Cowon S9 review

On paper, Cowon's S9 is distinct from what most would consider its rivals. It packs a curvaceous design, nary a single front panel button, an AMOLED display and a codec support list chock full of formats that audiophiles admire. Clearly, Cowon is aiming to appeal to portable media enthusiasts who are also sticklers for sound quality, with the core functionality consisting of only the basics that one would expect on a PMP. The sector it's diving into already has a pretty strong list of alternatives on the market, which probably means that you're wondering if it really does (or doesn't) stack up. Follow us past the break as we take a closer look at what the S9 brings (and doesn't bring) to the table.

Design

For anyone who has been following this device since it first broke cover in August, you'll understand that Cowon is unashamedly attempting to catch eyes with the S9. The press shots are sexy, the packaging is sexy and the marketing is just downright seductive. Upon placing this piece in our hands for the first time, we were struck with an almost unhealthy mix of emotions. On one hand, the incredibly lightweight chassis was a real joy to hold; on the other, we were left feeling somewhat deceived. You see, the press shots we've been force fed all feature what appears to be metal chrome sides and a display with practically no bezel. In reality, the sides are merely graphite-colored slabs of plastic and the display most definitely does not actually extend out to the very edge of the front face. Sure, you could say we were getting our hopes up for nothing, but upon conversing with others who've had a chance to hold this thing, we found that we weren't at all alone in feeling this way.

After using it for a few days, our fears were confirmed: the unit did indeed feel more "cheap" than "solid." This no doubt has to do with the thin, plasticky materials that dominate the sides and rear, and while it's certainly not a deal breaker, we expected a device of this nature to simply feel more durable and sturdy in the hand. All those knocks aside, there was plenty to love about the design, too. For starters, the lack of buttons on the front is a stunning approach, and the carefully placed hardware toggles / buttons on the top and bottom are more than sufficient. You'll find switches for play / pause, volume, next / previous track and power / lock, while the USB connector holds down the final slot on the bottom. Speaking of, we were definitely turned off by the proprietary USB connector; in other words, you can forget syncing / charging the S9 without the special cable that comes bundled in. We know, the iPod has a proprietary connector as well, and in our perfect world, it too would be a straight-up USB / mini-USB socket.

The bottom-mounted 3.5-millimeter headphone jack is satisfactorily located, though the inbuilt microphone -- which is situated on the bottom rear, right where your hand covers during normal operation -- could stand to be placed elsewhere. As you can tell, "mixed bag" really is the best way to describe our take on the design. It's attractive though not sexy, and while nothing in terms of functionality is hindered by the build, we still feel the price is a touch high for the decidedly just-above-average construction.

Cowon S9 PMP unboxing

Display

We have to assume that the 3.3-inch AMOLED display is one of the S9's biggest selling points, and for good reason. The 480 x 272 resolution screen is positively gorgeous to look at, displaying rich, vivid colors on everything lucky enough to tickle its pixels. Video looked superb, images were almost unbelievably sharp and bright, and the overall user interface was quite a joy to gaze at. Couple that with the fact that it's a capacitive touchscreen and you can understand why we're pretty much head over heels on the panel. Other PMP makers should definitely give AMOLED a look; it sucks down less juice, it's brighter and sharper in every circumstance and it makes users (or us, at least) actually want to watch videos on it.

Interface

Here's where we resume the whole "mixed bag" theme. At first glance, the S9's user interface looks delightful. The icons grab your attention, everything seems clearly labeled and you're never more than a click away from your stash of audiovisual content. Navigating within the top-level menus is rarely confusing, and there are a fair amount of customization options to keep most everyone happy.

The one issue we continually ran into was, paradoxically, a direct result of something we've already praised in this writeup. The lack of a "home" or "back" button on the front panel means that moving back within the menu system requires screen presses, and that means pressing a ridiculously small "M" button rather than just mashing a dedicated hardware control to escape whatever mess you're in. Additionally, some of the icons deep within menus weren't what we would call "incredibly intuitive," though anyone with a hint of patience will quickly grow used to the environment. We also can't leave this section without stating that selecting songs / videos was kind of... odd. Rather than simply hitting a song and watching it spin up, you either have to hold that selection for a moment or double click it. We guess this could be spun as a feature (no more fat fingers accidentally queuing up a track), but our generally accurate digits found it to be a hassle. As always, YMMV.

