Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 Review: Capable Music and Video Player Does Android Apps, Too

Rating-3.5/5

Pros:

Full access to Google's suite of apps.

Large display.

Cons:

Poor audio quality.

Bottom Line:

The Galaxy Player 4.0 provides the best way to

experience an Android phone, without the

phone.

Samsung's Galaxy Player 4.0 and 5.0 are the Android answer to

Apple's iPod Touch, the long-reigning king of portable media

players. Of the two Samsung options, the highly portable Galaxy

Player 4.0 ($200 as of January 4, 2012) should especially appeal to

people who wish to remain within the realm of Android for music,

video, and apps, but don't want to pay for monthly service with an

Android phone. With specs similar to those of its iOS rival, the

Galaxy Player 4.0 makes a gallant attempt to beat the iPod Touch at

its own game- -but it falls short on battery life and audio quality.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 looks almost

identical to the Samsung Vibrant on T-Mobile , save

for the front-facing camera, the larger screen, and

the availability of a white version. At 2.53 by 4.87 by

0.39 inches, and 4.27 ounces, the Samsung Galaxy

Player 4.0 is larger and heavier than the fourth-

generation 8GB iPod Touch. Its body is constructed

primarily of plastic, and it feels cheaply made in

comparison to the aluminum-backed iPod Touch.

Regrettably, the decorative silver-colored bezel

surrounding the screen scratched easily in my

pocket.

The Galaxy Player 4.0 gets its name from its roomy 4-

inch, 800-by -480-resolution WVGA Super Clear LCD

display, which tops the fourth-generation iPod

Touch's 3.5- inch display in size but not resolution.

Standard Android navigation buttons appear

beneath the screen. As on most other Samsung

handhelds, the power button sits on the right spine

of the device, and the volume rocker on the left. The

headphone jack rests at the top of the device along

with the microUSB port, which hides under a stiff

and unnecessary sliding door. In addition to its VGA front-facing camera, the Galaxy Player has a 3.2 -megapixel rear-

facing camera, which lacks a flash.

The white plastic back slides off to reveal a 1200mAh battery and a microSD card slot that you can reach without

removing the battery.

Performance and Specs

At its heart, the Galaxy Player operates like any Android phone. To get started, you sign in using your Gmail account (or

create one), and all your contacts and other information are synced from the device over a Wi-Fi connection. It runs

Android 2.3. 5 (Gingerbread)- -the version prior to 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) . We queried Samsung about whether the

Player would ever be updated to Ice Cream Sandwich; but at this writing, the company has not yet responded. We

suspect that the Galaxy Player 4.0 will never leave the realm of Android 2.x .

Inside, the Player uses a 1GHz, single-core Hummingbird processor and 512MB of RAM, which together delivered a fairly

responsive experience. I did notice some minor lag while using the Galaxy Player, however, as I've come to expect from

single-core devices. Pages scrolled smoothly enough, but apps would sometimes hang for a second or two before

opening. This typicaly occurred when several apps were open, and a quick trip to the task manager generally solved the

problem.

Since the Galaxy Player lacks a cellular chip, you won't be able to do anything online unless you're tethered to a Wi-Fi

connection. Fortunately, most local apps will run fine without a connection. But a few apps (including Voice Actions)

require a data connection and won't run without it. The Galaxy Player 4.0 does come with Google Maps, but it relies on

a data connection for GPS. Though you can cache maps for offline use, you can't use the Galaxy Player for turn-by-turn

directions, due to its lack of GPS.

Samsung rates the Galaxy Player 4.0 for 36 hours of audio playback, or 5 hours of video playback, on a simgle battery

charge. In my hands-on testing, I found that the battery lasted for considerably less time than that. With Wi-Fi enabled, I

squeezed about 3 hours out of the device while doing things such as listening to music and downloading apps.

Software and Extras

Samsung's devices stand out from other Android-based media players because they qualify as Android-compatible and

thus have access to licensed material from sources such as Android Market and Google Maps .

Another differentiator: As on its phones, Samsung has replaced the stock Android interface with a stripped-down

version of Samsung's TouchWiz overlay. Anyone who has used a Samsung Android phone will feel at home among the

bold-looking icons and finger-friendly buttons.

Of the many apps preinstalled on the Galaxy Player 4.0 , ThinkFreeOffice seems particularly useful: It lets you manage

office documents on the go and can act as a basic file browser, which makes it handy for installing Android apps from

sources aside from Android Market.

Media

As an Android phone without the phone, the Galaxy Player

4.0 hits the right marks. But a media player that aspires to

compete toe- to-toe with Apple's iPod needs ready access to

a store where the user can buy new content. Android

Market now allows customers to purchase apps, books, and

music from the same Market application, as well as to rent

movies, but TV shows are nowhere to be found.

To download a book or an album from Android Market, you

must first install Google Books or Google Music, respectively;

bizarrely, those apps do not come preinstalled on the

Galaxy Player. As with other content associated with your

Google account, you can run purchased books or music

across devices and the media will sync to wherever you are.

Android Market also gives you the option to rent movies,

which you have 30 days to start and 24 hours to finish once

you've begun your film. Apps like Netflix and Crackle are

available for those who prefer to stream their content, but

Hulu Plus is not yet compatible with the Galaxy Player.

If you want to get your own media onto the Galaxy Player,

you can do so by dragging whatever files you want onto the

Player's 8GB of internal storage, or onto a micro-SDHC card

with a capacity of up to 32GB. Alternatively, you can use an

application such as DropBox to save files locally to your

device.

The 720p HD video that I watched on the Galaxy Player's 4-

inch screen looked and sounded quite good. The Galaxy

Player natively supports the H. 263, H.264 , MPEG-4, and VP8

file formats.

To test audio playback quality, I played my test track, a 320kbps AAC copy of Kanye West's "All of the Lights." Using three

different pairs of headphones, I compared the song to the same file playing on a fourth-generation iPod Touch. The

song sounded a lot cleaner and crisper on the Touch than on the Galaxy Player, which suffered from considerable

background static during playback. The hiss was less prominent in the third-party app WinAmp, so the problem may

have involved a software glitch in the native music player on the Galaxy.

The Galaxy Player was better the iPod Touch at managing content that was already on the device, and offered greater

freedom for moving content onto the device. The Touch still has the upper hand in relation to media selection and ease

of use, but the Galaxy Player is better for users who like having greater control over their own files.

Bottom Line

As an iPod Touch alternative, the Galaxy Player 4.0 has much to like- -especially if you're already familiar with Android

and have invested money in the ecosystem. The quality of audio played back through the stock Samsung music app is

poor, but the Android advantage includes letting you choose third-party player options from Android Market. If you are

looking for a taste of Android without having to pay for cellular service, the Galaxy Player 4.0 is a good Android device to

tinker with

Rudz