Showdown! Cowon S9 vs Samsung P3 vs iriver SPINN!

All three of these Korean-made players are available now in the U.S.. Each has been around long enough to benefit from a few firmware updates. All are pocketable touchscreen players with 480 x 272 resolution. All support FLASH games and apps. All have Bluetooth. These are easily the showstoppers from each company this year, and the competition between them is good news for consumers. Here we'll take a look at the Samsung P3, Cowon S9, and iriver SPINN.

I'll compare them for aesthetic design, hardware details, format support, usability, price, and overall satisfaction as personal media players. I've had all three for some time now, and done exhaustive testing of each. Scores will be explained in each category and will be from 1 to ?, with the higher number being the better score. You'll have your own priorities for the player you own, so don't let the final tally dissuade you from your favorite.

Aesthetic Design. I'm a furniture and product designer, and greatly appreciate the looks of a player. Players that go beyond being visual "knock-offs" and seek new aesthetic territory get my vote. These players all caught my eye before getting further attention from me. My guess is that they've caught your attention too. I've rated them as I see them. Click on each to see their manufacturer support pages and the relative "press" given to the aesthetic design of each.

Cowon S9 · 5 Points.

Simply beautiful from every point of view.

iriver SPINN · 4.5 Points.

Original Spindle control breaks away from the pack.

Samsung P3 · 3.5 Points.

Minor improvement over the P2. No iPod clone.

Hardware Details. These days a player has to be more than just a touchscreen. The P3 and SPINN both have haptic (vibration) feedback when you touch them. The S9 and SPINN are AMOLED (beautiful!) screens compared to the P3's backlit LCD. All have Bluetooth but the P3 has far greater profile support than the other two. They all have external volume buttons. The SPINN and S9 offer external Pause/Play and track Fwd/Back. The P3 has a speaker. The SPINN and the S9 have 3.3" screens to the P3's 3-incher, but the S9's screen supports a greater color range than the SPINN. Each device gets a point for any feature all three don't have.

Samsung P3 · 5 Points: Haptic + BT Phone pairing + BT File transfer + BT game play + Speaker.

iriver SPINN · 4 Points: Haptic + Spindle controls + AMOLED + 3.3" screen.

Cowon S9 · 7 Points: G-Sensor + Track/Play/Pause controls + AMOLED + 3.3" screen + more colors + LineIn + TVout.

Format Support. This is simply another counting comparison. If you're coming from an iPod then AAC and MP4 media playback will be worth more to you than OGG or FLAC or WMV. Yet each codec has value to somebody. As such each audio and video and photo codec supported gets one point. Click on each to go to their specifications page.

iriver SPINN · 13 Points: MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, ASF, APE for music.

MP4, WMV, XVID for video. JPG, GIF, BMP, PNG for photos.

Cowon S9 · 10 Points: MP3, WMA, FLAC, OGG, WAV, APE for music. AVI, WMV, ASF for video. JPG for photos.

Samsung P3 · 13 Points: MP3, WMA, OGG, WAV, AAC, FLAC for Music. JPG, BMP, PNG for photos. SWF, WMV, H.264, MPEG for videos.

Usability. How easy is it to turn on the player, find the song you want to play, and start listening to it? The P3 will resume on the page it was on when you last turned it off. It's also got a touch interface that really takes advantage of the hardware's potential. With the S9 one tap on the Music icon goes directly into the media player, yet makes you "back up" to pick a song to play. The SPINN lets you look for and select a song without touching the screen, yet doesn't let you control it completely with touches on the screen. For this comparison 5 songs are chosen among all the common songs each player contains. The average number of taps/click/spins/strokes it takes to begin playing each song will be part of that player's score, with low score winning. The songs were all from different albums, and spread across the alphabet. From Boof by Tony Remy to Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield.

Cowon S9 · 2 Points: 5.4 average.

Samsung P3 · 1 Point: 6.2 average

iriver SPINN · 0 Points: 7.2 average

The other part will be a boot-up value. Using my stopwatch each device will be timed from when the power switch is pressed/slid to when an icon can be tapped on. The quickest device gets 2 points. Second place gets 1, and last place gets 0 additional points.

