Music Players of 2010, so far

Ever since the iTouch came, there seems to be less mp3 players around nowadays. This is especially true for 2010. Not a single so-called "iTouch killers" have surfaces this year. Hopefully, more products will come out during the second half of the year. In the meantime, let's see what new products that are already here or coming soon in 2010.

The Zen Style and the Zen Z-fi. More of the same, no ground-breaking technology going on. Just a different design but roughly the same hardware. Disappointing indeed.

The Philip Activa. A sports music player that includes features such as TempoMusic, which matches song with your workout intensity.

Samsung W1 Myfit, another sports music player. Probably the first music player to have built-in fat and stress sensor, and an intergreted accelerometer to calculate the amount of calories burnt during a job.

Cowon J3. Very similar to the Cowon S9 but with a better design and user interface. Expect the same glorious sound quality as of Cowon's flagship S9.

The iPod Touch Alternatives

Here are some mp3 players for you if you want an iPod Touch Alternatives.

Even though the iPod Touch is lightyears ahead of competitors, there are still some mp3 players that can match the iTouch one way or another. This is also a great list if you are looking for a cheaper alternative to the iTouch. But one thing is for sure, none of this mp3 players can match iTouch’s wealth of applications and games.

Cowon S9

Features that match/beat the iTouch: Great sound quality (better than touch), Awesome Sound equaliser, AMOLED Screen, Accelerometer, Wide range of video and audio format, Very long battery life, Customisable UI

Why it loses out to iTouch: Smaller Screen, Troublesome UI, Cheap plastic cover, UI overall not as clean/fast as iTouch, No WiFi

Cowon S9 and iTouch side-by-side

Samsung P3

Features that match/beat the iTouch: Great colourful UI, Cute candy-like apperance, Lots of widgets, User Created Interfaces are available, Supports variety of video and audio format (including FLAC), Bluetooth connectivity, Great sound quality

Why it loses out to iTouch: Smaller screen, No internet, No Accelerometer, Touchscreen not as sensitive, widgets no match for iTouch’s apps

The comparison!

Samsung YP-M1

This player seems to be an upgrade of the Samsung P3. It has a larger AMOLED screen and more powerful hardware. The Samsung YP-M1 has been released in Korea, but no news yet for an international release. It seems that some countries are bringing this player in December, so keep your fingers cross!

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Sony X-Series Walkman

Features that match/beat the iTouch: Great sound quality, OLED Touch Screen, Nice Graphite looking body, Noise cancellation, High video quality, Mac and Window, Supplied Earbuds better than average

Why it loses out to iTouch: Internet browser is bad, Noise cancellation only applicable for Sony earphone, Extremely expensive, Smaller Screen compared to iTouch, Fingerprint magnet, Hard to type text

Sony X-Series Walkman and Apple iTouch side-by-side

Zune HD

Features that match/beat the iTouch: Big OLED Screen, HD radio tuner, Unbelivable sleek UI, Sleek and beautiful body, Internet is available, Good audio quality, Zune Pass, Capability to have applications and games

Why it loses out to iTouch: Media button a bad idea, absence of volume button, limited video format, Currently only available in the US,

Cowon S9 Aero Ultimate G1

Cowon S9 is a great player, but its UI isn't as great as the iTouch or Samsung P3. With this "Aero Ultimate G1" Mod, you can make your Cowon S9 looks great! Go to here for more information. Below is a video of the Aero Ultimate G1 UI on a Cowon S9.

Samsung M1 and R1 mp3 players coming soon

The Samsung YP-R1, at least from the pictures, looks like a slimmed-down version of the YP-P3, measuring just 8.9mm thin. It is touted as the world's first DivX-certified MP3 player and comes with a 2.6-inch touchscreen and TV output (via USB). Available in only 8GB capacity, the Samsung YP-R1 is offered in black or silver (no pink, sadly) at a recommended retail of S$299 (US$212.15).

The R1's bigger brother, the YP-M1, is made from scratch-resistant metal. It features a 3.3-inch AMOLED touchscreen, DNSe sound enhancements, a microSD slot that supports up to 16GB capacity, built-in stereo speakers and Bluetooth capabilities. It also promises smooth HD video playback of up to 720p. It will be available with either 8GB or 16GB of internal storage capacity. The 32GB version we first saw on Samsung's Korean Web site will not be available in Singapore. The YP-M1 is slated for December, in only one color--black. We'll keep you updated with availability in Asia as well as the pricing for the music player.

asia.cnet.com

32GB M1 not available for Singapore? Bad news indeed. Will have to see if the price is competitive enough. December is still a long way. Hoping for more reviews to help me decide between this or the Cowon S9.

Samsung YEPP YP-M1 or Cowon S9

If I am looking for an iTouch alternative, I will go for either of these players. The Cowon S9 has great reviews all over the internet. Great music quality, awesome AMOLED screen. Samsung nearest competitor then was the Samsung P3, but it loss out in the screen and music department. Now the YP-M1 boost an AMOLED screen too and a really cool interface. Can't wait for it to be release.

I will certaily need a lot of internet reviews on these two players before I make a decision!

Creative Zen Xifi2, The First Touchscreen Mp3 Player for Creative!

It is never too late, and Creative released the first touchscreen player. This is extremely late as most of its competitors has switched to touchscreen. Sony has done it, so has iriver and Archos, and of course Apple. So what makes the Zen XiFi 2 more special from the others? That is definetly the XiFi technology. It attempts to "restores detail lost during file compression with just one touch". In reality, it dosen't work for all kinds of music, but it is still very cool. As compared to the previous model, the Zen XiFi, the new XiFi 2 allows you to enjoy XiFi technology on videos and radio too! Imagine, your favourite station with XiFi! I wonder what will be the quality on radio stations. Anyway, this is great news for people who put movie in their music player. Better sound in video defintely heighten the movie experience.

You can connet the XiFi 2 to the TV via A/V cable. Not many music players can do that. This is extremely useful when there is a big LCD screen in your friend house and you wanted to show off your travel photo on your Zen. There is also a microSD slot to boost your memory of your Zen. However, I don't think it will be full SD integration.

Apart from all these, all other features in the XiFi 2 can also be found on other brand's music player. FM radio, voice recording etc. It has also finally supported the FLAC music format. It is quite a surprise that Creative never supported this format for so long since Creative is known more for its sound quality than anything else.

Interface wise, it isn't much difference from the old Zen XiFi or the older Zen. It also do not have apps like the iTouch. Thus honestly, Creative XiFi 2 really do not have much new features to draw in consumers, apart from the price I guess.

It is cheaper than the super expensive Sony OLED walkman, which is almost 1.5X the price of iTouch for 32Gb. I wonder who buys that?? As compared to the iTouch, the Zen XiFi 2 is cheaper by more than SGD$100 for the 32Gb model. For those who are consdering buying this, I urge you to consider again. By far, the iTouch is still the coolest thing on earth, apart from the Zune HD, which I must say is extremely sexy and sleek. Only time will tell if the Zune HD will compete with the iTouch. I have been watching my friends playing all those cool games on iTouch, and here I am wtih my Creative Zen feeling sad... You will know what I mean. Also, according to epizenter, Creative is just testing the touchscreen market with the Zen XiFi 2. If there is enough demand, more touchscreen players may be coming up. In otherwards, 'better' music players are coming up. For those who don't get it, take a look at the difference in Zen Stone and Zen Stone Plus. Thus, if you are more concerned about sound quliaty, and you are on a budget, and you will not be tempted by all the iTouch games, get the Creative Zen XiFi 2. And pray hard there won't be a Creative Zen XiFi 2 Plus coming next month. For everyone else, go Apple!