New Toy Review
Item: Cowon iAudio G3 Portable Mp3 player
I recently received this item as a gift from some very good friends. Thank you, very good friends.
Because I feel like it, I'm writing a brief review.
Portable Mp3 players are the flavor of the year... it seems that everyone who is anyone in electronics is marketing one, some more successfully (and obnoxiously) than others. A late entry to the market, the Cowon iAudio is throughly derivative, even its name suspiciously remicent of a certain other product.
However, being derivative is not necessarily a weakness from the point of view of the customer. One can do far worse with one's hard earned purchase dollars than to select a product which has the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, emulating the proven strengths of its more innovative rivals and, hopefully, avoiding its various weaknesses.
So has the iAudio succeeded in doing so? In a word, yes.
The unit itself is small and lightweight, perhaps slightly larger than a matchbox, and weighing perhaps half as much as a computer mouse (most of which is the weight of the battery); this is light enough for a shirt pocket, although somewhat bulky for a flash-based player. However, the major factor in the bulk of the unit is its thickness, and this thickness of mandated by the fact that it takes a AA battery.
That's right, you read that right. No more expensive, heavy, failure-prone, built-in rechargeables. No more short-lived AAAs. This thing runs off a real battery, and the manufacturer claims that you'll get about 50 hours of operation from that. While I haven't operated the thing for 50 hours yet, I've certainly done at least 25, and the charge indicator is still showing 2 out of 3 bars, and the information display says it's putting out 1.29 volts as yet.
Which brings me to the next feature I like about the iAudio. The user interface. There are options for damn near everything. Screen too hard to read in dim light? Increase the timeout on the brilliant blue backlight. Sound not quite right? Adjust the built-in graphic equalizer to get the tone and color you want, then save those settings, any number of them, and switch between them with a few short clicks. Haven't put ID3v2 tags on all those mp3s you uploaded? Switch to v1. Or display by filename. Headphones giving you unbalanced sound for some reason? Adjust the audio pan. Unit powers off too quickly when paused? Change the timeout, or turn it off altogether. The iAudio has a busload of options, and most everyone will be able to get the unit behaving the way they want it to fairly quickly.
The controls and display that allow manipulation of this interface are simple and well-designed. Cowon has avoided the style-over-substance pitfall of introducing some neat-looking but ultimately inconvenient and annoying interface innovation, and simply placed a row of four recessed buttons along the upper edge, along with a small joystick-like affair on the front, which is relatively easy to manipulate with a thumb. While there is a keylock switch set into the back of the unit, it isn't really necessary in ordinary use, as both stick and buttons are set sufficently low, and are sufficently stiff, that jostling against other objects in a pocket will not trip the controls. The buttons control playing and pausing, as well as switch between operation modes, and the stick controls volume, as well as track selection, and the fast-forward and rewind functions.
(Yes, there are fast-forward and rewind functions. Just hold the stick right or left.)
The display has four full lines, and while the text may be somewhat small for some users with poor eyesight, it is quite clear and easy to read, especially when backlit by the standard blue-glow thing that all modern LCDs seem to have. Overall, navigation of the control interface should be dead easy for anyone who isn't seriously impaired in some fashion.
(This is a very good thing, because the manual weighs far more than the device, and was clearly written by someone who spoke Korean much better than English.)
The iAudio functions in three modes, as an mp3 player, FM radio, and recording device (either through the builtin pickup mic, or through a line-in connection), but it also can be pressed into service (and works just fine) as a USB flash drive for storing any kind of computer file. Unlike some competitors, it doesn't lock you into certain Redmond-oriented operating environments, but plays well with Linux and BSD.
