With endlessly evolving technology and even more rapidly increasing demand from the consumer for something extra. it has become very important for all the manufacturers to continuously upgrade their portfolios. 5amsung realises this as they come up with new add ons for their repertoire, the 55 is one such new kid on the block.

With the looks of a PDA phone, hefty (as compared to a lot of other mp3/mp4 players) and quite sturdy. The 55 is one strong contender when it comes to build quality. Simply put, it is like five regular Sam sung players placed on each other. Also the package includes a pair of earphones. Though it looks bulky. it is very light in weight and is only as big as your pocket. As always you can expect to be surprised with the 55 which lies beneath the first layer which you have to slide away to see a pair of embedded drivers next to each other.

The major points to discuss about the 55 would be the loudspeakers and the Bluetooth feature. The loudspeaker is a welcome add on in terms of flexibility and utility. A device as small as the 55 can also serve to be quite an entertainment system that can be a constant companion. The Bluetooth technology enables you to stream audio wirelessly from any Bluetooth-enabled device.

So you can couple your Bluetooth activated mobile phone and listen to songs from your phone on the loudspeakers or the 55 earphones. Also, with the help of the same feature you can experience a real loudspeaker on a phone when coupled to a mobile phone; you speak on your calls from the in built microphone of the 55 and listen to the caller through the loudspeakers of the player. That's not all. The 55 comes with a 1.8 inch TFT screen on which you can play your favourite videos or view your photos. In terms of storage, the 55 gives three options of 4gb and 8gb. All other features like voice recording, FM radio, etc are also present. The 55 works with the samsung media software.

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As we bundled up all the software installation (which took very less time), we loaded the 55 with a good number of high quality mp3s, some wmv videos (which were converted by the software to its proprietary format) and also some jpeg images. Firstly, as we switched on the 55, we were greeted by the touch sensitive buttons, which lit up in bright orange.

In no time our fingers were flying across these buttons smoothly. We played an album 'Rough Guide To Asian Underground' starting with the track "Streets Of Calcutta". The peppy number with variant sounds ranging from the mridangam to an electronic drum kit and from synthesised Hammond organ to a sitar came across moderately effective from the default headphones of 55. There was substantial warmth and presence of the mid-range but at the same time the extension to the highs and the punch in the lows was lacking a bit.

On playing the next track "Elephant Ride" by the band State Of Bengal, we enjoyed the excellent resolution in terms of sound staging provided by the S5. This time we had connected senheiser's HD201 headphones to the s5, which lent quite a boost to the experience of the S5, as a whole. Well, if you decide not to invest on a pair of third party headphones, then the onboard EQ presets can definitely help you. The classical mode especially is the best, which gives you an almost flat curve on the frequency graph.

The speakers were good with sufficient clarity and musicality coming out of the small drivers. But as we said, remember to consider its size and realise that it is not something you can blast hard to get a very loud sound. As far as viewing photos and videOs were concerned, the 55's 1.8-inch screen size did not do justice to any of the images or the videos. We played a string of short video clips and were disappointed with the lack of adequate brightness in the visuals.