Introduction

Keeping up with our recent fascination with touchscreen devices, the Samsung YP-P2 gets rid of most of its physical controls in favor of a user interface that relies almost exclusively on its large touchscreen display. While it may not necessarily be able to compete against the iPod touch, the Samsung P2 multimedia player still comes with a very healthy smattering of features.

Features at a Glance

On the surface, you would probably assume that the Samsung YP-P2 was just another portable media player. Sure, it's got a remarkably slim profile and the slick black finish is certainly attractive, but it probably doesn't do much beyond basic music and video, right? Not exactly. Samsung has managed to shoehorn a couple of extra features in there, most notably the full Bluetooth functionality.

- Colors: Black, white, burgundy
- Capacities: 4GB, 8GB
- Supported Audio: MP3, WMA
- Supported Video: SVI, WMV9
- Screen: 3-inch 380x272 (16:9) 262k color touchscreen
- Dimensions: 52 x 100 x 9.95mm
- Weight: 86 grams
- Battery: 35 hours audio, 5 hours video
- Bluetooth
- RSS feed support
- FM radio with recording
- Productivity suite with alarm, calendar, address book

First Impressions & In the Box

I probably should have already expected this, but when I took my first look at the Samsung YP-P2 portable media player, the first thought that popped in my mind was that it was smaller and thinner than I was expecting. The P2 has a profile that is under 10mm thick. If you've ever held a Samsung "calculator" P-series phone or a Motorola SLVR, then you have a good sense of how thick this media player is.

Based on the product images that I have seen in the past, I also expected the P2 to be a couple of sizes bigger, perhaps having a footprint that was closer to the iPod touch or iPod classic. It's not nearly as big. As you can see in the image here, I have the P2 next to my third-generation iPod nano. The width and thickness are comparable, and the P2 is only about 1.5x as tall. Not bad at all, especially since you get such a large 16:9 display.

Aside from the player itself, inside the box you'll find a set of earphones, a USB cable, software CD, stand, and a quick start guide. The stand, which almost looks like a belt clip, comes in handy for hands-free video watching. Oh, and make sure you don't lose that USB cable. The P2, like every other Samsung, uses a proprietary interface and it may be a bit of a pain having to replace the cable. I would have preferred if they stuck to something like mini-USB, but seeing how Apple can get away with their iPod dock connector, I can't blame Samsung for trying the same with their interface.