Setup of the mp3 (or ogg vorbis, or wav, or what have you) playlist could not be easier. Plug a computer's USB port (via the provided cable, although one does wish the connector had been built into device), and dump files into the directory on it labeled "MUSIC". Pretty self-explanatory, although the device also comes with software for uploading music. (I guess that's for people who find drag and drop too difficult. Please turn yourselves in for a vigorous brain-scrubbing. Clearly you're defective.) The one-gigabyte limit isn't by any means a huge amount of space, but this is the price one pays for selecting the small size, low power requirements, light weight, and durability of a flash-based player over a hard-drive based one.
Mp3 playback has all the standard options, repeat, shuffle, and what have you, unlike certain other flash-based players. Sound quality is surprisingly good, although the load and distortion characteristics of the included earphones are not all they could be. (It seems a bit of a shame to make a unit with such excellent battery-life characteristics, and then include a pair of rather hoggish earphones, but there you have it.) Still, even with the included earphones, sound quality is quite good, and with a pair of nice ones, and some monkeying with the graphic equalizer, the iAudio should satisfy even the pickiest audiophile. Overall vloume is quite sufficent; in fact, above about 25 on the 40-step scale will probably only be needed in the noisiest of environments, and anything above 30 will pretty much make your ears bleed.
The FM receiver is fairly sensitive. It can catch some weaker signals with decent clarity, while stronger stations sound excellent. FM recording quality is very good indeed.
Voice recording is somewhat quiet, but sound quality is excellent with the built-in pickup. (I haven't tried the line-in yet.) One may record in either wav or mp3 format (from 96 to 128 Kbps). Recording are simply dumped to another folder on the flash drive, to be retrieved via USB.
Overall, the features outweigh the drawbacks, of which there are a few (rather low recording volume, requirement of an external cable for USB interface, mediocre quality of the included earphones). Whatever lack of innovation the design displays is more than made up for in thoughtful, detailed engineering craftsmanship, and the iAudio is an excellent choice for anyone in the market for an mp3 player, especially techies and audiophiles.
The Good: Completely free of battery hassles. Sound quality. Easy controls. Loads of options.
The Bad: The earphones. The manual.
The Ugly: What it does to iPod shuffle in a feature/price comparison.
Overall score: 4.5 out of 5
I recently received this item as a gift from some very good friends. Thank you, very good friends.
Because I feel like it, I'm writing a brief review.
Portable Mp3 players are the flavor of the year... it seems that everyone who is anyone in electronics is marketing one, some more successfully (and obnoxiously) than others. A late entry to the market, the Cowon iAudio is throughly derivative, even its name suspiciously remicent of a certain other product.
However, being derivative is not necessarily a weakness from the point of view of the customer. One can do far worse with one's hard earned purchase dollars than to select a product which has the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, emulating the proven strengths of its more innovative rivals and, hopefully, avoiding its various weaknesses.
So has the iAudio succeeded in doing so? In a word, yes.
The unit itself is small and lightweight, perhaps slightly larger than a matchbox, and weighing perhaps half as much as a computer mouse (most of which is the weight of the battery); this is light enough for a shirt pocket, although somewhat bulky for a flash-based player. However, the major factor in the bulk of the unit is its thickness, and this thickness of mandated by the fact that it takes a AA battery.
That's right, you read that right. No more expensive, heavy, failure-prone, built-in rechargeables. No more short-lived AAAs. This thing runs off a real battery, and the manufacturer claims that you'll get about 50 hours of operation from that. While I haven't operated the thing for 50 hours yet, I've certainly done at least 25, and the charge indicator is still showing 2 out of 3 bars, and the information display says it's putting out 1.29 volts as yet.
Which brings me to the next feature I like about the iAudio. The user interface. There are options for damn near everything. Screen too hard to read in dim light? Increase the timeout on the brilliant blue backlight. Sound not quite right? Adjust the built-in graphic equalizer to get the tone and color you want, then save those settings, any number of them, and switch between them with a few short clicks. Haven't put ID3v2 tags on all those mp3s you uploaded? Switch to v1. Or display by filename. Headphones giving you unbalanced sound for some reason? Adjust the audio pan. Unit powers off too quickly when paused? Change the timeout, or turn it off altogether. The iAudio has a busload of options, and most everyone will be able to get the unit behaving the way they want it to fairly quickly.
