Shop RadioShack for Great GiftsSamsung S3 Slim (4GB, green)
Manufacturer: Samsung Part number: YP-S3JAG/XAA
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The Samsung S3 Slim MP3 player is a solid option for budget-minded users with an eye for design and an ear for audio.
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CNET editors' review
Samsung S3 Slim (4GB, green) price range: $79.00 - $79.99
- Reviewed by: Jasmine France
- Reviewed on: 09/12/2008
- Updated on:10/14/2008
- Released on: 06/30/2008
The good: The Samsung S3 Slim MP3 player offers a sleek and stylish design and a handful of desirable features, such as OGG support, a folder navigation option, and a nine-band user EQ. It's also a good value and offers great sound quality.
The bad: Compared with other Samsung players, the S3 is anemic in the features department, and the touch-sensitive controls are not for everyone. Audio battery life is below average.
The bottom line: The Samsung S3 Slim MP3 player is a solid option for budget-minded users with an eye for design and an ear for audio.
The MP3 player market does nothing but benefit from the decline in flash memory prices. One of many examples can be found in the Samsung S3 Slim, a super slick-looking device that comes in 4GB and 8GB versions for just $79.99 and $119.99, respectively. The S3 delivers a good value, thanks to excellent sound quality and a handful of useful features. However, we're a bit letdown by the player's shrunken screen and lack of integrated Bluetooth, a neat feature that is included on its sibling, the Samsung T10.
The Samsung S3 Slim is fairly similar in design to its predecessor, the Samsung T10, although the S3 has a sturdier feel and more rounded edges. The clear-coated metallic body gives the player a smooth feel and stylish look, and at least some of the colors aren't completely smudge-prone--a rarity in shiny devices. The S3 is available in a choice of five colors: black, blue, green, red, and white. Glowing touch-sensitive controls live beneath the shiny exterior and light up only when activated by your finger. On the one hand, this gives the player a sleek and stylish look; on the other, it adds an extra step to navigation. The singular tactile control, a combo power/hold switch, resides on the right spine. The bottom of the S3 houses a proprietary syncing port and a standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Unfortunately, you won't find a dedicated volume rocker anywhere on the device.
As its name suggests, the Samsung S3 Slim is slender and compact, measuring 3.7 inches by 1.7 inches by 0.3 inch, which is just fractionally larger than the 4G iPod Nano. Sadly, the S3's screen is 0.2 inch smaller than that of both the T10 and the Nano at 1.8 inches diagonally. This seemingly minor decrease is definitely noticeable when it comes to portable devices.
Despite the decrease in screen size, the onscreen interface remains one of Samsung's strong points. On the S3, content is neatly ordered into separate music, photo, and video menus; alternatively, there's a folder selection for those who prefer to navigate files based on desktop organization. Once you dig into the music menu, you can find tracks by artist, album, playlist, and so on. The standout, however, is the graphic interface. Samsung offers a choice of three menu themes, one of which lets you set any photo as wallpaper. The playback screen may be set to display album art, song info, or one of three animated visualizations. We suspect the latter may affect battery life, but it's a nice option for those who like eye-candy.
On the features side, we were disappointed to find that some of our favorite extras from the T10 were not carried over to the S3. There's no built-in Bluetooth and no Rhapsody DNA integration, so while the player does support subscription WMAs, it will not accept Rhapsody Channels. In addition to WMA, the S3 supports MP3 and Ogg Vorbis audio, JPEG photos, simple text files, and SVI/MPEG-4 video. All video must be transcoded using the included Media Studio software--always a bummer in our book. On a positive note, the S3 does include an FM tuner and recorder, as well as an alarm function, a handful of games, and the ability to adjust playback speeds for audio files (a useful feature for audio books and podcasts). There's also plethora of DSNe sound effects, including Samsung's signature nine-band user-definable EQ.
During our sound testing, we toyed with many of the sound settings, but ultimately kept the S3 on flat to hear it in its purest form. The different effects and EQs dramatically affect the audio output, so pretty much any listener should find a suitable sound profile. One thing is a given: you must replace the packaged headphones if you really want to hear what the S3 has to offer in the audio department. The stock 'buds sound OK, but they don't do the player justice. We used the Shure SE310 canalphones and Creative's Aurvana Live cans and were pleasantly surprised at how well the S3 powered the full-size 'phones. This player--with all bass boost settings off--offers an impressive amount of bass. It's deep, heavy, and tight, without taking away from the crispness on the high-end. In general, music sounds rich, warm, and encompassing, and all genres are pretty even. Two minor issues we noticed: a very slight background hiss in certain tracks and a tendency for some songs to sound harsh. However, we found that the latter could be remedied by adjusting the EQ.
