I think the S550 looks great in black. This silverish craze is so played out now. EVERYONE and their grandmother has jumped on the wagon with this color scheme. I think we can blame Korg for it
That Trinity was pretty ahead of the times when the silver monster was released..., and ever since then the market has been stuck on this silver scheme. It's not even just keyboards.., you're seeing it everywhere on many types of electronics from computers to electric can openers.....
In regards to the little drum pics. I guess you have to look at the targeted market for this keyboard as well. It's a lower end budget arranger.., so naturally this could easily be a first keyboard for someone. If they're not familiar with the standard drum layout on a keybed.., they pics could help them. I agree with Diki that they maybe could have blended the pics into the body better with a softer color.
I think the S550 is going to be a pretty big seller for Yamaha. When I look at the spec list.., I would have to say the two main things that jumped out at me would be the lack of modulation, and basic synth editing (I say basic synth editing because Yamaha has added this feature to models much lower than the S550).
However, when I look at the things Yamaha did add to this model..., makes me then think "so what..., lose that feature, but gain some very useful ones".
The poly took a huge jump and has now doubled over the S500. Seq tracks are now doubled, The mixer feature has been added, and a HUGE feature that IMO really ices the cake for the S550 is the STYLE CREATOR! I think the addition of the style creator is a big one. Plus the body is now black. Looks very sharp IMO. I think Yamaha did a good body design on the S550.., it's more sleek and looks more pro. Remember the earlier PSR-540/550??? The 540 looked like a video game with keys.., and the original 550 cleaned up a little, but still wasn't quite there yet
(I owned them both by the way)