Product review: Samsung S2

In the world of gadgetry, this will be remembered as the epoch of the iPod – even with honest tryers such as Samsung's S2 Digital Audio Player around.

But don't conclude the inevitable just yet. The S2 has some neat little touches that Apple's world beater does not.

For starters, it's better looking. The S2 is round, pebble-shaped, just under two inches in diameter and finished in smooth piano gloss. Of the five colour options, we reviewed the black, which was very susceptible to fingerprints and greasy smudges. However, at this price range it is only natural that the finish will not quite be Steinway. Still, it looks better than the Shuffle – its direct competitor within the iPod line-up.

The controls are minimal. A central play/pause button is ringed by the forward/rewind, and volume controls. A multicoloured LED indicates status. There is also a sound mode button, but more about that in a bit.

Where the S2 really scores is in the ease of use. It charges via a nifty USB dongle that plugs right into the 35mm headphone jack, saving space. A two-hour charge provides 13 hours of playback – both class-leading figures. It supports three formats – MP3, WMA and OGG. Files can be simply dragged and dropped into its 1GB memory – which is really helpful. There's no software required, unlike the iPod which needs Apple's smooth-sounding but tedious-to-use iTunes.

The one gripe about the S2, which mars an otherwise excellent package is the sound quality. We put our test mule through a variety of music and it exposed a lack of midrange clarity. The vocals drowned out when listening to Indian classical and popular Hindi numbers, replaced instead by a disproportionately thumping and muddled bass.

Mozart and Vivaldi suffered comparable fates, with sibilance – the screech of high-frequency sounds gone wrong – taking over and rendering the violin crescendos hurtful to the ear.

What sounds passable on the S2 is Snoop Dog or Justin Timberlake or Black Eyed Peas, but after fiddling with the sound mode button mentioned before to find the right setting. (There are three – bass, treble and echo. Don't even try the third.) Once set right, pop music sounds pleasant. For anything heavier, we were tempted to reach for the iPod.

At Dh199 for a 2GB and Dh159 for a 1GB, the S2 is a good buy, provided your music tastes are not too varied. For user friendliness though, it's recommend every single time.