Video and photo performance was more than adequate in our testing, though the small screen makes it a bit difficult to enjoy either--we definitely found ourselves missing that 0.2 inch. Still, images are bright and clear with good color saturation, and viewing angles are decent. Rated battery life of 25 hours for audio and 4 hours for video is plenty adequate. Sadly, the numbers that CNET Labs got for music playback were below average at 15.8 hours. Video was better than expected, coming in at just over 6 hours.
User reviews
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I would choose this over an IPOD any day!
by jpenton on January 26, 2009
Pros: It has fm radio, the battery life is good, user friendly interface, great sound quality, good price, small, transferring songs is simple, video/picture capabilities, cool screen savers, scratch resistant, put personal picture in background and etc..
Cons: Its touch sensitive, but is very easy to adjust to.
Mind is black, so its prone to finger prints - but isn't as bad as you would think.1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Seems like a nice player; but...
by socal4me on November 14, 2009
Pros: can't get the s/w to install and recognize it. Radio's great, all the other features appear like they will be good or better, but I can't tell...
Cons: because the install cd that I got with the system doesn't seem to work. I can't get my pc to recognize the player and I can't seem to get Samsung to recognize the problem and according to the boards I've read, no one else can either.
Summary: I wasted my $80. That's the price of just not ponying up for an iPod. Maybe Samsung TV's are better...their pictures look superior. Maybe this is a ...
Summary: I wasted my $80. That's the price of just not ponying up for an iPod. Maybe Samsung TV's are better...their pictures look superior. Maybe this is a fluke...Nah. Why chance it, I'll stick with Sony.
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Not like my last samsung player
Pros: 1. Text reader
Cons: 1. Bad menu layout. hidden functions
2. volume control is not easy
3. earphone jack has bad connection
4. video conversion and transfer takes an awful long time
5. touch sensitive controls are very inaccurate.Summary: I recently started liking samsung, almost comparing it to sony, but after this player I will have to rethink my position. This is probably the worst player I have bought, ...
Summary: I recently started liking samsung, almost comparing it to sony, but after this player I will have to rethink my position. This is probably the worst player I have bought, which is surprising because the last one (yp-u2) was amazing, almost indestructible until my computer didn't recognize it anymore.
CORRECTION:
This player has several very serious glitches, that I had already read about in the internet, but didn't want to believe.
Cons:
1. The navigation menu is very confusing and all over the place. Functions are too hidden in unrelated places.
2. The earphone jack won't work correctly. I had to twist the conection and the the player would pause (since its automatic pause triggers) the sound sometimes would come out, sometimes i wouldn't.
3. Videos take an awful long time to convert and transfer. The encoding its samsung proprietary. It would be easier it it would just transfer in mpg4 like the psp.
4. the volume controls are a nightmare. if you set the "maximum" volume to a certain level, you can't go past it until you fumble through the menu an re-set it to a higher level. I couln't find that control again, its hidden somewhere.
5. touch sensitive controls are very inaccurate. Most of the time I selected something else. There is no confirmation option for important destructive features.
The only thing I liked about the player was the text reading function, but I won't keep it just because of that small feature. Not worth the money.
This player is going back to Target pronto.
Updated on Sep 13, 2009
5. touch sensitive controls are very inaccurate. Most of the time I selected something else. There is no confirmation option for important NON-DESTRUCTIVE features. -
Sleek design overshadowed by ridiculously glitchy CPU
by KaossAC on May 31, 2009
Pros: Amazingly clean, simple, yet effective looks. Vibrant screen for its size. Easy to use LED touch pad controls. Somewhat durable (I've dropped it a lot of times, very hard on concrete). That's pretty much it
Cons: Ridiculously glitchy CPU/GUI, painfully slow and unintuitive. A redundant DNSe system (it's very bad compared to other Samsung players) because the Custom setting is glitchy. Plastic body makes it extremely vulnerable to scratches. Subpar batterylife
Summary: Absolutely horrible compared to other Samsung MP3 players I've used, including the K3, P2, and Q1. Sure, it may be easy to use, it may look nice, but I ...
Summary: Absolutely horrible compared to other Samsung MP3 players I've used, including the K3, P2, and Q1. Sure, it may be easy to use, it may look nice, but I know this isn't up to Samsung's standards. The glitches completely ruin the whole MP3.
After looking at some other users reviews, I am wondering if I am the only one experiencing these problems. Perhaps mine is defective...
Bottom line: Based on my observations and my personal experiences with the S3, I would definitely not recommend this to ANYONE. -
Great Value and Feature Set for the Money
by emotionmachine on May 14, 2009
Pros: Screen quality and GUI excellent.
Interface sound effects a nice touch.
Good options for song browsing and playing
Sleek design
Battery life seems decent.
3D & EQ options a-plenty
Earbuds are decent sounding
5 Games
Easy file transfer, decent s/wCons: Doesn't remember previous volume setting upon restart, always places at 50%
Animation frame rate and button press reaction time a little slow.
