T3 EXCLUSIVE: Cowon S9 review
Cowon 'ave a go...
The latest personal media player from Cowon clearly wants to be an iPod Touch when it grows up. It’s almost – but not quite – the Touch’s equal on so many points. It has a 3.3-inch display compared to the Touch’s 3.5-incher, for example. It comes in 8GB and 16GB sizes, whereas the Touch now goes up to 32GB. And, in place of the Touch’s built-in wi-fi is the S9’s much less useful Bluetooth support.
In some areas, however, the S9 actually manages to pip its rival at the post. Audio quality, particularly, is a strong suit for Cowon’s young whipper snapper. The BBE+ sound field system really manages to put some punch into compressed music files. A selection of additional JetEffect enhancements and EQ settings lets you tweak sound settings to your preference too, helping in some situations to compensate for weaker headphones. Speaking of which, you’ll need to avail yourself of a decent pair of cans forthwith, as the buds supplied here really don’t do the S9 justice.
To carry on the comparison, Cowon’s S9 is also a great deal lighter than the iPod and a little smaller in all proportions other than its depth. Its AMOLED (that’s Active Matrix Organic Light-emitting Diode, acronym fans) screen is noticeably brighter and more colour-rich than the standard LCD screen on the ‘Pod, too. Movies look stunning, and a familiar motion sensor-based feature means that flipping the device on its side lets you view your cinematic gems in all their widescreen glory.
Additional bonuses include an FM radio and an audio recording facility. Battery life isn’t bad, either, and A/V output lets you plug the little chap into a big, grown-up telly if you want to.
The only real letdown, in fact, is the S9’s slightly disappointing control system – a combination of touch-screen interface and physical buttons. It’s obviously supposed to work a bit like Apple’s equivalent but it doesn’t. Having a choice of ‘skins’ is all well and good, but using the S9 just isn’t as intuitive as it should be. The fact that pressing the awkwardly positioned ‘home’ button is actually slightly painful to use doesn’t help matters much.
Links: Advanced MP3 players, Cowon
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In some areas,the S9 actually manages to pip the iPod Touch at the post.
| Our Rating |  |
|---|---|
| Price | £170 |
WE LOVE
Bright screenGreat audio quality
Recording facility
WE HATE
Poor touch-screen interfaceWE SAY
Sound quality is awesome and, if you can get past the fiddlesome controls, there's a lot to likeEssential Mobile Apps
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