Why did it take so long for someone to release a decent iPod touch competitor? The Samsung Galaxy Player 4 and 5 scratch the exact same itch that the iPod touch does: they give people smartphone power and apps, without the $100-a-month phone contract.
We first saw the Galaxy Player 4 and 5 way back in February at Mobile World Congress, in a slightly different body. It's taken eight long months for the devices to make it here, with the same specs announced back in Barcelona: a 1-Ghz Samsung Hummingbird processor, 800-by-480 screens, GPS, Wi-Fi, two cameras, and access to the 250,000 apps in the Android Market.
The Players that will come out here in the U.S. on October 16—$229 for the 4-inch and $269 for the 5-inch model—are a little different than the European units we saw before. The earlier models had a single, large button below the display. The U.S. models have three Android soft keys instead—perhaps in response to Apple's various lawsuits over members of the Galaxy Tab family. The U.S. models also run Google Android Gingerbread, as opposed to the earlier Froyo OS.
I spent a bit of time with the Players and they're pretty simple: these are Android phones without the phone. There are some secret killer apps here, too. Take navigation: since these devices have GPS, the Galaxy Player 5 would make a terrific in-car GPS. They even work as phones, of a sort. Since both devices have front-facing cameras and built-in microphones, you can Skype, Google Talk, ooVoo or Tango your friends without paying a mobile phone company.
Both Players I played with were bright, slim and friendly. I'm still not sold on the 5-inch size for handheld use; it's just a little bit too big for my hand. It would work much better, say, mounted in a car.
The 4-incher, on the other hand, is just perfect. It looks and feels a lot like T-Mobile's successful Samsung Galaxy S 4G phone, except with a snazzy white back. It's light at 4.27 ounces. And it works just like a great Android phone, too—same apps, same games, same interface.
While there are at least a dozen Android tablets on the market, the only Android-based non-phone handhelds out there are from Archos, which haven't gotten much traction in the market. I think the Galaxy Players may finally provide much-needed competition to Apple's monolithic handheld.
Samsung also announced the U.S. release of the Galaxy Tab 8.9, which we had a hands-on with back in March. This tablet hasn't changed from that version; we'll have a full review soon.
Until then, check out the slideshow above.