COWON iAudio X5 20GB Portable Media Player

Reviews: Multimedia

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Nicholas Hart
Kurtis
COWON
Sep. 5, 2005

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Features & Testing, Continued...

Battery Life

I waited for a few weeks before performing a battery test because I wanted to give it some break in time with a few charge/discharge cycles. With straight audio playback, volume at 19, and default display timings (backlight off at 5 seconds, LCD off after 15 seconds) the player ran for 11 hours. That's a fair amount of time but not quite the claimed 14hours on the box. I still think 11 hours is an acceptable amount of time especially since the battery is built in and rechargeable, saving you the expense of purchasing your own. (Kurtis' Note: Although you could also argue that it would be more convenient if it used AA batteries, allowing you to replace them when they die. Then you could use rechargeable AA batteries and if, for example, you're on a flight to Japan, you could swap batteries mid-flight if needed.)

I tried performing a video only battery life test but ran into a bit of a roadblock. There is no way to loop a video, or even a playlist of videos. I even read the manual and couldn't find a way to loop a single or multiple clips. That's kind of disappointing as it shoots my "made for music videos' theory out the water. If you have one music file and one video file, the music file will play but when it gets the movie file, the player displays the title information and sits in a stopped state. I would expect it to transition seamlessly from video to audio and vice versa. Hey COWON!!! Add that one to the next firmware release!

Music Playback

You didn't think I would forget about music tests did you? I would venture to guess that 90% of the use that a X5 player is going to get is in the form of straight MP3 goodness. The X5 accompanied me to work on multiple occasions and after many hours of listening I'm happy to report that the audio quality from this player definitely meets the standard that other iAudio players have set. Of all the players I've listened to, which IS more than the few I've reviewed for TTL, iAudio players have the best sound quality.

Sometimes music causes you to get a bit of the shivers but a lot of players and headphone combinations can't translate that effect as well as a full-size sound system. The X5 with the bundled Cresyn earbuds are capable of transferring those sensations. I wish I had a pair of really quality, and probably expensive, headphones to see just how capable this little player really is. But with the bundled headphones and my Sony over-the-ear headphones, it already does an excellent job.

Software

COWON included their JetAudio and JetShell software with the X5. These are the same programs that are included with the M3 and U2 players and haven't changed much. The only discernable difference is the video conversion plug-in that comes with JetAudio for, ummm, converting videos!.and stuff! JetAudio is mainly a media player for movies and audio and does so well but being setup with my own apps for these tasks already, I don't feel any need to switch. JetShell is used to transfer files from your PC to the X5 but it doesn't offer much more than a Windows Explorer interface. I found myself just dragging and dropping like I would to any other folder rather than using JetShell.

You'll probably find yourself using the video converter plug-in for JetAudio but you could even get along without that if you have a DivX/XviD encoder and are familiar with how to use it. You can copy the encoding settings from the conversion utility and the X5 will play them just fine.

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Page 5 of 6

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Page 1: Introduction
Page 2: First Looks
Page 3: Features & Testing (Display, Video and Photo Playback, Interface)
Page 4: Features & Testing (USB Host, FM Radio, Voice and Line-In Recording)
Page 5: Features & Testing (Battery Life, Music Playback, Software)
Page 6: Conclusion

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10 User Comments

1 - Posted by rickalamo02 on October 13, 2005 - 12:00 pm

Do you know or have you heard about how easy it will be to replace the Li-on battery? What is the expected lifetime? 2-3 years? How much will it cost, or will the company have to replace the device?

2 - Posted by Kurtis on October 13, 2005 - 12:15 pm

I honestly don't know. I haven't heard of any issues about battery life with the X5 though. I take it that you are worried the X5 will turn into an iPod? :-D

3 - Posted by rickalamo02 on October 14, 2005 - 11:44 am

Not sure what you mean by the X5 turning into an ipod, can you explain? I currently own a iRiver Ifp-799t model, and for some reason or another it won't power on anymore. I had to send it back to iRiver and they are in the process of replacing it. I like the features that the iRiver devices have such as MP3, voice recorder, FM Rado, In-line recording etc., yet for the model I have you need to have the iRiver dedicated software loaded onto your PC in order to transfer files.

I came across the X5 from search engine, I was impress with all of the features and then decided to look some reviews and thankfully yours was pretty good.

Can you confirm for me if the X5 does not require software loaded onto a pc in order to transfer files to and from it? Can it also be used as mini usb drive?

When I do research on a device or anything, I try to get all of the Pros and Cons with it before buying. I think for me the worry is having the battery go bad, and is it expensive to replace, or will the company just say where are going to replace the whole thing. If it ever comes to that then, I hope I will have my music or info backed up to recover quickly. Sorry for rambling, but thanks for any info you can give on this device, I'm seriously considering buying this.

4 - Posted by Brian on October 14, 2005 - 11:58 am

There was a big problem with Apple, where they were charging around the price of a brand new iPod just to replace the battery. That is what he was referring to.

5 - Posted by Nick on October 14, 2005 - 12:02 pm

There is no easily accessible battery compartment, only screws. I don't recall the manual mentioning battery replacement, the iAudio website (cowonamerica.com) doesn't mention battery replacement and their online store doesn't sell a battery for the X5. That tells me that its off to the factory if the battery has problems. Unfortunately I don't have an extended amount of time with the player so can't comment on battery lifetime.

As far as needing software to transfer files, I know that for XP and 2k you shouldn't even need a driver. On my systems at home and work, I just plugged the player in and could immediately copy files. The X5 uses a folder hierarchy and you can copy files anywhere you like, although it is best to use the folder structure and put music files in the music folder for example. So yes, you can use it as a flash drive and I certainly did that on a few occasions while I had it.

6 - Posted by rickalamo02 on October 17, 2005 - 11:29 am

I have another question. When recording from the radio, voice or In-line, does the X5 convert the recording automatically to MP3 format or do you record the file first, and then go to the X5 software package to convert the file to MP3?

7 - Posted by Kurtis on October 17, 2005 - 12:59 pm

it automatically converts it, you don't have to do anything in software.

8 - Posted by rickalamo02 on October 25, 2005 - 10:05 am

Does the iAudio X5 allow you to upload copyrighted music files or copy protect music files to a PC? I know recently that IriverAmerica is adjusting their devices due to copyright guidelines, MP3 / WMA files cannot be uploaded to a PC.

9 - Posted by Nick on October 25, 2005 - 12:18 pm

Im not sure I understand the question. So ill just spew a little :0

The X5 does not support the 'plays for sure' standard (if its really a standard) so it may not work with music purchase sites that use DRM protection.

If you're asking if you can copy mp3s from the player to the PC, the answer is yes. You can copy anything from the player to the PC. However, if that music file has DRM protection, it may not play on the PC. This is a limitation of the file itself, not the player.

10 - Posted by rickalamo02 on October 25, 2005 - 12:33 pm

I believe you answered my question. Basically what I asking is this: Does the iAudio allow you to upload MP3 files whether they are copyrighted or not to a PC? I believe that your answer was yes. Next, I was stating a comment that I had saw and experience with iRiver. Because of copyright laws they are no longer allowing you to upload copyrighted mp3(protected) files to a pc, which they had at one time. I'm wondering in the future will other or all mp3 players be affected by copyright laws to hinder users from copying or sharing music.

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