Once Apple had established itself as one of the world’s top brand with hard drive MP3 players, the company had to delve into other markets. Knowing that flash players are still more popular and account for significant sales of all portable audio players sold, Apple decided to introduce its very own flash player, thoughtfully named the iPod Shuffle. Due to Apple’s successful anticipation campaign and unique characteristics of products based on pure style, it managed to generate positive buzz about the tiny player. However, as Shuffle entered the retail market, it soon became apparent that end-user experience wasn’t all that positive to begin with. Sure, the idea of not having a screen was intriguing at first, but once users started using the player, they realized the importance of having a screen.

That was one of the main reasons why it was rejected, but the audio quality is actually pretty impressive. Regardless the lack of screen, which leads to a smooth navigational menu and other critical features such as battery meter and track information, the Apple iPod Shuffle continues to hold a solid position. Surprising? Not a single bit. Apple has managed to do such a successful job at marketing its portable audio players that almost all other players are left hanging in the middle when they are in direct competition with the iPod product line.

However, that’s about to change with Samsung. Quite obviously, there are other flash players that compete against the iPod Shuffle glowingly well, but Samsung’s YP-T7X stands out with its 65,000 vividly bright color screen. Needless to say, that’s one of the main reasons for the pick as it offers all the navigational features that the iPod Shuffle lacks. Moreover, it’s priced competitively at $130.00 on average for the 512MB version with the Shuffle costing about $99.99.

Want to read more about the iPod Shuffle killer, read our latest review of the T7X…