Samsung P3 · 0 Points:

From OFF = 11.90 seconds. From SLEEP = 2.70 seconds. (14.60)

iriver SPINN · 1 Point:

From OFF = 7.71 seconds. From SLEEP = 1.18 seconds. (8.89)

Cowon S9 · 2 Points:

From OFF = 6.09 seconds. From SLEEP = 1.52 seconds. (7.61)

Price. The price has fallen on both the S9 and SPINN since they first came out. The P3 is the latest to arrive, yet it's MSRP is competitive with the other's current prices. The SPINN doesn't come in a 16gb version, so these prices are all for the 8gb versions of each device. The P3 is a bargain here, with 16gb models still under $200. There is more cost involved with the AMOLED screens that the S9 and SPINN use, but their prices have crept down since the P3 was released, and may come down more. Lowest price gets the highest score.

Samsung YP-P3 8gb · 2 Points: $149.99

Cowon S9 8gb · 0 Points: $169.99

iriver SPINN 8gb · 1 Point: $159.00* normally still $199.

Overall satisfaction. This part is purely subjective. I hate the SPINN's user interface. I love the efficiency of the P3's UI. The one I most want to hold in my hand is the Cowon S9. All three sound great once you get to your music and start listening. The S9's amazing battery life reduces that annoying need to charge these players periodically. Cowon has a U.S. based retail arm (jetmall.net) that make is easy to find cables and other accessories. The P3's extended bluetooth capabilities exceed those of the other two, but in practive I don't use them much. That little speaker the P3 has makes it easy to check sounds when your headphones are out of reach. Widgets are generally eye-candy and have little to do with media play on the P3 or S9, yet some provide easy access to system settings. No widgets on the SPINN. What pushes the S9 over the edge is it's support for video-output and line-in recording. Watching videos on that 3.3" AMOLED screen is satisfying, but watching them on a 40" HDTV is easier on the eyes. Neither the P3 or SPINN allow this. For these reasons I score them:

Cowon S9 · 4 Points.

Samsung P3 · 3 Points.

iriver SPINN · 0 Points.

Totals. Simple addition. The Cowon S9 wins!

S9 = 30 Points. P3 = 27.5 Points. SPINN = 23.5 Points.

Your personal satisfaction may vary, but online forum activity seems to follow these results. The busiest forum (of these three devices) is the Cowon S9 forum at anythingbutipod.com. Their Samsung P3 forum is most recent to the game, yet is building in activity as more people get them. It's hard to find anyone checking their SPINN forum these days. The one I pick up most often is the S9, yet I'll take the P3 with me to show off it's capablities to friends. I think 99% would be happy with either, and the SPINN will satisfy anyone who hasn't seen an S9 or P3. ;·)

4D.

What do YOU think? Leave a Comment.
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Samsung YP-P3. My Review.

Samsung's YP-P2 was my favorite player for the last year or so. The Cowon S9 with it's AMOLED screen has leapfrogged it though. Now Samsung's P3 has arrived at my door, so it's time to see if the new kid on the block has what it takes to earn the title back.

Included in the box:

- Samsung's proprietary USB cable.

- Earbuds + foam covers.

- Warranty card.

- Quick Guide

The user manual and Emodio software are stored on the P3 itself. This is a new trend with Samsung and it makes perfect sense to me. One less little CD to deal with. My P3 arrived with firmware version 2.10 U.S.. The battery was full out of the box. Already on the P3 were sample files including 5 MP3 files, 2 videos, several sample photos, and a couple of text files along with their associated TTS (Text To Speech) files.

Media play capabilities includes Music, Videos, Photos, FM radio, Flash apps, and Text. For fun the P3 supports widgets, and comes with several.

