For a manufacturer which has only been in the MP3 music playing game for around a year, Samsung has so far impressed with its PMP efforts.

The Samsung YP-Q1 is the company's latest offering and continues to show Samsung as a company who just might take, albeit small bites, out of Apple's world domination.

Continuing the YP range, the Q1 is a successor to both the YP-P2 and YP-T10. Forgoing the touchscreen elegance of the YP-P2, and updating the looks of the YP-P2, the Q1 is a sleek player.

Immediately, the PMP looks like it has been designed by the same folks that created Samsung's U700 mobile range.

The chassis is the same thickness of an iPod classic, while the screen is the most dominant feature of the player – beneath it is a diamond-shaped, touch-sensitive control panel.

The minimal look

Other than the front controls, features on the phone's body are kept to an absolute minimum. On the right there is a plasticky on/off switch. Flick it down and the Q1 starts up in around five seconds, signified by a blue glow.

At the bottom of the Q1 is a 3.5mm earphone jack, and a USB2.0 adaptor connection. Supplied in the box are the said adaptor and some ear buds.

Unfortunately, Samsung has managed to do the impossible and create some 'phones that are worse than the ones Apple supplies. While the sound is immersive, the plastic-moulding digs into your ears, making wearing them for longer the 20 minutes a tad painful.

Switch on the Q1, and immediately it impresses. Nice big graphical icons spell out where your content is housed. Navigation is done by the diamond which is responsive – actually, it's a tad too responsive.

Occasionally this reviewer's fumbly fingers brought up the video page, instead of music and vice versa. The options available in full are: Music, Video, Pictures, Texts, Radio, Datacasts, Prime Pack, File Browser, Settings.

The inclusion of File Browser and Texts option makes the Q1 stand out from the crowded PMP market.

While designed primarily to play audio and video, the device will carry text documents, and act as a file mule for when you find yourself without a USB stick, While many other devices to this – including Apple's popular players – it's never been easier to access the non-audiovisual content.

Plug in the Q1 into a computer and your PC – and it's Windows-only we're afraid folks – will automatically assume that your player is just a USB storage device. No messy music-store compatibility, and you're not tied to, say, iTunes.

If you wanted, you could use the device like this, dragging and dropping your music and video into the right folders.

Emo music

Samsung has, however, included a disc into the package, where you can download EmoDio. This music portal was introduced by Samsung back in May of this year and is a rival to the iTunes Store.

Installing EmoDio took five minutes to get it on to the PC and then a further five minutes to download an update. We would love to tell you what was updated but no information was given.

Click on EmoDio and prepare to be underwhelmed. Newbies to music portals will be pleased that the whole thing is clean, and easy to use with six tab options at the top, labelled: MyPC, Playlists, Datacasts, Store, EmoDio.com and CD.