Hands on with the Cowon iAudio6

The Cowon iAudio6 is so small, we almost overlooked it as we walked around the Cowon booth. We've seen plenty of small portables, but the 1.3-inch OLED screen coupled with the 4GB hard drive really packs a punch. Not that we did a hands on for 20 hours, but according to Cowon, we could have because that's how long the batts will last. It's clear that the iAudio6 won't feel as thin in the pocket as an iPod nano, but we actually liked the thicker feel to the unit. What can we say: we like a little meat on our MP3 players? We wouldn't watch videos on the pretty screen for any length of time, but for the few minutes that we did, the OLED really shined while the audio rocked the house.

[Leo @ Jan 7th 2006 7:45PM]

Kevin, in your post you reference "we" many times... "We like this, we feel that, etc..."

Does this mean that these "we" posts represent the thoughts and feelings of all of Engadget?

(honestly want to know... 'cause "we" is a pretty strong word when not put in context).

[Za @ Jan 7th 2006 7:46PM]

How can you spell Cowon wrong so many times when the name is actually on the player, and undoubtedly plastered in, around, and over the booth?

[RedSmurph @ Jan 7th 2006 8:00PM]

It's Cowon...

[Jon @ Jan 7th 2006 8:02PM]

It's 'CowOn', not 'CowAn'. Says right there on the player, too.

[bango bongo @ Jan 7th 2006 8:23PM]

Me Want! How much?

[Kevin C. Tofel @ Jan 7th 2006 8:36PM]

Props for the catch Za and Jon. All fixed and the floggings will commence once CES is over.

[Chris @ Jan 7th 2006 8:36PM]

I don't think that player has a hard drive in it. It looks too small.

[john @ Jan 7th 2006 8:43PM]

the guys haven't had much sleep. can't blame them for a few misspellings.

[Jon @ Jan 7th 2006 8:49PM]

Chris: It actually has one of those new 0.85" 4GB HDDs.

[davidd @ Jan 7th 2006 8:57PM]

the player does have a hardrive in it, but it is a 0.85 inch drive rather than a 1.0in. drive that is used in other players like the iPod mini, Zen Micro, or 5/6GB H10.



the iAudio6 looks like a very nice player

[Vizion @ Jan 7th 2006 9:27PM]

This is probably the best DAP at CES besides the new Sandisk player. The diagonal touch strip conforms perfectly to your hand, making navigation a breeze. The unit will come loaded with both file tree and id3 tags I believe. It will also have DRM support. This is one DAP to look out for.

[_habit_ @ Jan 7th 2006 10:17PM]

Hmm I've been lookin for an mp3 player for months and this thing is lookin pretty nice. Depending on the price I might just be inclinced to pick one up.



The other mp3 players I'm lookin at are the Nano the video iPod the Zen Micro Photo and the Creative Vision: M if it matters.

[plasmoidia @ Jan 7th 2006 11:26PM]

Good to see Cowon getting some publicity. I recently discovered them and was blown away by the features they offer on their players. OGG and FLAC support, as well as most other formats (WAV, MP3, WMA). Record to MP3 from anything (voice, FM radio, line in). I assume the new iAudio 6 will have the same features as the other iAudio players. Also good to see them offering a midrange capacity player. There was nothing between a 2 GB flash player and 20 GB disk player before. That is more what I was looking for, but got the 30 GB X5L for Christmas. Very nice. The iAudio line offers many great players for those who find the iPod over-hyped and under-featured :).

[daniel @ Jan 8th 2006 4:08AM]

3> It's CoWon not CowOn. Co as in KOrea and Won as in WONder.



How much is this player? Looks better than the iPod nano.

[Melker63 @ Jan 8th 2006 4:56AM]

I would buy above player if it had 1-2MB flashmemory and was standard battery-powered. I mostly listen to less mem-requiring speech, audio-books, podcasts. Also; I have never liked the idea of built-in battery. Hopefully Cowon understand to develop players for all customer targetgroups - not just the biggest one.

[Nappii @ Jan 8th 2006 8:01AM]

Looks promising. I hope that this is coming out in Europe as well.. with radio (damn Sandisk).

[Ian Locke @ Jan 8th 2006 3:25PM]

Nice little player. Has everything the average Cowon DAP should have and I am very impressed. Wonder how much for the I6?

[plasmoidia @ Jan 8th 2006 11:46PM]

Re: #15



They have other models with 1-2 GB of Flash memory. I think even some of them run off normal batteries, too. Check it out:

http://www.cowonamerica.com/products/



The G2 and G3 use a AA battery and come as big as 1 GB. The 4 and 5 use a AAA battery and are up to 1 GB. The U3 holds up to 2 GB, but uses a rechargable battery. They already do have a lot of choices out there. Though, as I said, this is the first in the 2 - 20 GB gap. If the price is right, I'd say this could sell well (if they can overcome the iPod hype).