Samsung Q3 MP3 Player Review

The Samsung YP-Q3 MP3 Player is the successor to the popular Q2 model, although the amount of changes and tweaks which are included on it means that it is pretty far removed from its big brother.

What Comes With It?

If you just love to pretend that it is Christmas when you open the box of a new gadget then you will like the presentation but won’t find all that many accessories to spend time over here.  Once you open the clear plastic packaging and spill out the contents you will only see the player itself, a micro USB cable, some earphones and a short start up guide. The full user manual is stored on the device. So not much in the box but everything you need at the same time.

What Does it Look and Feel Like?

The player weighs in at a smidgen over 50 grams and is really compact at 42.2mm x 95.1 mm x 8.6 mm. The screen size is actually smaller on the Q3 than on the Q2, at 2.2”. The classy aluminium trim is very nice to look at nice and to hold too. If there is one drawback with the design then it is the fact that the plastic areas suffer from the age old problem of fingerprint retention.  The tactile buttons and the navigation controls do what they need to do and feel solid and sturdy enough to last a good time.  Overall it looks and feels like a quality device.

Audio quality

The marketing people at Samsung have been pushing the player’s SoundAlive effects and the sound itself is of a high quality once you get round the shock of seeing sound presets with unusual names such as Tweeter and Big Bass. Whatever ever happened to Rock and Jazz? Whether it is quite the amazing advance Samsung claim is open to question but the sound is clear and sharp. There is a new level optimizer which aims to solve the perennial problem of the volume jumping up and down from one track to another. While it doesn’t do a perfect job of this it should save you from those terrifying shifts in volume which always seem to happen just as you are about to fall asleep. As you will no doubt be buying an MP3 player above all for listening to music you are unlikely to be let down by the performance. The Samsung Q3 MP3 Player comes with earphones which are of a decent quality, although to make the most of the player’s sound quality it is recommended that you upgrade to a more powerful set. 

Playing your Songs

The interface is very easy to pick up and offers all the shuffle/back/repeat options which you would expect. The Samsung Q3 supports all the most common types of file – MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, FLAC etc. Browsing for songs is also quick and easy.

Playing Videos

As mentioned earlier, the screen is a bit smaller than on the predecessor and playing videos is not really this device’s main strength. That’s not to say that it gives a bad image or that it lacks adjustment options. It is just that we are so used to seeing fantastic quality images these days that you are unlikely to see its display as anything other than average quality.

Listening to the Radio

This is very simple to do, and scanning and selecting stations is quick and straightforward. Up to 30 frequencies can be stored and the audio quality is high enough to make this a viable option when you want to listen to some fresh music or even the news.

Other Features

If you are looking for a handy place to store and carry around some pics then the Q3 is a reasonable challenger to most mp3 players. You can look at 30 thumbnails at a time to help you pick the right one. Zoom, desktop setting and slideshow options are all available. Although it is a bit strange that you can’t rotate the pics we suppose that you could rotate the player instead. There is also a text reader which might come in handy for making some notes to yourself before you go out.  You can also make your own audio recordings, which will turn out to be of reasonable quality.

Battery

You get around 6 hours for watching videos and an impressive 45 hours if you are just going to be listening to music. Fully recharging takes a couple of hours. If you use the SoundAlive settings to their full capacity then you will drain the battery quicker than the official time given.

Summary

A nice presentation and a good overall package makes the Samsung Q3 MP3 Player a wise purchase if you want to have a handy little multi media player you can slip in your pocket. The SoundAlive options don’t really seem to live up to the hype but in general all the different elements (sound, video, screen) are good enough to keep most of us happy.

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Notes:

Our Samsung Q3 unit was supplied on behalf of Samsung who asked us to review the unit to give our honest opinions which we have. Any questions or feedback on the device is welcome below or via our contact page.