All in all, the UI is sufficient enough, though it's nothing to write home about. Any media player interface that's even mildly confusing could probably use some work, and while just about any system is tolerable over time, we fully expect a PMP's operating system to be mostly understandable from top to bottom right out of the box. After all, this isn't SUSE Linux Enterprise we're talking about here. On the upside, the ability to tweak the EQ while on the Now Playing screen was much appreciated, and the decent reaction to our thumb flicks (to change tracks) was also right in line with expectations. There was, however, an annoying amount of lag when waiting for the screen orientation to flip upon the twisting of the device to another angle.

Cowon S9 PMP hands-on / UI walkthrough

Audio / Video performance

We didn't run this thing through any sort of super sophisticated audio analyzer, but we did give it a listen alongside PMPs from Apple and Sony. The quick and dirty of all this is that the sound quality from Cowon's S9 is stellar. Lows are punchy and decisive, mids are smooth and highs are distinct without being piercing. We listened to a variety of genres, and across the board we found ourselves thoroughly pleased with the unit's audio capabilities. Cowon knows that you're considering this player for its wide ranging codec support and the outfit's heralded audio quality, and it's evident that company engineers put some serious time into making sure the S9 performed the core task -- playing back audio -- marvelously. If you're into audio above all else (with "all else" being applications, internet access, etc.), you can't go wrong with the S9. Oh, and the integrated support for Bluetooth headsets / BT streaming is downright splendid.

Over on the video side, clips were expectedly phenomenal. With such fantastic audio capabilities, the only question left was around image quality. And with an AMOLED screen, this question pretty much answers itself. We've yet to find a player this small that we would rather watch an extended video on; sure, video-centric players such as the A3 easily trump this with their higher resolutions and larger screen sizes, but you'll have a difficult time finding something this minuscule that makes watching video so enjoyable.

Wrap up

By now, you've probably already decided if this thing is for you. For those into extravagant extras and a perfectly polished UI, you simply will not find what you're after in the S9. For those who view pristine audio quality and delightful video playback as paramount, you're probably willing to overlook the ho hum UI and design flaws in order to possess a pocketable player that won't disappoint your discerning ears and eyes. For anyone still on the fence, it really boils down to your needs and desires. Are you willing to deal with an interface that's troublesome to navigate at times if it means the best possible audio quality when the track finally begins to play? Would you take lightweight over solid? Will you be satisfied with your PMP if it does little else outside of playing back joints and jams?

The S9 has a lot of things going for it -- the 2+ day battery life, gorgeous AMOLED screen, impeccable audio quality and featherlight design (just to name a few) -- but at $199.99 and $239.99 for the 8GB and 16GB versions, respectively, we simply expected more. If these fall by $70 or so in the short term, they'll certainly become quite the bargain, but considering that these are apt to be used in noisy subway stations and on windy bike trails (compared to say, in a dead quiet recording studio), we're not entirely sure the small bump in overall sound quality is enough to warrant a purchase over more fully-featured rivals. Is Cowon's S9 worth a look if you're in the market? Unquestionably so. But unless its unique characteristics are exactly what you're after, we'd hold off until the price slips or the interface gets a makeover.

[Charles Knight Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:10AM]

I can't watch the video? clicking on the link brings up the spec sheet?

[Malikye Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:12AM]

i just ordered mine from jetmall.com. i'm liking the reviews so far. the UI of it on youtube looks pretty cool too.

[Solipsism Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:14AM]

If it had wifi, I'd be all over it..... maybe next time, Cowon?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:37AM]

I agree with you,.not to mention car integration I mean being able to control all songs n videos on your steering wheel n then playing or watching on your car stereo 7" pioneer touchscreen.,doesn't get any better than that.which this doesn't do,u can only do so much with cowon 3.5 mm very limited.not to mention remote control dock for living room surrond sound ,or remote control office dock that fully charges when u ready to make the drive home,

[Cahlito Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:18AM]

This looks pretty but I got the O2 instead.

