Samsung YP-U1 (1GB)

Long, slim and white. Somehow after the Apple iPod shuffle, such designs have been popping out of the woodwork in a relentless wave from Luxpro's Super Tangent to the Samsung YP-C1. Whether this is by coincidence or just grudging compliments to the Cupertino design team, comparisons are inevitable. We find out in this review just how the YP-U1 measures up.

Design
Measuring just 23.8 x 87.8 x 13.5mm, the YP-U1 sits very well in either a jeans pocket or a well-stuffed handbag. With a fold-up USB jack, the YP-U1 also does double duty as a thumbdrive and is far more convenient than the shuffle or Super Tangent with their losable USB cap. Unlike Dcube's implementation of a built-in USB jack in its NMP-612T model, the YP-U1's version is not clumsy at all and will score points with the aesthetic-minded for its sliding cover. However, the design of the jack is a tad flimsy since it is not rigid enough to support the weight of the MP3 player. We are nitpicking, though.

	Interesting USB jack.

Befitting its utilitarian status, the YP-U1 has no color screen. Instead it uses a monochrome version with a white backlight. Physical controls are few and that is the way we like it; less hassle in remembering the locations of all the buttons. There's a four-way D-pad with a center-clickable Menu button. In music playback mode, the up/down buttons governs the volume while the left/right keys take care of track skipping. A short press of the center switch brings up the tree-directory interface while a longer press will display the different menu functions. There is also a Play/Pause button and a Record key plus a Hold switch. Overall, it's a pretty neat layout.

A metal loop is located at the end of the player for a lanyard, though since the 3.5mm audio jack lies just beneath the aforementioned, it proved difficult for us to plug in stereo mini-jacks with a thicker rubber jacket since the protrusion would impede the full insertion of the cable. However, unlike the mess of cables that is the shuffle when both lanyard and earphones are inserted (the connection points are located at opposite ends of the unit), which unsightly cable clutter is minimized on the YP-U1.

	Slim white beaut.

The battery is non-removable and despite long hours in our junk-filled pocket, the YP-U1 survived with nary a scratch. Though the tiny screen may not favor the short-sighted, the tree directory-styled navigation makes it easier to look for tracks especially when songs are arranged in folders. However, for those used to the iTunes style of track management, with artist, album and track names neatly arranged, they won't find it here.

Button feel is good with decent tactile feedback, but we feel the keys on the D-pad could be made a little larger.

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