Cowon J3 ships to America, we go hands-on
By Darren Murph 
posted May 11th 2010 4:25PM
posted May 11th 2010 4:25PM
As with every other Cowon player we've ever laid ears on, the audio quality out of this one was second to none; if you're a self-proclaimed audiophile, yet can't exactly accommodate your Marantz KI Pearl on the subway, this is about as good as it gets. The video player was similarly impressive, loading up clips with minimal fuss, and showing no lag whatsoever during playback. Unfortunately, for all the things this gorgeous unit does right, the only spec that matters to some is wrong: pricing. We hate to point out the obvious, but an 8GB iPod touch is also just $199, and unlike the J3, Apple's alternative can surf the web over WiFi and bring you face to face with 100,000 (or so) apps. From a value proposition standpoint, there's simply no comparison. 'Course, the J3 may still stand out if you're all about audio quality (and nothing else), but we've yet to actually meet someone who didn't care at least a smidgen about the extras. Vote with your wallet, as they say.
very zuneish
@bob e I was going to mention that as well. It's probably just the silver and 16:9.
@bob e Not a bad piece of kit!
@bob e
Very sexy, except with a little bit more bezel.
@Darren
How's the battery life like?
@bob e - 11hrs of video and 64 hrs of audio... beat that Zune !!!
@werty1432k
No not a bad piece of kit but also as a media player my HTC HD2 has proved to be better than my pal's Cowon (and more versatile too after a couple of downloads from XDA devs and some other shady places).
My other telephone , a newer HTC Desire is only slightly worse as a video/movie player, equal as pic player (after some add ons) and once you have installed a free music player called " 3 " from Android market, just about equal as a music player.
PSP are dead , the future belongs to smartphones and/or maybe to hibryd gizmos like the Dell 5 incher tablet (with 3g connectivity) which I look so much forward to buy,
@Plexus That maybe be the case for you, but for Audiophiles and music lovers Cowon's system offers more. It is the best sounding device I have ever heard (going from my Cowon S9). People who buy Cowon products buy it for this sole reason, that music sounds alot better.
its not just about music these days...... i guess some people might like this.
@deliteguy On the contrary, I hate having 3 different devices that can surf the internet, play music, videos, make calls in some form, play games and tell the time. I want to go back to the days of a watch, a wallet and a pager.
That's a lie. i've never used a pager in my life. That said, my phone plays music just fine (HTC Magic) but a dedicated player is something i'd like to accompany it. iPods aren't my thing, and Zune's driver issues weren't either. Everything else is ugly, tiny little 6 month lifetime players, and this looks just up my alley. I think I'll get one. Assuming they're coming to Canada in some form.
@Auouywonz
same here. I like the 64 hr battery, amoled screen, SD card, and most of all the huge variety of supported audio and video formats.
Now I just want to see the 32GB version come to market.
Unless it's coming to the US, I don't really care. My mind is still set for the HTC EVO 4G preview. Just wet my pants a lil thinking about it
@Chi
LOL...where do I start with what's wrong with this comment!
@Chi
Evo - Phone
J3 - PMP
How is this at all related?
@Chi There's an app for that. And by app, I mean appliance. Ostomy appliance.
@kickerbockeragua
I can't help it. The EVO at this point is like sex. I think about it every 7 seconds.
@Chi
Not reading the article is one thing but not even reading the headline is plain LAAAAAZYYY!!!
@Chi
I know a kid named anthony chi!
@omhhey
Chi is my first name. I do wish my last name was "Chi". Only makes sense cause people already call me Tai Chi. WTF
@Chi
You lose this thread, but win my heart.
Manual looks thicker than the device... but how many languages?
"we've yet to actually meet someone who didn't care at least a smidgen about the extras."
I don't. Because, you know, like you said in the part of the sentence preceding this one, some people buy music players just for the music.
Darren, meet kickerbockeragua!
@kickerbockeragua
You're old school, man
If you can't surf the net, and don't have WiFi, and don't have any apps - the Zune has this beat.
But the ability to add a microSD card to expand capacity? Damn. That beats the 15 or so total apps that are currently available for the ZuneHD (which I own by the way and love) - but will the Zune HD be compatible with any apps forthcoming for the Windows 7 Phone?
@kstagg Not 3D games, but undoubtedly we will be getting some games as well. Open ZDK has Doom ported to the Zune though. Zune HD isn't done.
Flash, hmm. I wonder how well that works.
question is, how much did the ipod touch cost when it came out? :)
id prefer the awesome sound anyway, im an audiophile all over :P
android can cover my apps :)
HP should buy Cowon, slap the new HP Web OS on them and make the most beautiful phones.
Super sexy, wish it was a phone.
@Plazmic Flame I wish it was a time machine, or an adorable but super-smart baby.
if you just want a good looking player with superb audio quality and without itunes you will buy this and not some iThing.
hate to say this but sound quality on the ipods (especially the hdd ones) isn't top notch (i own one because my car has a pretty decent ipod integration feature)
@Xstream Yeah Cowon have some legendary sound quality when paired with high-end earphones. I just wish they'd max out the memory so that people with >64GB libraries could play too.... Until then it's sadly a two horse race (iPod/Zune HDD).
@Xstream
I loved my Sony players, however my biggest issue with them was the lack of format support. Almost all of my library is in FLAC, so I would need to convert all of my music to just listen. If Sony could expand their format support, I would most likely go back to their players.
No aac support=failed.
I'd get it for the sole fact that it has a good sq, and microsd card slot. SQ was a big part of the reason why I got the Cowon A2 over, the Archos AV500 and the iPod Photo at the time.
Forgot to mention, I am still personally waiting for Sony to bring over their 64gb Walkman line of mp3 players over from Asia as I prefer my music player to have no touch screen and dedicated buttons, while still having good SQ. Don't get me wrong I love the touch screen on my Eris, but on a dedicated music player in my mind nothing beats actual hardware buttons.
@Patlex
Totally with you on the buttons. That, plus the fact that Cowon's DAPs players do what they're supposed to do really well (i.e., play music), is the reason I've been watching this player since it first appeared on Cowon's Korean site.
Ugh, proprietary port.
No iTunes support is the real fail
iTunes = fail. I prefer to purchase my own CDs and rip them into the audio format I want, with the quality I choose.
@markolic
You sir have had too much Apple-sauce. Do you even remember what life was like before iTunes?
@Patlex
Yeah?? I do that on Itunes as well. Brilliant.
@suicidebob
To FLAC lossless or Ogg Vorbis? Otherwise, you're using trash formats. Ogg Vorbis is considered one of the best for quality. AAC is close, though. WMA is fine, and MP3 is trash.
@SpacedOut MP3 is trash if you have the quality lower than 192kb/s.
Well here I am, I don't give one rats ass about all the extras. There, now you've met someone. I own an s9 because of the great sound, the great AMOLED screen with gorilla glass display, and because I want a PMP to be JUST a PMP.
Don't force your assumptions onto others.
@hated one
You can't even spell COWON right. The only failure here is you.
I hope the next Cowon Mp3 player will have Wifi and Android on it!
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/2010/04/cowon-d3-to-run-on-android.php
"and showing now lag whatsoever"
typo?
hours spent listening to music - thousands
hours spent using apps - maybe 10 tops
It is quite a pretty little thing isn't it?