Earbuds not extremely comfortableSummary: For anyone who wants an iPod but doesn't wanna shell out the money, or deal with AAC/M4A files, this is a decent and economical alternative. I'm extremely ...
Summary: For anyone who wants an iPod but doesn't wanna shell out the money, or deal with AAC/M4A files, this is a decent and economical alternative. I'm extremely satisfied with this item so far.
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Easy to use, stylish player with a reasonable price.
by JoeC254 on February 16, 2009
Pros: User friendly software for uploading, great video playback for a smaller screen. FM reception is impressive as is play-back quality. I like the customizable boosts to Bass/Treble ext.
Cons: Battery life is a concern, touch screen buttons could use a bump or some kind of indicator.
Summary: A great player for the money
Summary: A great player for the money
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I love this player
by songofmyown on January 29, 2009
Pros: I love everything about it, it is compact, but not so small that I am afraid to let my kids use it. The sound quality is great, even with the headphones that came with the system.
Cons: I do not like that once you put songs from an album into a playlist, the songs are listed twice. I deleted them in the file browser and now they are gone from my exercise playlist. I wish more detailed instructions would have come with the device.
Summary: Overall, I love it and have been really happy with this purchase. I was looking for an ipod, but the nano has become too small for my taste. I felt ...
Summary: Overall, I love it and have been really happy with this purchase. I was looking for an ipod, but the nano has become too small for my taste. I felt like it would get crushed in my purse. This is a great alternative. It has a sleek look and works great!
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S3 is a slim and powerful MP3 player.
by brianken2 on September 18, 2008
Pros: The design is slim enough to carry.
The LCD is large enough to browse the menu.
The sound quality is excellent when S3 is connected to my PC speaker amp.Cons: The touch pad seems sensitive. But I got used to it.
Summary: Since S3 is slim, I could put it in my shirts poket. It is easy to carry. The large LCD displays all the necessary information and S3 provides easy user ...
Summary: Since S3 is slim, I could put it in my shirts poket. It is easy to carry. The large LCD displays all the necessary information and S3 provides easy user interface. I think S3 is one of the great MP3 players.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Samsung
- Part number: YP-S3JAG/XAA
- Description: Rock out to your favorite tunes or watch crystal-clear videos wherever life takes you on the 1.8" LCD display. The Samsung S3 plays audio, video, and displays still pictures, and text. It also comes with 4GB of memory and DNSe sound engine for a superior surround sound experience. Packed with multimedia features you can enjoy no matter where you are, the Samsung S3 makes it easy and fun.
General
- Product type Digital player / radio
- PC interface(s) supported USB
- Signal-to-noise ratio 90 dB
- Flash memory installed 4 GB Integrated
- Digital storage None
- Weight 1.9 oz
- Dimensions (W x D x H) 1.7 in x 0.4 in x 3.7 in
- Body material Plastic, Metallized plastic
- Color Green
- Included accessories Headphones
- Software type Drivers & Utilities, Samsung Music Studio
Digital Player / Recorder
- Supported digital audio standards MP3, WMA
- Playback modes Playlist, Repeat all, Repeat shuffle
- Response bandwidth 40 - 20000 Hz
- Additional features TEXT viewer, MPEG-4 playback, JPEG photo playback
Built-in Display
- Diagonal size 1.8 in
- Resolution 176 x 220
Audio Features
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Built-in clock Alarm, Sleep timer
- Additional features Text viewer
CD System
- CD system type None
Equalizer
- Equalizer factory presets Rock, Vocal, Normal, Studio, Classic, Concert, Bass Boost
Radio
- Tuner type Radio tuner
- Tuner bands FM
- Tuner frequency range 87.5 - 108 MHz
Remote Control
- Remote control None
Headphones
- Headphones type Binaural Ear-bud
- Sound output mode Stereo
Connectivity
- Cable(s) included 1 x USB cable -
- Connector type 1 x Headphones, 1 x USB
Battery / Power
- Battery Lithium polymer Rechargeable Player battery
- Mfr estimated battery life 25 hour(s)
- Power device type None
System Requirements
- Operating system Microsoft Windows XP, Microsoft Windows Vista
Sustainability
- CNET Labs: Battery drain test / Video playback 363 min
- CNET Labs: Battery drain test / audio playback 949.5 min
Product series
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Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, MP3, WMA, Lithium polymer Rechargeable Player battery
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Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, MP3, WMA, Lithium polymer Rechargeable Player battery
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Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, MP3, WMA, Lithium polymer Rechargeable Player battery
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Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, MP3, WMA, Lithium polymer Rechargeable Player battery
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Manufacturer: Samsung
Specs: Digital player / radio, 4 GB, MP3, WMA, Lithium polymer Rechargeable Player battery
Manufacturer info
- Samsung
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Samsung products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.samsungusa.com/
- Address:
105 Challenger Road, Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660 - Phone: 1-800-726-7864
- Fax: 1-973-601-6001
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