Hardware features include Bluetooth, Haptic, an on-board Speaker, microphone, and FM radio.The P3 unfortunately is short on hard controls. You get volume +/- and a Power/Hold button. That's it. The P2 at least had Play/Pause in addition to what the P3 has. Compare this to the Cowon S9 with Play/Pause, Volume +/-, and Track FWD/BACK along it's top edge. The little grill you see above is the P3's speaker. On the bottom edge you see the data and headphone jacks. There is a tiny reset/mic hole as well. There is also a mini-touch area below the screen that when swiped provides quick access to music play control when not in the music app.

The touchscreen is more sensitive than that of the P2. It takes only one tap to pick and play a song from a list, whereas the P2 required a tap to select it and another one to play it. Samsung has clearly been working to make the interface smoother, although when scrolling through a song list I often end up picking a song I didn't mean to. Their algorithm still needs a little tuning. Still, the P3 is very responsive and graphics move about much more fluidly than they did on the P2.

The P3 uses many little interface tricks. You can touch, long touch, double-tap, swipe, drag, and draw circles on some screens to great effect. Read all about it beginning on page 20 in the USER MANUAL (4.68mb download). You'll want to know these tricks as they make getting around on the P3 very efficient.

These players are all about media playback, and the P3 is very polished at it. Music formats supported include:

MP3 (8kbps ~ 320kbps, 22kHz ~48kHz),
WMA(8kbps ~ 320kbps, 8kHz ~ 48kHz),
AAC-LC (16kbps ~ 256kbps, 8kHz ~ 48kHz),
AAC-Plus (16kbps ~ 256kbps, 16kHz ~ 44.1kHz),
Enhanced-AAC-Plus (16kbps ~ 256kbps, 32kHz ~
44.1kHz)

The P3 will play your DRM-free iTunes AAC files!The Signal to Noise Ratio is 89 dB. A higher number is better here. For comparison the Samsung Q2's S/N Ratio is 90 dB. For what it's worth the Q2 also supports the lossless OGG format. Although not mentioned, the P3 also plays WMA lossless files at 1152kbps. It won't play them over Bluetooth, and they require the P3's full attention. I've been listening to the P3 while writing this post and am having a hard time hearing any faults with it. Audio is crisp and detailed. Individual instruments are easy to distinguish. You'll hear the singer's breath and fingers slide across guitar strings. This all assumes you've got high bitrate samples and are using something better than the included earbuds. The Music Play screen (above) is clean with album art, album title, song, and artist all displayed. You have several ways to sort your music, and the album sort option gives your three clever ways to graphically see your album covers as you flick through them. It requires an annoying extra tap to call up the play controls. You have access to all music settings from a submenu here. I'm giving the P3's Music app an A-. More format support and fewer taps to make it work is what it still needs.

Video playback is exceptional. The P3 plays AVI/SVI, MP4, and WMV formats at 30fps. You can play files larger than the P3's 480 x 272 screen resolution. The screen is beautiful. I'll have to do a side-by-side comparison with the same movie file on each device to decide if it's any better or worse than the AMOLED screen of my Cowon S9 or the LCD screen on the Samsung P2. A quick glance tells me the colors are truer, more saturated on the 3.3" AMOLED screen of the S9. You won't be disappointed in any case. The P3 also shares a trick with the Cowon S9 in that it can take an array of snapshots of videos scenes so you can more readily jump to a give point in the video. A larger screen is always nicer, but the P3 will be a better fit in your hand and pocket. I'm giving the P3 an A for video play.

Picture display is improved from the P2. You get a slideshow option with three speeds and some nice transitions between images. A double tap on an image will zoom it in to 2x, 3x, and 4x it's original size on the screen. Once zoomed in you can pan around on the image. You can also set any image as the booting image. The P3 simply has better graphics processing power than the P2, which makes pans and transitions much more fluid and impressive. You can put huge photos on the P3 and it will still display them, but don't expect to zoom in progressively to see tiny details in those large pictures. 4x is all you get, and it's limited to how big the image appears at 1x on the P3's 480x272 screen. The Picture app is a couple of steps up from the P2's version. I'll give it an A-. There is still room for improvement.

