Photos: Samsung S2 Pebble

The headphone features a unique and handy design trait: there's a little clip adjoined to the plug end that attaches to the player and keeps it from slipping off during wear.

The controls are housed on the back side and are indented in a bowl shape, which gives them a nice feel. A central play/pause/power key--the only bit of silver on the device--is surrounded by track shuttle and volume buttons. Jutting out from the bottom right of the control pad is a smart key.

The player comes in black, white, red, green, and purple, all of which are shiny and dark. The outer casing is a high-gloss plastic that looks a bit like marble in the white version.

Has Samsung made a rock? No, the S2 Pebble is just a cleverly designed MP3 player made to look like a smooth, polished stone. In fact, it looks like the perfect skipping stone, with its flat, nearly circular shape and 1.5-inch diameter.

From the front, the S2 still doesn't look like an MP3 player. The only thing indicating its electronic capabilities is the glowing LED, which changes colors to indicate different modes and selections. (The bottom of the player is pointing up in this shot.)

For all its tiny screenlessness, the S2 Pebble offers some compelling features: great sound quality, an on-the-go playlist function, a shuffle mode, and sound enhancement options.

The side view of the S2 Pebble shows the protruding curve of the front and the slight indentation of the back.

The design of the S2 lends itself to being worn. The fact that the front has no controls makes it look more like an actual pendant than many other wearable MP3 players. The included headphones are predictably lanyard style.

If you choose to use other headphones, which we recommend for taking full advantage of the sound the S2 has to offer, you can attach a separate lanyard or necklace to a loop built into the top.