The Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 is a portable media player with a 5 inch, 800 x 480 pixel display, Android 2.2 Froyo operating system, and 8GB of storage space. It’s basically a big smartphone, except it can’t make phone calls.
First unveiled in February, some folks looking for a good Android equivalent of an Apple iPod touch have been waiting impatiently for the Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 to go on sale in the US… and today it has. But it’s available from an unusual source: Woot.
Woot is selling the mini-tablet for $169.99 + $5 shipping today only. Woot is best known for offering deep discounts on items that have already been on sale from other stores for a little while, in one-day-only sales. This is the first time I can think of that Woot actually offered a product before it was available anywhere else.
That said, $170 is a great price for this little device. It supports the Google Android Market, has a built-in mic and speaker, support for Bluetooth 3.0, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, and FM Radio, and has a VGA front-facing camera and a 3.2MP rear camera with auto-focus and flash.
The Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 measures 5.6″ x 3.1″ x 0.5″ and weighs 6.4 ounces. The batter provides up to 6 hours of audio playback or 8 hours of video playback, and the device supports a wide range of audio and video formats including H.264, DiVX, XVid, FLV, WMV, FLAC, WMA, AAC, MP3, and OGG.
Hopefully today’s sale at Woot means that we’ll start seeing the device from other retailers soon — even if it costs a few bucks more. But it’s possible that Woot (which is owned by Amazon) scored some sort of exclusive — or got some units from overseas.
Similar Android-powered iPod touch competitors include:
- Sony’s upcoming Walkman Z portable media player
- Philips GoGear Connect 3
- ICE Smart
- Cowon D3
- Creative Zen Touch 3
- Archos 43
- Skytex Primer Pocket
Unfortunately while these portable media players run Google Android and feature similar sizes and shapes to the Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0, many of these devices are hampered by slow processors, low quality displays, or the inability to access the official Google Android Market to download apps.
At $170, the Samsung Galaxy S WiFi 5.0 may not be the cheapest Android powered PMP, but it’s probably one of the highest quality devices you’ll find for that price.
If you’re looking for something a little bigger, sellout.woot.com is also offering the ViewSonic gTablet 10.1″ tablet with a 1024 x 600 pixel display and NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor today for $239.99+ $5 shipping.
They sell them all over here in Hong Kong. The 4.0 tends to be a little under $200USD and the 5.0 is about $200USD.
That’d be nice. Exportprive sells the Korean ones for quite a bit more. The 5.0 is $428usd … but at least it’s the 32GB version.
Wanted one but they are all gone. I hate these “deals”… just like the Hp touchpad you either have to spend a lot of time checking sites for the next deal or just happen to be lucky. I have neither time nor luck.Â
I’ll probably just get a streak 5. I was looking forward to the samsung note but it is most likely an expensive device that is to be launched way into the future. I hate having to wait 6 months+ for these announced devices. I’m still waiting for the samsung slider 7. Actually have to say even though I’m not an apple fan I appreciate how they do it with the product announcement followed very shortly by availability in the next few weeks.Â
I agree, except for the Streak 5 part; I’m waiting to see what the price drop on the PlayBook looks like.
I’m highly interested in this device. I use an iPod Touch as an ereader and mp3 player, plus I check my email sometimes and use it to reed blog feeds. The 5 inch screen would still give me the small size I prefer. iPad is just too big for my purposes.
But I’m waiting to see the new crop of 7 inch devices as well. Hope the price stays low. Don’t want to buy until I’ve seen the Nook Color 2 and Amazon’s 7 inch tablet.
Huh, I had no idea Woot was owned by Amazon.com.  After seeing the ads appear on Amazon and Bestbuy, I have been wondering if a bunch of these were sitting in some warehouse, while Samsung sorted out its issues with Apple. Â
Yup, Amazon bought them last year for $110 million.
They have been for sale in various EU markets (seen them on pixmania.com for instance) and seems to be showing up elsewhere as well now. As for making phonecalls with them, there is always Skype and similar voip options.
Oh, and some places it shows up under the Galaxy Player name rather then Galaxy S WIFI. And there is also a 4″ version named 4.0, as well as a variant with 16GB internal for both (tho harder to find for some reason).