FM radio is relatively unchanged from the P2. You'll need to switch to the EU version of the firmware to enable RDS support for FM stations that broadcast it. To switch to EU, copy and save the following text into a CONFIG.DAT file (use NotePad on your PC) , then copy that file into the root directory of the P3:

YP-P3

EU EN MTP

Then unplug the P3 and let it reboot. If the station supports it you may notice added info below the frequency number near the top of the screen. Station IDs, current song and artist, and even the genre may show up. It all depends on the station.

You can switch between preset and manual tuning. You can set the FM region and sensitivity. There is a small speaker/mute icon to tap near the frequency number, and you can RECORD anything you hear on the radio. I'm giving the FM Radio app an A. It could be a little better, but not by much.

·

Flash support is the latest trend from the Korean manufacturers. The P3, S9, and iriver SPINN all play FLASH apps and games. The P3 comes with a Metronome app, but many more can be found in cowon S9 forums at www.anythingbutipod.com. You will probably have to register there to be able to download them. I haven't had a chance to try any additional Flash apps on my P3, so this post may be updated in the future.

·

Bluetooth. The P3 not only does bluetooth to stereo headphone. It allows game play over bluetooth to other Samsung players, file transfer between bluetooth devices, and can even act as your cell phone once connected via bluetooth. Yes, you can receive and make calls through the P3.

·

There is plenty more to keep you entertained on the P3. You get a great text reader that can read your text to you, a simple calculator, a calendar, contacts, a memo pad, several games, a subway map app, a world clock, an alarm clock, and a sleep timer. I'm sure I've missed a few things.

·

So is it a good buy? For $149 you can buy an 8gb ipod Nano. You'll get Music, Videos, Photos, and the same "extras" such as alarm, calendar, clocks, games, and notes. The Nano has a 2" screen. The P3 has a 3" wide format touchscreen, adds FM radio, Voice recording, FM recording, Bluetooth, file transfer, inter-device play, and more. No math is necessary. Buying the Samsung P3 for the same $149 is a no-brainer.

·

4D

FLASH: The New Application Strategy?

1. There is a new trend from the Korean MP3 player manufacturers to include a FLASH player in their new MP3 devices. The iriver SPINN, Cowon S9, and Samsung P3 all have 480 x 272 touchscreens and a Flash player app on board.

2. WiFi is one feature of the iPod Touch that is hard to compete with. The App Store with thousands of applications for the Touch is the other. High end players from anyone else would need a similar source of apps to even begin to steal market share from Apple. Having better Audio output, FM radios, and Bluetooth isn't enough.

I predict we'll begin to see incentive from the Korean manufacturers to develop Flash applications for the new family of touchscreen players. Maybe even an online store and profit share strategy for developers. I pick up my Samsung P2 when I want to listen to Music, but the iPod Touch is my main source for games. I'd LOVE to find a source of great applications that would play on the SPINN, Cowon S9 and P3. New products would then only have to include a Flash player to have instant access to all those apps.

What do YOU think?
4D

Catching Up. MP3 Players Hot on the Heels of the iPod Touch.

In August I wrote about possible new MP3 players from the major manufacturers. You can read that entry HERE. Some predictions have come true. Some have been close. Some are yet to be realized. Many companies have revealed their hands, and this post will take another look.

Apple showed us it's new iPod Touch. I guessed it would get a plastic back, and missed on that one. The iPhone, however, now has a Plastic back available in White or Black. The Touch got a lower price and a couple of hardware improvements. The new model (2nd gen) will get you a speaker, Volume controls, internal Nike Shoe support, and a new headphone jack that supports headsets with microphones. It's a better value than the first gen, with more features and that lower price. Same screen and form factor though.

Samsung has revealed the P3 it will introduce formally at CES in January 09. It has already won an award for new technology. The same size as the P2, but with a new interface, haptic screen feedback, improved audio processing (DNSE 3.0), better Bluetooth (2.1), a speaker and an aluminum body. There will also be a P4, but it is expected to be a leap ahead and available along side the P3 but with more features. The P2 and P3 are amazingly feature laden, so I strongly suspect the P4 will have WiFi. That's the only technology the P2 and P3 don't have. Samsung has shown us a folding OLED screen. The potential is great. I expected to be amazed by the P4.