[ducky Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:22AM]

"...that means pressing a ridiculously small 'M' button rather than just mashing a dedicated hardware control to escape whatever mess you're in."

Haha, so true... It's just a good feeling to go nuts on a back/end/esc button to get back to the top-level menu. It sucks to have to do that through a touchscreen button.

[ilh Posted Dec 29th 2008 2:16PM]

There's a hidden gem that's not in the manual or anything; hold down the play/pause button for about a second (in any part of the UI) and it takes you back to the main menu without having to try find/press the M button.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 2:41PM]

@ilh You win.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:23AM]

Video

http://cdn-ll-static.viddler.com/flash/publisher.swf?key=db2289d3

[OneLove Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:23AM]

could make a nice phone

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:23AM]

I've had mine for a week or so now, and it suits me perfectly. It's by no means a perfect player, and has many quirks, but if you took the time to compare every feature of the S9 with similar features from other players, the S9 would surpass or at least edge out in front 90% of the time. What it does, it does exceptionally well, and it does a lot, but a lot of people will probably pass it by due to the lack of WiFi/app store/intuitive and smooth UI (though the UI isn't bad, it's quick to respond and easy to use but still doesn't capture that Apple-esque quality).

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:45AM]

So if I have about $200 n want a pmp that I can dock in car,home,office with remote control,.wifi browser,ambient light sensor,accelorometer ,speaker built in,google maps true glass screen,,etc should I get cowon or touch?????I live in USA

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:51AM]

If that's what suits YOU, but that, why should I care? More importantly, why should you care about what mp3 player I have? As unless you can't read without your Apple filter blurring your vision on you may notice I wrote 'It suits ME perfectly'. Now unless you believe that the idea that everyone is different is false and that everyone is the same and has the exact same needs/wants as you, then you really should make the slight concession that what you want, isn't what everybody else wants.

[CoinOperatedBoi Posted Dec 29th 2008 2:10PM]

Shugg is just a troll and has posted pretty much the same exact crap on every post about the S9. Just ignore him/her.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:23AM]

I was really generally happy with this review. I've been considering buying one of these, or an Archos, and this review was a great one from engadget

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:29AM]

@maliyke,make sure u have a solid return policy .cuz after u figure out u just paid $200 plus for mp3 only device you'll feel jipped n might want something that has more for same amount of money not to mention not being able to dock a mp3 say to car integration or living room surround sound ,office dock with remote control blows hard .. You'll feel like you went 10years back in technology.,I've checked and there are very few reasonably priced remote control docks available,.for this .good luck

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:40AM]

I paid $290 for my 'mp3 only device' and am currently loving the fantastic sound quality from all my .FLAC albums, and even from my OGG Vorbis ones. Better then spending $315 on something that can't play any decent (none proprietary) file formats and even if it could can't manage to beat $50 Chinese knock offs for sound quality.

[Malikye Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:55AM]

@ Shugg,

thanks for the advice. sure the Touch can do all those things, but i'm sure once the s9 start becoming more popular, all those accessories will be made available. also, i read some great reviews about the sound quality of the s9 compared to the Touch. seriously, what good is an mp3 player if it can do all those things the touch can do, but yet, the sound quality isn't "up to par". if i want wi-fi, i have my WinMo phone for that. anyways, i'm sure the s9 will be great for what i plan to do with it...play mp3s and watch videos/movies.

[musicguy Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:12PM]

You forgot that this is an awesome video player also, Shugg.

This "dock" nonsense you're talking about is very silly. I would much rather have a good sound system than some overpriced dock that allows me to browse my media player on it's screen. It's not like the player doesn't have a headphone jack. Just plug it in!

[musicguy Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:39AM]

There are two versions of this device. The press shots are the chrome version. You reviewed the titanium version.

