Cowon iAudio U3 (1GB)

Print

Email

Bookmark

Share

Cowon audio players have long been critical favorites here. The company's latest flash player, the S$350 (US$250.99) iAudio U3, packs in even more features, 1GB of memory, a dazzling--albeit tiny--color screen, and video playback capabilities. But you have to ask yourself if this pricey player is a sensible buy. While it may be the world's smallest PVP, the tiny screen is more showy than useful for video and photo. Plus, it doesn't yet support DRM-protected music, a major shortcoming. Nevertheless, the Cowon iAudio U3 is an MP3 player at heart, and that heart performs admirably.

Design
Barely larger than a basic Bic lighter, the impressively tiny Cowon iAudio U3 comes in white or black. Much as we like its curved corners and simplistic controls, we find the overall design to be fairly uninspiring. The case has a somewhat cheap plastic feel to it, and there's none of the panache of the iPod Nano or the iRiver T30. But it sure is compact, measuring 71.2 x 30.48 x 17.78mm and weighing a scant 31.75g, and it's silky smooth in the hand.

The Cowon iAudio U3 is virtually identical to its predecessor, the Cowon iAudio U2, though a bit fatter. It has a slightly larger version of the same small four-way joystick, the same line-in and headphone jacks at one end, and the same USB port at the other end. But the buttons along the top have changed slightly--and for the better. In addition to record and play/pause controls, there's now a menu button for quick and easy access to onscreen options. The iAudio U3 also bears a Hold switch. We'd say that this new joystick is a tad mushier than the iAudio U2's pinpoint control.

Although its controls are simple, many aspects of the iAudio U3's interface can be confusing. Specifically, once you leave the attractive, colorful main menu (which consists of six straightforward options) and delve into your media collection, it's not always obvious how to maneuver. When you want to go from, say, the playback screen to the selection screen, your natural instinct is to press the menu button--but that returns you to the main menu. Instead, you have to press the stiff joystick. It took us a while to master these and other interface intricacies, but eventually we got the hang of it. Currently, the iAudio U3 is a UMS device that shows up as a drive. Though the U3's folder-based navigation is flexible and logical for some users, others prefer a tag-based interface, which is a feature that Cowon should be introducing in one of its upcoming firmware updates, along with MTP and DRM compatibility.

Part of the problem lies with the screen. Although the 160 x 128-pixel, 260,000-color TFT LCD is extremely sharp and bright, it measures only 1.3 inches diagonally. Cowon, in its pure geek way, manages to cram a lot of song information into that tiny space, but the result is squint-inducing text, even for users with sharp eyes. As for viewing photos and watching videos, it's cool at first but later feels a bit like punishment. While the capability is commendable, we just can't see using this player for anything except audio functions. Of course, the Cowon iAudio U3 is an MP3 player that happens to play video, so we bend a little.

Tiny flash players such as the iAudio U3 all but demand to be worn, yet Cowon doesn't supply a neck strap, an armband, or a carrying case, though there's a hole in the iAudio U3 for a lanyard. The only accessories are earbud headphones, a stereo patch cable, a USB cable, and a keychain-wearable USB dongle for on-the-go file transfers (a nice touch).

Next page »