Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0

The Samsung Galaxy Player WiFi 5.0 is now available for purchase from J&R for $270. The device looks like a phone with a large screen, but the WiFi-only device doesn’t make cellular phone calls. Instead, it’s a portable media player that can run thousands of Android apps. It’s sort of like a big iPod touch with Android instead of iOS.

This is actually the second time the Galaxy Player WiFi 5.0 has gone on sale in the US. The first was nearly a month ago, when Woot held a one-day sale allowing customers to pick up the device for just $170. That makes the new standard price of $270 look a little steep.

But here’s what you get for the money:

  • 5 inch, 480 x 800 pixel capacitive touchscreen display
  • 1 GHz Samsung Hummingbird ARM Cortex-A8 single core processor
  • 8GB storage
  • Google Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread
  • 3.2MP rear camera and VGA front-facing camera
  • 802.11b/g/n WiFI
  • Bluetooth 3.0
  • GPS
  • FM Radio
  • microSD card slot
  • 2500mAh battery (up to 8 hours of video playback or 60 hours of music)
  • 720p HD video playback
  • Support for DiVX, Xvid, H.264, WMV, MP4, RMVB, and other audio and video formats
  • 5.6″ x 3.1″ x 0.5″
  • 6.4 ounces

The little guy also has a built-in mic and stereo speakers, so you can use an internet telephony app such as Skype to make voice or video calls — but you can’t hold the device up to your ear and expect to hold a private conversation. Media player speakers basically act like they’re on speakerphone all the time.

via The Digital Reader

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19 replies on “Samsung Galaxy Player 5 inch mini-tablet now available for $270”

  1. Pleaze sombody tell me if the samsung galaxy 5.0 player vibrates I will give that answer thums up

  2. I tried it at the store, & compared it to my 4″ Samsung Vibrant phone.  Of course, this 5″ device is worse in many ways, with worse screen color, pictures, & sharpness, ect, …. Even without such comparison, Camera pix & Camcorder video are below average. All give a washed-out color & grainy results.  Recorded video is blurry when you move the device even though slowly and steadily from scene to scene, so, it’s useless.

    I would not use this device to take pix or video record (important) events, but I would with the Samsung Vibrant (which gives very decent results, especially the video clip – very very beautiful)

    Music has very good sound even without earphone, and loud more than enough.
    The screen is very very responsive to touch. The pre-installed sample video clip is above average, but could not compare to the Vibrant.

    I guess games playing is good as it has 1GHz processor and 500MH RAM like any other devices.

    I did not check other features, which I don’t use much or care much about.

    5″ screen is a size I’m looking for in term of quick reading and easy carrying around.  But with such low quality, and with the price of $270 (as compared to Kindle Fire $200, Nook Tablet $250, … and price will be cheaper in very close future), I would NOT buy this device if it is higher than $150.00 though I really want one.

    In brief, to me & to me need, the only good thing of this device is 5″ screen.

  3. ” but you can’t hold the device up to your ear and expect to hold a private conversation.”

    When I read that, the other day, I light had gone on in my head because I had made a Skype call test a week ago holding it like a phone and it hadn’t been obvious to me that the speakers on the back were being utilized.

    Today, I installed GrooveIP and made a test call and realize that the person talking was coming from a front speaker at the very top of the device, rather than speakers on the back.  I knew there was something something embedded at the top of the device, but wasn’t sure if it was a speaker until now.

  4. I picked up the Woot version and it works quite well.  Swype is not pre-installed, but the beta works great on it.  Yes, it uses real GPS (a pinch slow), has a standard headphone jack and includes Market. I use it to read several email accounts, books and for general web browsing. OK, I admit I play Chuzzles on it too. It does fit in a pocket though is noticeable, “Is that a Galaxy in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?”

    My only complaints are that the screen is plastic and I’ve already scratched it thinking it was glass. It also doesn’t have the most impressive battery life but is acceptable.

    1. Plastic screen? Yikes! I use an iPod Touch as an ereader and I was looking hard at this, wanting a bit more screen size. I was already concerned about the display quality.

  5. If “gps” means a true gps receiver, and not location services that calculate your position using signal strength of known WiFi networks, then this Samsung product is attractive.  The iPod Touch still lacks true gps.

  6. The version selling on woot was a near equivalent overseas model named the “Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0”.  As others have stated, the woot version has Android 2.2 (Froyo, which does not support video chat using the front-facing camera) while the official US-released “Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0” has Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread – which supports video chat and will support the Samsung Media Hub for downloading content from Samsung).  Also, the US-released Galaxy Player comes with a US-backed warranty, whereas the woot version has an overseas-only warrant requiring the product be shipped back to the country Samsung intended it for.  Now that the Galaxy Players 4.0 and 5.0 have officially released in the US, the bottom is falling out of the imported Galaxy S Wifi 4.0 and 5.0 market, thus the fire sale.

  7. Of course the woot version had 2.2 not 2.3 so this may be worth the price for the latest OS.  Who knows when the update will be available to the woot ones. 

    1. the woot version was selling for $169.99 plus $5 shipping. THAT’S A GOOD DEAL!

    2. Just got mine today, it has a vibrate feature for when you press keys on the keyboard, I live this feature.

    1. Both Galaxy Players have a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.  You could also use Bluetooth for wireless headphones, but they are expensive.

    2. Like, umm you ever hear of a little unknown site called google? or like, samsung.com?

      Really, SO PATHETIC, you can not research anything for yourself? You must have everything handed to you on a silver platter?

      HOW LAME!

      1. Give the guy a break. The whole point of COMMENTS is to discuss and ask questions about the product. What’s the point of researching when you can just ask someone who knows, or are you too much of a snob to help? Thou I have to admit it is silly to wait for 4 hours and 48 minutes for a reply. Anyway he got his answer and probably didn’t even read your reply, just like I won’t read your reply to my comment.

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