[Jeebus Posted Dec 30th 2008 8:28AM]

I'm sure the "chrome" is plastic too, though.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:59AM]

I know I'm gonna be low ranked for this but I get feeling will not do good here in USA,there is just too much competition.Sony video mp3 $79,sansa video mp3 $69,samsung ,.I mean u can get apple touch for $179 if u look hard enough a revolutionary pmp,.that everyone has used or is dieing to ,.

[SuicideUZI Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:05PM]

I do not think it will do that well in the USA either mainly due to the iPod brand. The general population in USA who are willing to spend 200ish on an mp3 player are going to want an iPod, most of them wont even know this player exists or just look at it as some generic version of the iPod touch.

[1 Posted Dec 29th 2008 1:03PM]

I think it will work fine, espescially in europe and the rest of the world. The ipod is still the biggest selling line of players, but by less of a margin. Many people have switched to phones for music playing.

[Wwhat Posted Dec 29th 2008 1:22PM]

You pay for the OLED screen and the codecs supported and the soundquality, and perhaps a lot of people will be dazzled by ipods, but over here although EVERY store sells ipods you'd have trouble finding people that actually own and use one, to many people apple's image is a bit.. not for them I have the impression, and I wonder how much the apple fanboys are responsible for that, because it's certainly something that works on me, not wanting to be 'one of those apple weirdos' conflicts with the apple image apple themselves are pushing which is more positive.

Funnily enough I have the reverse with dell, the reviews and people say their products are good, but the company (and stories about how they view customers) negates all of it, I know I know, why bring up dell? well it's a change from apple at least :)

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 1:54PM]

Dude, you commented like 5 times already pretty much saying the same thing. We get what you are saying (though just barely due to your grammar/spelling, or lack thereof). There is no reason to keep saying it.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 2:39PM]

well the USA has been heavily marketed by Apple

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 11:57AM]

cool beans this is nice

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:02PM]

just one question, when displaying images does it scale it down permanently like the iPod Touch? 'cause that drove me crazy that I had such a beautiful screen and I couldn't enjoy the pictures 'cause they got compresssed and basically had the snot kicked out of it to fit the screen...

[SuicideUZI Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:01PM]

I can live with a not so perfect but manageable UI and lack of wifi / app store in exchange for superior audio quality and codec support. Compared to my current player (iRiver H340) the UI on this will be an upgrade for me anyway, and it basically has everything else I wanted for an upgrade. Now they just need to release the 32GB version so I can buy it.

[Wwhat Posted Dec 29th 2008 2:19PM]

Indeed, good point, why doesn't it have a SD card slot? Seems deliberately annoying, I mean even if it would be $6 more expensive, it's a $200+ device and making it expandable would be a thing that pulls a good percentage of potential customers over the line.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:06PM]

This a cowon review or an ipod touch infomercial? Nasty bias.

[Sy Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:12PM]

Wow, I was right about this device without even playing one. It was so obvious in the youtube videos that UI was clunky and unpolished. And yet, people still compare it to the iPod's UI. ROFL, I told you suckers. Perhaps Cowon could hire some professional UI designers in the next go around.

[musicguy Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:17PM]

The UI is better than the video shows it to be. It was obvious that the guy holding it hadn't used it much.

Also the accelerometer didn't work he wasn't holding the s9 the right way. You can't expect it to work when it's not tilted enough. From other videos I've seen, when rotating the player, the video moves quite quickly.

[UMPCman Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:22PM]

How does this one stack up to the Spinn? They seem to be pretty direct competitors, and I was leaning to the Spinn until now.

[Flix C Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:27PM]

wider format support and better autonomy.
And design but this is my taste.

[Cakes Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:33PM]

Nice review. That screen looks JUICY. It seems like some of the quirks of my D2 are still in play for Cowan though. I despise their interface. I ran a Gen 4 iPod for 3-4 years and Apple's UI was extremely intuitive. Playlists on the Cowans take a lot more work to create. So does navigating.

