The Q1 had such a short lifespan that we only just had time to test it, but it was gone from stores before we even managed to publish our findings.  Now it's replaced by the Q2, which enjoys a traditional design--stuffy, even.

Conventional Styling

You can't really say that Samsung has been very innovative with the Q2.  The front is black, glossy and bordered with a chrome trim, while the back is in matte plastic.  It's generally quite thin, but given how small the screen is, it's difficult to see why the front of the player needed to be so big.  The Q2 uses the same touchscreen keypad as Samsung's other mobile phones and media players, leaving behind the orginality of the Q1's interface.  Remember, it's been a while now since Samsung's mobile phone division took over its MP3 players.   Everything disappears when you switch it off, apart from just two touchscreen buttons, which are, however, outlined indiduall.  Why?  It's a good question ...

The software interface is a little more basic than on the P3, which we approve of.  However, two defects rapidly become evident.  Let's start with the fact the Q2 only ever switches itself off while it's updating its firmware.  That's a perfect way of wearing down the battery life even more.  The other nasty surprise is the fact that the onscreen keypad disappears after a little while.  That means that the buttons themselves are almost entirely invisible and you have to press around in the dark until you can work out what's going on.

Sounds like its big brother, but no AAC

Because Samsung has always struggled to find the right niche for its players, you really have to make a choice to differentiate the Q2 and the P3.  One is plastic, the other metal, but here, it's AAC that 's disappeared.  It's a very big problem, given the breadth of support offered to this format recently.  It's even more of a shame because the sound produced by the Q2 is pretty reasonable.  Like on the P3, the crackling, although there, is quiet enough not to be heard while you're listening to a track.

Version 3.0 of the DNSe effects is available, and works well, even though we prefer Cowon's version of this technology, which is a little more successful.

The Q2 includes an FM tuner with RDS, which is good as the text information provided by radio stations can be displayed on its screen.  It's always useful to be able to read the name of the radio station or even the current track on the screen.

Video is a bit of a useless extra, as you have to re-encode all of your content to be able to watch on the Q2's very small screen.  There are a couple of games, which are enough to pass the time while you're on the bus, but you can't listen to your own music while you play.

It's very hard to see what the real interest of the Q2 is.  It certainly improves on some of its predecessor's faults, but, by trying too hard to be different from the P3, it doesn't add much to a basic music player and takes up more room.  And that's without counting the fact that it can't play AAC files, or the irritating touchscreen controls that disappear just when you need them.  It's worth noting that you can choose between MTP and UMS for copying your files.