CES 2009: MP3 players at CES 2009

Sony reveals two new Walkman MP3 players

Earlier in the week at CES 2009, Sony announced the launch of two new MP3 players. We were able to get our hands on them yesterday at the Sony stand.

First up was the X Series, a new Wi-Fi-capable player with a 3-inch touchscreen. Most of the player operations are controlled using this panel and we found it simple to handle. There are some conventional keys, too.

The X Series also sports an OLED display. This relatively new display technology tends to look brighter, sharper and boasts deeper, richer colours than the standard LED screens found on most of its competitors

The Wi-Fi connection allows you to stream content from the net, including YouTube, and there’s also an FM tuner but no DAB digital radio.

Two X Series models are available: the NWZ-X1051, which comes with 16GB of storage, and the 32GB NWZ-X1061. The models will launch in the US this summer, though pricing is yet to be confirmed.

New wearable player

Sony also showed off the NWZ-W202, which has the music player actually built into the headset.

This novel design eliminates the need for headphone cords, and is likely to appeal to joggers or anyone who loves to listen to music on the go.

The NWZ-W202 is much more simple than the X Series. It’s similar to the iPod shuffle in that is has no display. Instead, you can randomly cycle through your tracks or use Sony’s new ‘Zappin-system’. This plays short samples of each track until you find the one you want.

The player comes with 2GB of storage, and Sony claims that a short 30-minute charge will provide more than 12 hours of battery life.

The W202 will launch in the US in April and has a recommended retail price of US$70 (about £45). It will be available in either black or pink. We’re still waiting to find out when we can get our hands on the W202 in the UK.

Samsung P3 Pulse MP3 player

We had the chance to try out Samsung’s new P3 Pulse MP3 player at CES 2009. 

This video-capable touch-screen model looks to rival the iPod Touch, and is slightly more compact than Apple’s touch-screen device.

The P3 features a 3-inch colour touchscreen. Unlike with the iPod Touch or iPhone 3G, you can use your finger to scroll horizontally across the screen, revealing further applications.

You access the P3’s main functions via dedicated widgets on the main screen, and you can easily change the order of these widgets to your own preferences by dragging them around with your finger.

The screen on the model we tried out wasn’t quite as bright and clearly defined as that of the iPod Touch, and navigating through music tracks or artists wasn’t as immediately straightforward – you need to drag your finger along a rather small scroll bar on the touch screen.

We also found scrolling through the widgets wasn’t as smooth as it is to scroll the menus on the Apple devices.

Unlike the iPhone 3G or iPod Touch, the Samsung P3 boasts an FM radio. It also has a very small speaker for playing music without the need for headphones. However, unlike the iPhone or iPod Touch, the P3 doesn’t feature Wi-Fi for wireless internet access, though it is Bluetooth compatible.

The volume control and power switch are the only conventional buttons, and sit along the top of the P3 player for easy access.

Overall, we think the Samsung P3 is a compact device with plenty of features, and the widget-based interface is easy to use. However, its touch screen isn’t quite as refined as that of the iPod Touch or iPhone 3G.

See the Which? MP3 player reviews for full reviews of hundreds of models and the latest Best Buys.

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