The controls and display that allow manipulation of this interface are simple and well-designed. Cowon has avoided the style-over-substance pitfall of introducing some neat-looking but ultimately inconvenient and annoying interface innovation, and simply placed a row of four recessed buttons along the upper edge, along with a small joystick-like affair on the front, which is relatively easy to manipulate with a thumb. While there is a keylock switch set into the back of the unit, it isn't really necessary in ordinary use, as both stick and buttons are set sufficently low, and are sufficently stiff, that jostling against other objects in a pocket will not trip the controls. The buttons control playing and pausing, as well as switch between operation modes, and the stick controls volume, as well as track selection, and the fast-forward and rewind functions.
(Yes, there are fast-forward and rewind functions. Just hold the stick right or left.)
The display has four full lines, and while the text may be somewhat small for some users with poor eyesight, it is quite clear and easy to read, especially when backlit by the standard blue-glow thing that all modern LCDs seem to have. Overall, navigation of the control interface should be dead easy for anyone who isn't seriously impaired in some fashion.
(This is a very good thing, because the manual weighs far more than the device, and was clearly written by someone who spoke Korean much better than English.)
The iAudio functions in three modes, as an mp3 player, FM radio, and recording device (either through the builtin pickup mic, or through a line-in connection), but it also can be pressed into service (and works just fine) as a USB flash drive for storing any kind of computer file. Unlike some competitors, it doesn't lock you into certain Redmond-oriented operating environments, but plays well with Linux and BSD.
Setup of the mp3 (or ogg vorbis, or wav, or what have you) playlist could not be easier. Plug a computer's USB port (via the provided cable, although one does wish the connector had been built into device), and dump files into the directory on it labeled "MUSIC". Pretty self-explanatory, although the device also comes with software for uploading music. (I guess that's for people who find drag and drop too difficult. Please turn yourselves in for a vigorous brain-scrubbing. Clearly you're defective.) The one-gigabyte limit isn't by any means a huge amount of space, but this is the price one pays for selecting the small size, low power requirements, light weight, and durability of a flash-based player over a hard-drive based one.
Mp3 playback has all the standard options, repeat, shuffle, and what have you, unlike certain other flash-based players. Sound quality is surprisingly good, although the load and distortion characteristics of the included earphones are not all they could be. (It seems a bit of a shame to make a unit with such excellent battery-life characteristics, and then include a pair of rather hoggish earphones, but there you have it.) Still, even with the included earphones, sound quality is quite good, and with a pair of nice ones, and some monkeying with the graphic equalizer, the iAudio should satisfy even the pickiest audiophile. Overall vloume is quite sufficent; in fact, above about 25 on the 40-step scale will probably only be needed in the noisiest of environments, and anything above 30 will pretty much make your ears bleed.
The FM receiver is fairly sensitive. It can catch some weaker signals with decent clarity, while stronger stations sound excellent. FM recording quality is very good indeed.
Voice recording is somewhat quiet, but sound quality is excellent with the built-in pickup. (I haven't tried the line-in yet.) One may record in either wav or mp3 format (from 96 to 128 Kbps). Recording are simply dumped to another folder on the flash drive, to be retrieved via USB.
Overall, the features outweigh the drawbacks, of which there are a few (rather low recording volume, requirement of an external cable for USB interface, mediocre quality of the included earphones). Whatever lack of innovation the design displays is more than made up for in thoughtful, detailed engineering craftsmanship, and the iAudio is an excellent choice for anyone in the market for an mp3 player, especially techies and audiophiles.
The Good: Completely free of battery hassles. Sound quality. Easy controls. Loads of options.
The Bad: The earphones. The manual.
The Ugly: What it does to iPod shuffle in a feature/price comparison.
Overall score: 4.5 out of 5