7. Samsung YH-820: Good, But No More

The Samsung YH-820, little brother to the YP-925, now has a color display, like all the new players in the line. It also features photo browsing capabilities, plus a USB OTG (On-The-Go) connection for transferring photos from a digital camera to the player without having to use a computer. This latter function comes in very handy on vacation, since it eliminates the need to carry a lot of memory cards around.

But don't rely on the unit for viewing your photos comfortably. On the 1.5" (3.8 cm) display, they're too small to be able to make out much detail. And since they can't be used to illustrate your songs or as backgrounds, the browser's usefulness in a music playing context is rather questionable.

Aside from the photo-browser function - which is little more than a gimmick - the Samsung YH-820 is a good 5 GB music player, but no more than that. The sound quality is good, but highs are seriously lacking. And it's almost impossible to compensate for this fault using the equalizer, since Samsung offers no custom equalization, only the possibility of amplifying the bass. Under those conditions, understanding the lyrics of a song can be difficult, especially if you choose to keep the Samsung earphones, which reduce the treble even more, and also attenuate the bass!

As for ergonomics, navigation in the player isn't revolutionary, but it's easy enough and doesn't require you to pull out the user's manual at every step. For transfers to and from a PC, if you run Windows XP, don't bother with the somewhat impractical software provided by Samsung. Synchronize directly via Media Player 10, and you'll save time.