Cowon iAudio U5
The Cowon iAudio U5 is a simple music player from the Korean company. Unlike Cowon's previous players that were often overpriced, the U5 aims to be affordable while offering a similar performance like its older brothers. We'll see just how well it performs.
Design and Construction:
At 85.1 x 41.1 x 9.3 mm the U5 is about as tall as a credit card, about two-thirds its width and as thick as a pencil. The U5 weighs just 35g and is so light that you may forget that you even put it in your pocket.
The front side has a 1.8" 262k color 128x160 pixel display, below which lies the circular navigation keys with centre select key and a Menu key on its right. On the left side of the player are the record switch and a sliding key for the Power as well as Hold function. Sliding and holding the key up powers ON or turns OFF the device and sliding it down locks all the keys to prevent accidental key press.
There are no other keys on the player. Most unfortunate is the lack of dedicated volume keys, which in my opinion is necessary for a music player a
nd has far more importance than the dedicated record key that is provided. On the bottom of the player is the 3.5mm headphone jack, the microphone, lanyard loop hole and below a flap are the USB port and reset button.
nd has far more importance than the dedicated record key that is provided. On the bottom of the player is the 3.5mm headphone jack, the microphone, lanyard loop hole and below a flap are the USB port and reset button.
The player is very well built and feels absolutely solid. All the keys work with clinical efficiency as well. The surface of the player is prone to fingerprints and smudges which look ugly and are a chore to keep clean. The display on the player is average but since there is no image and video support, the display doesn't really have much to showcase apart from displaying text and some colored menu icons which it does very well.
Cowon iAudio U5 Photos
Performance:
Performance:
Coming to the performance aspect, the U5 does not disappoint. The sound quality of the player, true to Cowon tradition, is very good. The bass was nice and punchy, the mids were clean and the highs were clear and sharp; all this without the JetEffect sound enhancements. With so many options available, it is easy to get just the right kind of sound that you would want.
The BBE Effect enhances the bass and treble. The Mach3Bass focuses on the bass, while the 3D Surround sound option adds a pseudo surround effect to the sound. The best part is that these are not just gimmicks but actually work really well. They work so well that it was hard to switch them off, but for the purpose of testing I had to listen to the standard sound. They also have 10 levels of adjustments that really let you fine-tune your sound instead of throwing some preset sound at you. Then there is also the 5-band equalizer and the MP Enhance function which tries to compensate for the lost detail in compressed music, although most of the time all that you'll hear is a slight increase in volume.
The U5 has a 32+32 mW amplifier that is really powerful for a portable music player. The U5 had no problem running even my big headphones flawlessly, as it did with the small earphones. No mater which headphones you connect you can be sure the U5 will be able to power them. The supplied earphones however were very mediocre and should ideally be replaced with something better.
The FM radio has good sound quality too. However, the JetEffects are not available for the FM radio. The sensitivity was average though and indoors the player sometimes won't pick up radio waves. The FM broadcasts can be recorded as well. There is also a voice recorder which uses the built-in microphone. The recording quality was pretty good. You also get the option to select the quality of the recorded audio. You can adjust the audio bitrate and the mic sensitivity.
The data transfer speed is pretty decent. Transferring 100 MB of data took one minute and 33 seconds. As for the battery life, Cowon claims to last 25 hours but I only managed to get 14 hours while listening at moderate volumes with some playing around in the UI and all settings at the default levels.
The BBE Effect enhances the bass and treble. The Mach3Bass focuses on the bass, while the 3D Surround sound option adds a pseudo surround effect to the sound. The best part is that these are not just gimmicks but actually work really well. They work so well that it was hard to switch them off, but for the purpose of testing I had to listen to the standard sound. They also have 10 levels of adjustments that really let you fine-tune your sound instead of throwing some preset sound at you. Then there is also the 5-band equalizer and the MP Enhance function which tries to compensate for the lost detail in compressed music, although most of the time all that you'll hear is a slight increase in volume.
The U5 has a 32+32 mW amplifier that is really powerful for a portable music player. The U5 had no problem running even my big headphones flawlessly, as it did with the small earphones. No mater which headphones you connect you can be sure the U5 will be able to power them. The supplied earphones however were very mediocre and should ideally be replaced with something better.
The FM radio has good sound quality too. However, the JetEffects are not available for the FM radio. The sensitivity was average though and indoors the player sometimes won't pick up radio waves. The FM broadcasts can be recorded as well. There is also a voice recorder which uses the built-in microphone. The recording quality was pretty good. You also get the option to select the quality of the recorded audio. You can adjust the audio bitrate and the mic sensitivity.
The data transfer speed is pretty decent. Transferring 100 MB of data took one minute and 33 seconds. As for the battery life, Cowon claims to last 25 hours but I only managed to get 14 hours while listening at moderate volumes with some playing around in the UI and all settings at the default levels.
Conclusion:
The Cowon iAudio U5 is a neat little player. It is small, light, has great sound quality with a dizzying level of sound customization options along with other must-have options such as FM recording and voice recorder. The battery life is decent, if not great and the data transfer speed is good too.
The lack of support for images and videos however makes it less of an all-rounder, which could be a deal breaker for some. But for Rs. 5000/- the U5 4 GB model is a great little player for audiophiles, who won't mind exchanging some features for great audio quality.
Source: Techtree.com
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