I'm also surprised they dropped the mini USB I/O. What the hell were they thinking. Part of the beauty of the D2 is never having to bring a cord. I have one single cord I use for my HTC phone, my D2 and my portable HD. Proprietary = poop.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:37PM]

What r u smoking? The superior audio quality alone makes the Kowon very distinct from other competitors!

[Prestor John Posted Dec 29th 2008 12:51PM]

It's odd how others' opinions can get to you for no reason. I was thinking about this player just because of the bluetoof, sound quality, and amoled screen. But everybody keeps complaining about WIFI. So I think to myself, "they must be right, it needs the WEEFEE!"

NO it doesn't. It would be nice, but I have a blackberry bold, desktops at work and home, and a laptop. Why do I need another internet device? I want a sound device with good video capabilities!

But I've decided I don't need it yet anyway. I want it, but don't need it.

[Gad Get Posted Dec 29th 2008 8:27PM]

bluetoof?

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 2:40PM]

No AVC/H.264/MPEG4 support???? That makes it a show stopper.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 4:33PM]

Indeed. Aside from the fact it has no removable batteries and storage. I can't believe Engadget didn't mention no H.264. Absolute show-stopper for video, IMO.

Nice little royalty-saver for Cowon there.

[Flix C Posted Dec 30th 2008 7:47AM]

It's a shame but not a deal breaker ..
H.264 is really great or HD but for a compact pmp it's not really useful right now.

[kingu Posted Jan 1st 2009 8:37PM]

Buzzwords are bliss. It's a portable audio player, it will never do video right, it would have to have an external port for that, in turn making it a portable audio/video player. Do one thing, do it right. At the moment thats where we are at, the one thing being audio, and done right this makes for a good product.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 1:11PM]

"If these fall by $70 or so in the near term...."

I'm not sure you guys are appreciating the cost that goes into incorporating a high PPI 16 million color OLED display into the product. The manufacturing cost is far, far higher than a comparable LCD display. Combine that with the fact that in order to get better than average sound quality you have to use better than average parts (OPAMPS, input, power and reservoir capacitors, DACs, ect.) and it all adds up to higher manufacturing cost. I thought the S9 was VERY fairly priced considering the performance. Cowon is targeting buyers seeking this performance over mainstream offerings so nothing seems amiss with the pricing here IMO.

[Gad Get Posted Dec 29th 2008 8:40PM]

Yeah, I thought it was pretty ridiculous that they complained about the price. It is, after all, less expensive than the iPod Touch, and that's with the AMOLED touchscreen and spectacular sound quality, which the iPod Touch obviously doesn't have. I won't get into the Wi-Fi/App Store debate, because for Cowon's target group, that stuff is unimportant next to the need for top-quality audio and video performance. And may I also mention that the S9 includes Flash support.

[mattrix Posted Dec 29th 2008 5:00PM]

Still using my trusty white 40gb A2 and both my kids are happily using their D2's with 16gb sdhc cards plus 8gb on board. Nothing like having 40 movies on your kid's pmp with a 6 hour battery life, screw portable dvd players

[T Chunks Posted Dec 29th 2008 1:12PM]

Im holding out for the 32gb to be released (should be around Feb/ March) and to see what Sony bring to the table at CES. I own a NWZ A818 at the mo and love the sound quality. Exactly the reason I would buy the Sony or Cowon next time. Most of their lives are spent in pockets so Im not too bothered how bling the GUI is. I just want to know that the sound is good. Video quality is an added bonus.

[(Unverified) Posted Dec 29th 2008 2:22PM]

Good luck with that $360 mp3 purchase

[ilh Posted Dec 29th 2008 2:43PM]

Exactly why I wouldn't buy a touchscreen only device, however the buttons on this in conjunction make it superior to the iTouch for navigation imo. Don't have to take it out of my pocket to change tracks and the hold switch can be set to only hold the touchscreen if you want, so it's perfect for in pocket use.
Even still, the UI isn't as bad as this review makes out and coupled with the fact that there's already custom UIs being released for it (I personally have a custom main menu screen on mine making full use of the screen space) and Cowon seemingly committed to firmware upgrades, I don't see the UI being a "problem" for too much longer.