As a leading manufacturer of MP3 players and portable media players, Samsung has updated its product range with sleek new designs and the Android OS. So after the Galaxy smartphone and tablet, Samsung has now released a Galaxy range of 'mobile Internet players'. Let's take a look at what's in store with the Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0.
To be perfectly honest, this portable media player is basically a Galaxy S smartphone with most of the communication functions deactivated. In fact, a quick look at the tech specs shows that it has the same dimensions, weight and components as Samsung's top-selling mobile.
There are, however, two major differences. First of all, the Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0 has an S-LCD display rather than the Super AMOLED Plus screen seen in the smartphone. Second, it's available in both black and white.
For more information about how the product handles (hardware and software), we recommend you take a look at our review of the Galaxy S smartphone. That'll give you a more detailed description of the product's very plastic finish, the TouchWiz interface, the device's multimedia performances etc.
The only real differences in this portable media player are the audio quality and the new screen. That's therefore what we'll be focusing on in this product review.
Unlike the smartphone, the Wi-Fi 4.0 (4.0 = 4.0" = 10.16 cm) has a Super Clear LCD (S-LCD) screen. This new display certainly doesn't disappoint either!
The average deltaE of 3.8 (difference between perfect colours and those displayed by the screen—in general, the lower the number the better) is really quite good for a portable device. Plus, the gamma (distribution of brightness) is almost perfect, the average contrast ratio is 500:1 (at 200 cd/m²) and the maximum brightness reaches over 400 cd/m². This is therefore a very impressive screen for this type of device.
With such a great screen and a huge range of compatible file formats, the Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0 is clearly a portable media player that's very much geared up for video playback. It therefore has nothing to envy of its market rivals.
It's hard to find fault with the frequency response and harmonic distortion, which are both kept at very good levels. In fact, the Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0 did very well in our sound quality tests. Similarly, we don't have any real complaints about the headphones out and its dynamic range. The stereo effect is handled well enough, the sound stage is sufficiently wide and the signal is reasonably accurate, even if our tests do confirm that portable devices still have of room for improvement in fields such as these. Finally, another problem often seen in portable music players (and not overcome here) is the weak output power, which means you may need to crank up the volume. In fact, most good smartphones can manage a more powerful output than this. Maybe Samsung is a bit too paranoid about keeping its product in line with EU volume limit, but still ...
The Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0 comes with a pair of in-ear headphones. This, however, is more of a gesture than anything else, as these headphones are pretty rubbish. Their very random frequency response doesn't make them suitable for listening to anything in good conditions. Plus, they're too heavy on the bass and lower-mediums and are prone to unpleasant resonance. Given how much this PMP costs, we would have expected better. You'll therefore need to invest in a new pair of headphones to get the best out of this product!
We think that the audio player program, already seen in other Samsung devices, could do with a few tweaks here and there. Track lists, for example, take up a lot of room on the screen without actually displaying that much information, which is a bit disappointing. The software has all the functions you'll need for listening to music on the move, but we would have liked to see a few more audio processing options and effects. We'd got used to seeing DNSe in Samsung's P-series music players, which was almost as effective as Cowon's audio enhancement technology, but there's none of that here—just a pretty useless equaliser.
With an interface straight out of a best-selling smartphone, access to a huge selection of extra applications and decent multimedia performances, the Galaxy Wi-Fi S 4.0 is a serious competitor for the iPod touch and the likes of the Cowon D3 Plenue. It supports more file formats than Apple's device and is fully compatible with Android Market, unlike Cowon's player, making the 4.0 the most comprehensive all-rounder on the market right now. That said, this portable media player isn't without its faults, some of which we're rather surprised to see these days from a major manufacturer. Beware of the battery life too—although it may not be far off the 36 hours of audio playback announced in the tech specs, don't forget that you're likely to do much more than just listen to music with a device like this. You may therefore find it guzzles up the battery pretty quickly.
One key question remains, however: will this device find a market for itself when app-loaded, music-playing smartphones are readily available at relatively low prices (on a contract, of course)? Can the improved audio quality justify the extra bulk of a second device in your pocket or handbag? We're not so sure.
Design & Handling: smartphone style
To be perfectly honest, this portable media player is basically a Galaxy S smartphone with most of the communication functions deactivated. In fact, a quick look at the tech specs shows that it has the same dimensions, weight and components as Samsung's top-selling mobile.There are, however, two major differences. First of all, the Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0 has an S-LCD display rather than the Super AMOLED Plus screen seen in the smartphone. Second, it's available in both black and white.
