Cowon iAudio U5 2 GB

Cowon has a reputation for audio quality. The iAudio U5 is no exception, being designed exclusively for music.

Ergonomics, design and bundle

The U5 has very nice packaging. Cowon has been working hard on this for a while and they're coming up with some nice presentations. Unfortunately the player itself doesn't match up and frankly doesn't look up to much. It is well finished, well above the average, but all the same! You'll probably have noticed on the product photo, they don't seem to have done much in terms of design, tending rather to clone the iPod Nano, 2G era. The bundle too only includes a USB cable, a pair of speakers and a manual
It's annoying too to have a proprietary connection. Cowon has usually done better than this. Fortunately, the U5 is a UMS player. You can simply transfer files by copying and pasting. You can use it as a USB key and it is Mac and Linux compatible. The headphones are the same as on any other Cowon player. When are decent headphones going to be supplied with decent players?

Browsing is pretty well done, with a well conceived file browser. You have the usual four menus: Playback, Radio, Recording and Settings. You browse folders and files, mp3 tags only used on playback. The microphone works ok but gives nothing special, something that's pretty common. As always with Cowon players, there are numerous settings. The audio section is full of the usual JetEffect and so on.
A good idea, the headphone socket is on the bottom of the player rather than on the side. A good thing for headphones with straight connectors. Stated continuous playing time of 24 hours. It lasted 21h, which is ok

Audio

The U5 is an audio player, above everything. Better be good then! We get the usual balanced, clear deep Cowon sound, with a warm bass sound without oversaturation. The headphone socket is clean though we have heard better. Although good, the sound doesn't quite measure up to the tiny Sandisk Clip which is cleaner and had better definition. The Cowon equaliser and effects, still just as effective on mp3s, are what really mark this player out. Once activated, with the right settings, the sound gains in resolution and spacialization. Don't forget to update your player to get the most out of it.

Overall, this little Cowon player is a success though not particularly attractive. The design has been seen before and the materials used are so obviously plastic. We have seen better from the Korean manufacturer. Music lovers will be happy however with the high quality audio.