Hey folks, Valkor here. This next review started with Samsung’s “Spring Fever” event, moved on to a preview by the Krush-man, and ended with another stint at Samsung’s Holiday in July press party, leading up to today: A full blown review of Samsung’s latest MP3 player, The YP-S2 aka “The Pebble”.
The Pebble is the “Shuffle” of Samsung’s MP3 line up, but looks 20 times better than the shuffle. By itself, it looks like a shiny rock, but flip it over and you get the controls. The center button is to play, pause, and power down the device. There’s a forward and back button, volume controls, and an extra button to handle the DNSE (Digital Natural Sound Engine) effects (More on this later), as well as the shuffle the music around. Since there’s no screen, how does one fully utilize the device? The Pebble uses a series of lights to tell you what mode the device is in, also to the lights will alert you when the battery is dead, or when it’s fully charged. To round out the Pebble you get a USB plug, software, and necklace headphones. So how does the Pebble handle in Val-Cave testing?
The Bang
It fared pretty well. For those coming off the IPod Shuffle,
or a similar device, you’ll find the Pebble is just as easy to control. The
buttons aren’t too small even for my big mitts. And it definitely garners
curious stares of passer-bys (And folks who simply like shiny objects). But the
sound is the thing and it sounds pretty good, even with the included
headphones. I would have liked a bit more in the sound options, but it’s all
about keeping it simple and the Pebble does simple really well.
The Slack
First the DNSe, definitely a downer when the only two options you have are concert and studio, which don’t do much in terms of improving the audio. Maybe its cost, maybe the tech doesn’t fit, but I would have gone with the SRS just for the immersive factor alone. And the Pebble needs a clip not a necklace, as walking about, the damn thing bounces everywhere. And that’s not cool, especially if you don’t have a shirt pocket to place it in.
Yea the MP3 market is saturated with a wide assortment of devices, but if you’re in the market for something quick, simple, and looks good, then I would suggest picking up the Samsung Pebble. You get 1 gig of memory, 5 different colors to choose from, easy controls, and decent sound all for the low price of 50 bucks. On a TOV 5 star scale, I give the YP-S2 Pebble 3.5 and it’s been Val tested and TOV approved.
