BIG teddy's Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 Review

Okay so i got my SGP in the mail yesterday. Played with it for a day so far and I plan to make a full review on it probably sometime next week but I figured I would give an initial opinion.

First of all there was already a problem when I got it. I ordered what I thought to be the Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 but got the Samsung Galaxy S Wifi 5.0, which is the European version (thanks a lot Amazon (not sure if saying I purchased from Amazon is against policy but if it is let me know I will change it to The Jungle), not really there fault though it was from one of their sellers so...). I considered sending it back because Samsung won't cover it under warranty but I am just going to purchase a 3 year Square Trade warranty with accident protection. The only difference in the player is the home button on the Euro version is a dedicated mechanical button vs. a touch sensitive one. I actually prefer this so it's not a problem.

Layout is good. I have no problem with it. I love the large screen size. Only difficult thing is finding a universal GPS windshield or even dash holder. Speed isn't a issue either even though it only has a single core 1 Ghz hummingbird processor. I'm not sure why Samsung just didn't elect to use a dual core but oh well. Ram is a little on the light side, only packing 377 Mb's (thought it was 512 so maybe the other is used for only the devices OS and is hidden in the task manager).  But with that said I haven't had a problem. The player only has 8 gigs of storage and only about 5.5 is usable out of the box. It does support Micro SDHC cards up to 32 gigs so that is it's savior. My most listened music already filled the storage so I will also be purchasing a Micro SD card soon.

Sound quality is pretty good. The headphones it came with have pretty good SQ for just being a free pair that came with the player. I had a iPod once upon a time and I would say from a quality stand point these are twice as good. The speakers on the back of the unit are decent too. I wouldn't recommend listening to music on them but there great for movies and youtube videos.

Now onto some of the apps that came pre-installed.

1. There is the typical stuff like a camera app, player, calendar, Samsung app store, Google play, gmail, google talk, calculator, youtube, google maps, a generic email app, voice recorder, memo pad, something called mini diary, latitude (used to find your cordinates via GPS), task manager, voice search, google navigation (must have a constant internet connection to use so it's useless), social hub, fm radio, think office free, and facebook.
2. I added Angry Birds, Solitaire, flashlight advance (won't control the rear LED though so I'm looking for something that will), netflix, nook, voice, pandora, sygic (GPS program), barcode scanner, Samsung smartview (afterwords I found out it won't work with any of my TV's), and FB messenger.

All of the apps work fairly well as far as I can tell. I will be getting some more as well as purchasing some so I will talk on those further later.

I think that all about I have right now that I can talk about. I'll add more to this review in probably a weeks time after I get everything I plan to buy and have had some time to play with it.

I will also review the Polk UltraFit 2000 headphones, a Skinomi screen protector, maybe a GPS mount if I can find one I like and a Riot Outfitter case. Pictures of everything will be here too. I may also touch on the different GPS apps available if I feel like purchasing more than one. There will defiantly a review of the Sygic GPS app because that's probably the one I will purchase and use extensively. 

UPDATE 1.0!!!

Okay so I have been using Sygic GPS for a few days now and I figured I would update my feeling on it.

First off it's great!!! I compared it to a TomTom unit I own and it seems they usually have the same routes. Although the maps are more up to date so Sygic does take better routes when available due to new construction and one way roads now two way. It finds routes quickly and updates routes when you miss a turn quickly and seamlessly.

I did have one problem however. The first time I used it to give me a route home from school it decided it wanted to take me down 40 (highway) rather than 70 (freeway). Not sure what the problem was but at first I thought it was going to be faster (not sure why but I didn't preview the route first and trusted it). After driving all the way from Columbus to Reynoldsburg I disregarded the directions from the GPS and hopped on 270 to 70 (those of you from central Ohio understand what I mean. Those who aren't get a map lol). Other than that small problem it has worked great. I used it again to come home from school and it took me down 70 so like I said I don't know what the hell it was thinking the first time.

Currently (well as of  4-4-12) Sygic offers a free 7 day trial. But there is a slight error in the code which allows for a 7 month free trial . Good for me I guess but I'm sure it will be caught and fixed (although it hasn't been a full 7 days so it still may conk out tomorrow but I hope not).

Now for POI's. As far as I can tell all POI's are up to date and at the correct location. I searched a few around my area and they all were correct to my knowledge. It even has some that are not really popular places with other POI services I have seen (finds hole in the wall places that I haven't seen on other GPS's).

I was going to try out Don't Panic but it does not work (as of 4-10-12). I can't seem to download the trial maps so it's a no go. When I choose the map I want it says connecting to store (I do have a wifi connection) then takes me to the downloads screen but no download starts. If anyone has experience with this GPS software and can explain to me what I'm doing wrong please do.

