoom in on the photos. An easy-to-use, customisable navigation interface, also allows you to tailor the look and feel of the players background with your own photos to suit your personal style.

Box Contents

Customer Reviews

At last an IPOD Nano Beater
Had this product for a couple of days now and I have to say i am delighted with it. Had it up and running within 5 mins and had copied 3 gigs of music files onto it within an hour. The navigation is straightforward and the touch pad is incredibly easy to use, once you have spent 5 mins getting used to it (don't understand other reviewers problems with it, as I have large fingers but don't struggle with it).

The sound is as good as any Ipod and it plays a far wider variety of music formats as well.

The only downside is the supplied headphones, which are useless, but with a decent pair the sound is improved dramatically. It is a perfect size for a Mp3 player and feels a lot sturdier than other players i have owned. So if you want a good 4 gig device but don't want to follow the white earphone wearing herd, this is the player for you.

Pros

Design - really easy to navigate tracks and artists, and feels like it could take some punishment

Formats - will work with MP3 and WMV meaning you are not locked into using the dreaded Itunes

Sound - The graphic equalizer lets you tinker to your hearts content

Battery - used it for two days solid and still showing a full battery

Cons

Headphones - supplied model are pretty poor so invest around £20 in a decent pair and you will have no problems with it.

PS.. you can get mains chargers on E-bay for around £14.

DEATH TO THE IPOD?
Now had my Z5 for a week and I am throughly impressed. It appears that my months of painstaking research have paid off.

Much has been made of the scroll bar on this player and all I can say is I find it incredibly intuitive. The menu structure is incredibly simple to navigate.

Yes I would agree that the user guide is worse than useless however any questions I have had have been answered by those on the Z5 lounge which is a forum dedicated to this player with incredibly helpful members. Go to: z5lounge

Yes you do have to charge through the USB port and initial charge was only 2.5 hours. USB travel kits are out there, I bought the expansys one from Amazon, they are also relatively cheap. So that shouldn't be seen as a bad point.

Samsung have now upgraded their firmware to iron out some small bugs and this can be found on Samsung's website with further advice through the forum above. Nice to see Samsung (who also view the forum) taking their equipment forward.

The one thing that has really impressed me is the quality of the earphoness that are supplied with the player. Whilst they are no Sennheisers they are of superior quality to any 'supplied' headphones I have every had.

Whilst the player has no custom EQ it has 10 settings and it is possibly custom EQ will released in further firmware.

I like the fact that this player supports 'play for sure' files as well as other formats i.e. .ogg no need to purchase music through one source as there is with I Tunes.

The build qality of the player is good with metal casing and a realistic size. The large screen is also impressive - bigger than the screen on my mobile. Apparently this player may have video playback however Samsung have chosen to disable it until further testing has taken place. Come on Samsung you know you want to!

The sound quality on this player is impressive with the supplied earphones. Transferred my files via WMP10 (a doddle) and album art was also taken over.

The battery life is not the stated 35 hours however with the new firmware ver 2.34 I have managed 32 hours so take that Apple!

So far this player continues to impress with it's build and sound quality. It's pleasing to the eye and easy to use menu system make it a top buy A+.

It may not yet be an Ipod Killer due to the trendies who only consider Ipods however this must surely give Apple something to think about in the future.

Thanks to Samsung for the great player and thanks to Amazon for the super fast and free delivery.

Buy it you won't be disappointed.

Samsung, the nano killer
Samsungs new Mp3 is a wonderful little machine! A brilliant screen, high res, great to view pics and album art on. The interface is wonderfully simple. Playback and sound quality, along with EQ settings far and away out performed the Nano.

Battery life also killed the nano. Mine runs quite happily for around 23 to 26 hours! My nano bearly managed 16.

Design. People feel the nano is the ultimate in style gadgets. Not in my view. While apple do produce wonderfull design ideas, Samsung have pipped them to the post here with this player. It is construction is solid and stylish. The unit doesn't feel like you could snap it!

This machine plays about every mp3 format out there and it works with WMP 10 and 11 seemlessly as well as HMV Digital and Napster. Its not fussy like the Ipod!

One gripe:The supplied headphones are useless! To get the best from this player, choose some Sennheiser in ear phones. Suddenly the excellent sound playback gets even better. You don't get this improvement in sound quality from Apple's headphones!

If you've got to have a stylish MP3, and don't want the Ipod "mug me" advertising on your hip, this is a perfect choice!

Well done Samsung. An excellent MP3, brilliantly put together.