For more information about how the product handles (hardware and software), we recommend you take a look at our review of the Galaxy S smartphone. That'll give you a more detailed description of the product's very plastic finish, the TouchWiz interface, the device's multimedia performances etc.
The only real differences in this portable media player are the audio quality and the new screen. That's therefore what we'll be focusing on in this product review.
Video Quality & Screen: S-LCD
Unlike the smartphone, the Wi-Fi 4.0 (4.0 = 4.0" = 10.16 cm) has a Super Clear LCD (S-LCD) screen. This new display certainly doesn't disappoint either!
One of the best portable device screens we've seen for colour fidelity and colour temperature
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A colour temperature of 7000 K isn't perfect but we haven't seen many better results for a portable device
A colour temperature of 7000 K isn't perfect but we haven't seen many better results for a portable device
The average deltaE of 3.8 (difference between perfect colours and those displayed by the screen—in general, the lower the number the better) is really quite good for a portable device. Plus, the gamma (distribution of brightness) is almost perfect, the average contrast ratio is 500:1 (at 200 cd/m²) and the maximum brightness reaches over 400 cd/m². This is therefore a very impressive screen for this type of device.
With such a great screen and a huge range of compatible file formats, the Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0 is clearly a portable media player that's very much geared up for video playback. It therefore has nothing to envy of its market rivals.
Audio Quality: still lacks power
It's hard to find fault with the frequency response and harmonic distortion, which are both kept at very good levels. In fact, the Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0 did very well in our sound quality tests. Similarly, we don't have any real complaints about the headphones out and its dynamic range. The stereo effect is handled well enough, the sound stage is sufficiently wide and the signal is reasonably accurate, even if our tests do confirm that portable devices still have of room for improvement in fields such as these. Finally, another problem often seen in portable music players (and not overcome here) is the weak output power, which means you may need to crank up the volume. In fact, most good smartphones can manage a more powerful output than this. Maybe Samsung is a bit too paranoid about keeping its product in line with EU volume limit, but still ...Frequency response is almost perfect
No complaints about harmonic distortion either
No complaints about harmonic distortion either
The Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0 comes with a pair of in-ear headphones. This, however, is more of a gesture than anything else, as these headphones are pretty rubbish. Their very random frequency response doesn't make them suitable for listening to anything in good conditions. Plus, they're too heavy on the bass and lower-mediums and are prone to unpleasant resonance. Given how much this PMP costs, we would have expected better. You'll therefore need to invest in a new pair of headphones to get the best out of this product!
We think that the audio player program, already seen in other Samsung devices, could do with a few tweaks here and there. Track lists, for example, take up a lot of room on the screen without actually displaying that much information, which is a bit disappointing. The software has all the functions you'll need for listening to music on the move, but we would have liked to see a few more audio processing options and effects. We'd got used to seeing DNSe in Samsung's P-series music players, which was almost as effective as Cowon's audio enhancement technology, but there's none of that here—just a pretty useless equaliser.
With an interface straight out of a best-selling smartphone, access to a huge selection of extra applications and decent multimedia performances, the Galaxy Wi-Fi S 4.0 is a serious competitor for the iPod touch and the likes of the Cowon D3 Plenue. It supports more file formats than Apple's device and is fully compatible with Android Market, unlike Cowon's player, making the 4.0 the most comprehensive all-rounder on the market right now. That said, this portable media player isn't without its faults, some of which we're rather surprised to see these days from a major manufacturer. Beware of the battery life too—although it may not be far off the 36 hours of audio playback announced in the tech specs, don't forget that you're likely to do much more than just listen to music with a device like this. You may therefore find it guzzles up the battery pretty quickly.
One key question remains, however: will this device find a market for itself when app-loaded, music-playing smartphones are readily available at relatively low prices (on a contract, of course)? Can the improved audio quality justify the extra bulk of a second device in your pocket or handbag? We're not so sure.
Pros
- Good quality headphones output
- Very good screen
- Android Market
Cons
- Audio output lacks power
- Low-quality headphones
Conclusion
The Galaxy S Wi-Fi 4.0 is testimony to Samsung's prowess in the world of portable media players. It's just a shame that the audio hardware isn't quite up to scratch (output power, headphones).
OUR SCORE
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