If the Sygic trial does indeed work past 7 days I will purchase Copilot and do some testing with it and add it to this review. But as of now I'm sticking with Sygic and loving it.

The only other reputable software I found was Navigo. I used this on a HP GPS I had a short while ago and it was amazing, possibly my favorite but you had to pay for map updates and you still do so I won't be messing with this.

The last thing I have to say is that all above GPS software's have live traffic updates available for purchase but you have to have a wireless connection to use it which stinks since the SGP is wifi only and unless you have a portable hot spot it's useless. I thought/hoped it would work similar to GPS's that have live traffic updates (not really sure how that works though but you don't have to have a wireless connection).

Update 2.0!!!

Okay this part will be super quick and basically effortless on my part. Today I received the Polk Ultrafit 2000's. There was a slight problem... They did not fit my big head comfortably. The plastic that sits behind your ears kind of dug into mine especially if I moved my head around. Now to the sound quality. Even though they don't fit and I'm sending them back I did play with them all day. They sounded great out of box to say the least and as with all speakers I'm sure with time they would sound even better. Bass response was pretty good, although not quite to my expectation considering these are Polk's. This may be due to the fact that I didn't break them in. From what I gather most headphones require 20-40 hours of 'burn-in' to start to sound as they should. The only other thing I would like to mention is that the play/pause and volume controls don't work at all with the SGP. I hoped they would but they don't so I doubt they would work with anything but iPod but I don't know for sure. I also tested it with a Zune HD to no avail.

Now about the SGP I have a new gripe. Whenever I get a email it stops my music to play a tone informing of the email. I usually will get 10-20 emails a day so this can become quite annoying. I have checked the settings and I can not find a way to turn this feature off. I will do a little more searching online tomorrow and add the fix if I find it. I would think a different media player software wouldn't be interrupted but I'm unsure.

I should be finishing this review up in a few days so stay tuned if your interested. Also since I am now returning the Polk's I have decided to get the Sennheiser HD 439. I kind of regret to say I didn't purchase these from CF because I don't want to have to wait for shipping (I'm picking them up in the morning from a local store). But if I like them I will probably buy them from CF and take the others back just so I can save a couple bucks because the are cheaper here (on Crutchfield that is) lol (I'm a cheap *** I know). But I also get CF's lifetime tech support to which is always a good reason to buy here. Even though they are headphones you never know if you'll need help. Now these headphones aren't my choice in fit. I never really liked around the ear headphones but after listening to a friends in school Tuesday (he had a lower model then these don't remember what now though) and liking the feel of them and then seeing some of the reviews out there for these I had to have them. Many reviews say you should purchase an amp and once again I know nothing about headphone amps so I did some digging.

I came across the FiiO E6. Apparently this is one of the best 'bang for your buck' head phone amps. Every review I found spoke highly of it so I got one. I will of course do my own review but here are some of the more trusted reviews I found.

• http://www.head-fi.org/t/566351/fiio-e6-story-of-the-tiny-amp-continues-w-review-on-1st-page
• http://www.trustedreviews.com/fiio-e6_Portable-Audio_review
• http://www.headfonia.com/amplifier-for-the-masses-the-fiio-e6/

Well that's it for tonight. More to come soon. Thanks for reading and following along so far.

Update 3.0 (Real quick question)!!!

So I wanted to try something out today. I plugged my SGP into my HU to see if by some miracle it would work. It didn't but it will charge the SGP so I had a question to ask. If I were to plug in a USB split-er and plug in my SGP into one end and my USB in the other would the HU still read the USB and charge the SGP? I'll probably try it out and see what happens when I get home tonight but I figured I'd ask and see if anyone has an answer. There was a thread a while back I believe where someone asked if any heads would just charge there Android phone and I believe everyone was in agreement it would not but I can't find for the life of me where it's at (It may not even be on CF so don't look to hard if your not sure). Thanks. 

Update 4.0

Okay gonna wrap up the review on the SGP. Also will be going over some of the FiiO amp as well as the Skinomi screen protector and the Accessory Power GPS holder.

First things first the SGP:

