The Samsung YP-T8Z is an all-in-one entertainment player that sets itself apart from its rivals with a gorgeous 1.8" colour screen, complete with visualisation effects and easy-to-use controls.

The LCD takes up most of the front of the unit and is clearly the YP-T8Z's most attractive feature. The display is bright and colourful, with plenty of room to show basic tag information such as artist name, album, song title, format and bit-rate. A clock, a battery life meter, track number, sound equaliser, time eclipsed and time left are also packed into the screen. There are even three mini visualisers (although two of them are not music-reactive), which can be changed by simply pressing the NAVI key for about 2 seconds. Visualisers are simply animated colour graphics that usually play to the beat of the music you are listening to.

When we first got our hands on the YP-T8Z, we could have sworn that we were holding a mobile phone rather than an MP3 player--such is the shape and design of the unit. The YP-T8Z is a little on the large side in terms of flash player MP3s, but with an outstanding list of features, we can clearly see why. The YP-T8Z is gently curved on its front, back and sides and overall is a comfortable player that cups well in your hand.

The controls on the YP-T8Z are spaced out and uncluttered, making the device very easy to access. Samsung has used a clickable switch (called the NAVI key) to scroll up and down the menu, and it's simple to use and very efficient.

The main menu of the YP-T8Z features animated pictures representing the function you are scrolling through--quite similar to a Nokia mobile phone menu. This makes browsing through the unit's features, such as the FM radio, photo viewer and games, very quick and easy, not to mention visually delightful.

The YP-T8Z demonstrated excellent sound quality and the headphones supplied with the unit provided a great amount of bass. The unit supports the usual repeat and shuffle features, and also provides extensive equalisation features, including surround sound (with 13 different settings).

The YP-T8Z supports playback of MP3, WMA, audio ASF and OGG files. Conveniently, you can simply plug the device into a PC or Mac and drop and drag music files onto the player. Unlike some other models--notably Sony's range--the supplied software is not required to transfer MP3s onto the player from your PC. The software that comes with the player is still useful for a number of other tasks, including creating specific playlists and ripping CDs.

The YP-T8Z is brimming with extra features. The unit supports video playback, although the supplied Multimedia Studio software is required to convert the file. Video is played back in landscape orientation. However, the colour display is not brilliant and there is no zoom function. The player can be used as a text and image viewer for stored documents. Another excellent addition is the motion-sensitive gaming capability. The unit includes four games--Darts, Hextris, Pipe Dream Plus and The Hurdles--but you can't play games and listen to MP3's simultaneously. You can also transfer files directly from other MP3 players. We connected the YP-T8Z to the Toplux M260 and transferred a file to the unit with a minimum of fuss. The player acts as a USB host and you simply use the NAVI key to scroll through and select the files you wish to transfer.