Microsoft updated the Zune with new firmware and desktop software. They made the existing hardware more useful. The new Zunes are the same form factor but with a few new color options and greater capacities. Prices went down. They added the ability to buy songs from the Zune Marketplace using the Zune's WiFi. They also added a feature to let you tag a song you hear on the radio for purchase and direct download. Their desktop software is amazingly good, with quite a bit of original thinking over the competitors. Rumors include Microsoft porting the Zune UI into the Windows Mobile software. Time will tell.

Dell decided to get out of the game. Again. I'm guessing they took a hard look at the competition and realized they weren't ready. You can read a bit about it HERE.

I predicted Sony would be working hard on their own touchscreen player, but holding off on releasing it until they knew they had a great one. Latest leaks indicate their will be a touchscreen Walkman showing at CES. With Wifi and access to Amazon's Music store perhaps. A thin form factor, and original media interaction. Surely smaller and thinner than THIS player, and the best direct competitor for the iPod Touch out there. No one has seen the interface yet, and that's where many other players have failed. I'm counting on Sony to make a strong comeback though. They used to own the personal media player market. Let's just hope their new player is affordable.

There are other new players out there as well. Iriver brought out the SPINN. Cowon just released the S9 Curve. Even Coby has a 3" Touchscreen player. I've reviewed the SPINN and found it still needs work. I've got an S9 on the way. No WiFi in either, so their best competition is the Samsung P2 and P3. The Coby MP-835 is a poor attempt. The SPINN doesn't quite keep up. I'll let you know how the S9 does in a week or so. It has the most potential to unseat the Samsung players.

It's a great time for touchscreen media players. I have to give credit to Apple. They raised the bar for both cell phones and media players with the iPhone and iPod Touch. They brought all the competition up to a new level. I'm looking forward to 2009. CES 2009 is THE place to watch in the next few weeks. It's all happening there.

4D

NEW! The Samsung YP-P3.

OK, so it's still in the womb. Yet the baby P3 has been seen (using ultrasound?) and is due any time now. It is the successor to Samsung's Yp-P2, an amazing little touchscreen player released late last year (2007). While the P2 was born in the MP3 division at Samsung, that division has since been rolled into the cell phone division. The P3's mom is a cell phone. In addition to every feature the P2 has, the P3 gains:

- Haptic touchscreen feedback.
- An evolved UI, sharing features with Samsungs mobile phones.
- Widgets, including at least one that normally needs an internet connection! Confirmed Calendar and Clocks. One more still a mystery.
- A new case, with an anodized aluminum back. The P2's case is painted stainless steel. The P3 is a durable matt black color like the new iPod Nanos (black).
- A speaker (confirmed!). A great addition for game audio, and improving the P3's usefulness as a cell phone headset when paired with your phone via bluetooth.
- More memory. A 32GB version is expected "later".
- Gone is the lower center LED. You know, the spot that most early reviewers thought was a home button e.g. iPod Touch.
- Below the screen are what appears to be backlit touch sensitive controls. I've seen left and right arrows. Similar to the T10's controls. It is possible they only show up when there is a use for them. It's also possible these command graphics can change as the use for them changes. Perhaps a back or home graphic replaces a left arrow when within a player application.
- There is what looks like a Flash Player application. No clues what it's use may be. Could be for flash games, or even YouTube Videos. Perhaps it opens up the P3 for custom games written in Flash.

The screen stays the same size; an excellent widescreen 480 x 272. There was a momentary rumor it might me AMOLED, a technology that would increase battery life by eliminating the need for a backlight. It would be nice, but this rumor was retracked quickly. It might not be true, or it might be something Samsung didn't want leaked. Haptic technology suggests the front of the P3 is all glass (it vibrates better than plastic), meaning it will be framed like the face of an iPod Touch or any Samsung Touchscreen phone. The P2's plastic face wraps around it's sides.

Of course most of my info is just hints and extrapolation based on what's been posted around. Look here and here for more as it becomes available. You'll even find some photos now.

4D