1. Speed- Processing power is great. I thought this might be a little lite at first but I was wrong. Processor handle multitasking well. I can browse the web with several windows open at once, listen to music, and have background apps running with no slow down. RAM like I said I'd like it to be more because I've checked it several times and all of the RAM is being used. I think the player compensates by using on board storage temporarily. Similar to PC's using the hard drive for virtual memory. I think this because other wise I would think the RAM being used up I'd have trouble multitasking which I don't even with all the RAM used.
2. Sound- The default player has quite a few EQ settings. I tend to use auto or big bass. You can even customize it. I had read reviews stating that the default player would make a background hissing noise when listening which I have not noticed so it may have been a software issue that has been fixed (I updated the SGP upon receiving first so the problem may have been there before but I wouldn't know).
3. Apps- I have downloaded several games all of which work fine. Almost all of the apps work fine with the SGP according to the Google Play Store except for ones that require a constant data connection. I may or may not (don't want to incriminate myself here) use a Game Boy Advanced/Color emulator on it as well and it may or may not work fine, but it leans more toward the may if you understand what I'm saying (the previous statement is all theoretical and not true at all). There are also emulators for PlayStation, M.A.M.E., Sega systems, as well as many other that claim to work with android devices which I may or may not try in the future (check out emuparadise.me for more info on emulators).
4. Screen resolution- Videos look great and I haven't noticed any problems with pixelazation (not how it's spelled but I don't feel like looking up the correct spelling). I do tend to notice pixelazation with some apps though. The screen is bright and looks good. Actually got a chance to compare it to an iPod touch and the colors seem brighter on the SGP than the touch. Dark's are richer and deeper than the Touch's as well.
5. Battery- I haven't run the battery dead yet (not recommended with a Li-Ion because it hurts battery life charge at around 20%). After using it constantly all day for music it tends to be done around 80%. Playing apps, watching movies, surfing the web burns it much faster but still no problem with running the battery empty. Battery life is expected to improve somewhat with Li-Ions as well after 100 or so charging cycles.
6. GPS- So i went ahead and bought Sygic and love it. I contacted them via there forums and asked if they ever plan to add traffic updates via FM and they said no because not all devices have FM. I'm going to keep on them though but I doubt it will happen unless a larger calling comes around for it. I still have the problem I mentioned earlier when coming home from school. Funny thing is it seems to only do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays lol. Monday and the few times I had to swing by school on Wednesday it brought me back home via 70. I decided to give Google maps a try as well (cached a map to my device) and it froze my SGP. This was the only problem with power I had. I had to shut down the SGP and then on restart had to actually remove the update for Google maps because it was causing the SGP to act sluggish. Not sure what the problem was there but I won't use it again and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. I will be using Sygic to take me to Kentucky and Wisconsin this summer for vacation and see how it does for long trips across states. If I remember I will let you know how it goes.
7. Bluetooth- Bluetooth works fine. I can use it to connect to my PC (can't do much other than use the SGP for internet which if it has so does my PC lol). It works fine with bluetooth headphones as well. Controls work and everything. Only thing that doesn't work is the radio tuner because it needs headphones plugged in to act as an antenna. I speak more on that in a later post on this review.
8. FM radio- works great and actually picks up all the stations I listen to with pretty good reception.

Okay I think that's all I had to say for the SGP if I think/run into anything else I'll add it in so check back for any more updates if your interested.

Now onto the FiiO amp. I just received it in the mail today and have only run into one problem with it so far. I had big bass selected on the EQ for the SGP and when listened to two songs fine but then another started playing and the speakers in my headphones sound extremely distorted. At first I thought it was because of the FiiO amp so switched turned off the EQ on it but the problem persisted. So I changed the EQ on the SGP to Auto and the problem went away. Not sure why it wasn't doing it at first. Only thing I can think is how the song was recorded (bass emphasized song) in the first place. The EQ setting of the FiiO amp are all nice and I tend to use EQ setting 2 which from what I gather is increased response from lows, mids, and highs. I like being able to turn up my music louder especially when I'm on campus and there is a lot of noise around me. Makes it easy to tune everyone out.

Now with the Skinomi screen protector. It comes with everything you need; cleaning cloth, card for squeezing out air bubbles, and mild detergent/water mix for the application process. I recommend putting the protector on in a steamy bathroom because it cuts down on the dust in the air. After I first installed it one corner was cloudy but the directions it should clear up in a day or two which it did. Of course though with my bad luck I managed to get a black fuzzy, probably from the cleaning cloth, underneath the film during the install. It's down in the corner at the bottom of the screen and I only notice it when there is a white screen so it's not that big of a deal. Decided I test it out and ran a key on the screen. The protector had a small scratch on it that disappeared a day later which is what Skinomi says will happen. Figure I should also mention Skinomi has a lifetime warranty. Judging from reviews from multiple places no one has had a problem getting a new screen protector when they asked.

Last but not least is the Accessory Power Dash Mount (I purchased the XL version but can't find it on there site). It works great doesn't slide on my dash even during sudden stops or sharp turns. I prefer the flexible mount because it gives more height off the dash. Holds my SGP firm and I'm not worried about coming out. That's really it for that lol. Not much to say about GPS holder I guess.

Okay so this should be it. I covered everything I think. If anything else comes to mind or comes up I'll add it in. I hopefully will get some pictures up soon as well. Hopefully they will be up tonight but I'm not making any promises. I will probably just add them as a separate post so this review doesn't take up the whole page. If anyone want's to ask me questions go ahead. I will answer them unless I don't know the answer lol.