The Cowon S9 Reviewed

Gadgets, MP3 Players — By Ricky on August 24, 2009 at 5:25 am

Here is a company that would give most Mp3 manufacturers a run for their money .With the launch of their latest offering, the S9, Cowon has promised the ‘Ultimate Multimedia Performance’. Cowon have targeted that sect of people who are adamant about sound quality & battery life. Lets take a closer look at the brand new S9 & see if it lives up to all the hype.

The Cowon S9 Reviewed The S9 is a sleek and curvaceous looking device that can draw attention like no other. It is very sexy with all the metallic finishing & can certainly set tongues wagging of any electronic enthusiast. When you first get your hands on a S9, you will be surprised by its sheer weight, a meager 77grams. But this surprise is short lived as you run your fingers down the sides and notice that the supposedly chrome surfaces are made of plastic (maybe that’s how they saved weight). The design is definitely great but is it sturdy?

I surely don’t think so. It seemed very delicate with all the plastic bits covering it.

Anyway, moving on to the display unit, the S9 is equipped with a 3.3inch AMOLED screen which is one of its best assets. The powerful codecs optimizes its 480 x 272 resolution for bringing life- like images. It’s a very pretty site & brings out the kid inside you that makes you go ‘WOW!!!’. With its 16million vibrant colours, seeing definitely believes. Videos are vivid and pictures are sharp and bright.

Next up, we have the user interface, which is decent. The bold icons just grab your attention. Navigation is not an issue & can customization will keep most users busy.

However there was a lag when flipping the screen to another angle. It also has an equalizer on the now playing screen which is a good thing.

The Audio/Video performance of the S9 is outstanding. The bass lines are quite distinct and smooth while the trebles are crisp without being piercing. The S9 also supports Bluetooth headsets superbly. On the video side, as previously mentioned, has an AMOLED screen which is brilliant, need I say more.

The battery life of the S9 was designed to last a lifetime. At least that’s what its designers must have had in mind. On a single charge the S9 can live up to 2+ days. You’ve simply got to appreciate that.

To sum things up, we have a great player which has a huge list of features and impeccable sound quality but would we go out & ourselves one of these right now? No, and I’ve got a good reason too.

Although the design is simply fantastic and it gives most players a complex, the S9 is priced at $199.99 for 8 GB and $ 239.99 for 16 GB. I’d say lets wait for the prices to slip by $70- $80 or wait for an updated version of the S9 where the UI can be revamped and its storage capacity increased. If that’s done, the S9 would make a very good all-rounder.