My Samsung Q3 Preview

[lebellium]

Here are my first impressions on the new Samsung Q3.
It's a sample with a beta firmware but well, close to the final version

Slideshow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/generat...93017921/show/

Design/finish

New design that makes me remind the Z5. Better finish than the Q2 with an aluminium frame. 2 colors available: black and pink.
A good point for the microUSB connector.



Interface/use

The Q3 doesn't have a touch pad like the Q1 and Q3 but tactile buttons! I assume you prefer that like me
The screen is the same than on the Q2: a LCD 2,2" 320*240. It's quite beautiful but not big enough for video playback.
There is a new matrix menu (I forgot to take a picture of it sorry) and there are different menus availables.
The whole interface comes from the R0. It's almost the same.
Now you can choose the function of the user button. That's better than when you don't have the choice (Q2, R0)


Music/sound


The now playing screen is exactly the same as on the R0. And it supports the same audio codecs (MP3 / WMA / OGG / FLAC / AAC)
What's new then? The SoundAlive engine of course! They are completely different from the DNSe 3.0 so that's a bit discouncerting. No more rock, r&b, jazz, classical but voice, instrument, tweeter, big bass, café, concert instead. Fortunately the User SoundAlive is the same than the user DNSe: EQ, 3D & Bass, Concert, Clarity et Audio Upscaler.
I was not able to test the sound quality (I had only Creative EP630 with me and the environnement was noisy).


Other features

The Q3 can play videos without any reconversion (up to 720*480) contrary to the Q2. Of course it can display pictures and text files. There is also a RDS FM tuner and a voice recorder (contrary to the R0)


Conclusion
This new Q3 looks great and much more interesting than the Q2. Unfortunately there is no gapless playback (but I still try to convince Samsung to implement this feature on the next models, I'll never give up^^) and it will only be available in 4 and 8GB in France. The 16GB version won't be sold in France. But that depends on the country. It will be available in Octobre in France (and in 2012 in the USA ahaha )
Announced battery life is: 45hrs in audio and 6h in video playback.




Q3 vs R0 (sorry, I did not have a Q2 with me)

[CrowdAds]

[The DarkSide]

Nice Iebellium, now I hope Samsung changes their minds and makes a 32gb & 64gb model - but I doubt it.

[Yrrehc]

Nice

is it made in plastic like Q2 or in metal like P3 or S3??


SoundAlive engine?? Why this name?? I expected Dnse 4.0

[lestatar]

Very nice Lebellium. Thanks a ton for the sneak previews. This thing looks pretty sweet, but like TDS, I'd love to see higher capacity before I even think about plunking down some cash.

[lebellium]

Originally Posted by Yrrehc

Nice

is it made in plastic like Q2 or in metal like P3 or S3??


SoundAlive engine?? Why this name?? I expected Dnse 4.0

The case is in plastic like the Q2 and the S3. And there is a full metal frame.

They did not call them DNSe 4.0 for Marketing reasons. Do you know what DNSe stand for? Most people don't know. (The answer is Digital Natural Sound Engine )
So they chose SoundAlive. They think it's better to make communication on the sound quality.

And sorry TDS and Lestatar but I'm pretty sure there won't be a 32 or 64GB version. Only the flagship products can be available in these capacities.

[Yrrehc]

Originally Posted by lebellium

The case is in plastic like the Q2 and the S3. And there is a full metal frame.

What pity
however If I'm Not Mistaken (frames apart), S3 was made in plastic but with metal covering, in Q2 the metal covering is on the front but the back is totally in cheap plastic

Q3??

Originally Posted by lebellium

They did not call them DNSe 4.0 for Marketing reasons. Do you know what DNSe stand for? Most people don't know. (The answer is Digital Natural Sound Engine )
So they chose SoundAlive. They think it's better to make communication on the sound quality.

ah ah ah yes I know the mean of DNSe

according to me DNSe is a cool name for a sound enhancement technology,
SoundAlive is a name as Live Sound, Super Sound, Extra Sound, MegaSound and others anonymous enhancement technology name

I can't find detailed specifications of SoundAlive... for DNSe there was also a dedicated Samsung mini site

[lebellium]

Originally Posted by Yrrehc

What pity
I can't find detailed specifications of SoundAlive... for DNSe there was also a dedicated Samsung mini site

Because spec are not definitive yet. Except on the YP-RB not sold outside Korea.
The SoundAlive features were not the same on the U6, Q3 and Galaxy Player 50 I had in my hands. That's not really clear for the moment
For instance I did not see the 5.1 effect like advertised in the Q3 official demo video lol

When the final firmwares are released, maybe they'll make a mini website about it

[Yrrehc]

Originally Posted by lebellium

For instance I did not see the 5.1 effect like advertised in the Q3 official demo video lol

5.1 effect?? Means that will be included a virtual surround effect or an effective support for audio 5.1

PS
The advertiser of Q1\Q2 spoke about inclusion of the subway maps of major cities(but I've never seen this function in the Q series)

[lebellium]

Originally Posted by Yrrehc

5.1 effect?? Means that will be included a virtual surround effect or an effective support for audio 5.1

Virtual of course!

The new firmware 1.03 has been released and the user manual is available: http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/co...ENGLISH2.0.pdf

[Xinz]

I have to say, looks good enough to be used. If only they include a card slot

[SSTC]

2012!!
*yells in despair...

[lebellium]

The product page is now online! http://kr.samsungmobile.com/product/...ected=selected

You can also find a review on http://blog.naver.com/LikEraser/

Regarding my review, I don't know when it comes as I've no place anymore to write it in French (the gmp3 forum has been closed for 1 month now) so I can't really ask Samsung to give me a Q3 for the moment...

[glove4]

Considering that the Q2 (which I used to have a while back) as well as the R0 can be found in stores in the U.S., can I assume this bad boy will also be available here as well? I am liking this thing a lot.

[nik1105]

This must be some mini site about SoundAlive, but im not sure, because on mine pc page loading till 73%, probably it has some useful information. If its not about SoundAlive abilities,then excuse me.

[lebellium]

My Clip+ has not arrived yet (I hate snow in Paris!) but I just ordered the Samsung Q3!
I found a new one for €60 instead of €100 in 8GB capacity.

Maybe my first full review in english? (since gmp3 closed...)

[nodirectionhome]

it looks a nice player tbh, will it be volume limited for the EU?

Is it just a matter of selecting a different region in settings?

[lebellium]

The volume on Samsung DAPs is only limited in France (5mW/ch instead of 20mW/ch). I'll just have to change the region code from FR to EU via the usual config.dat trick and the volume of my Q3 won't be limited anymore

[lebellium]

Here it is, finally!






Q2 vs Q3 vs R0

Full review in some days or some weeks.
If you have any question, just ask me

[dfkt]

Great to see that Samsung got their mojo back, with all that tactile button galore on their recent players - the shameful touchpad history can be buried and forgotten.

Can't say I overly like the glossy plastic-y look of the Q3, judging by the photos. Maybe it looks better in reality? The iPhone 4-style alu frame might look nice, though. Is the white(?) navigation square aluminum too, or plastic?

Are the IEMs that come with it any good?

[nodirectionhome]

isn't it aluminium all around, or just the back?

I want one.