Home > Consumer Reviews > Cowon S9 16 GB Video MP3 Player with Touchscreen (Chrome/Black)

...if you're checking out this page and reading this review, you're already familiar with the Cowon S9 on a basic level. Chances are, you already know about the features that are available on this little gem, so I don't have to mention the broad file format support, top notch audio and video quality, and stunningly gorgeous OLED screen.

Chances are, you're familiar with all of this, but you've read one too many unfavorable comparisons to the iPod touch, and you're nervous about the interface - just like I was a week ago, before I took the dive.

Well, I'm happy to say, there's no need to fear. The Cowon S9 delivers a touchscreen based interface that, while not quite as simple as the iPod, is both intuitive and packed with features. The capacitative touchscreen is incredibly responsive, and it must be said, easily the most gorgeous screen on the market. Best of all, the Cowon S9's UCI is completely customizable. Users who are familiar with Flash can even write their own UCI to use on the player, and for the rest of us, there's a large and dedicated community of Cowon fans who have already turned out some great work. I recommend checking out the forums at www.iaudiophile.net - the user base is friendly, knowledgeable, and more than willing to help you get the most out of this PMP.

What else needs to be said? If you're looking for the best sound, the best video, the best screen, the most flexible interface, you've found it.

The sound quality of this device is better than any mp3 player I've ever used before. Even with no equalizer changes the sound quality is better than most mp3 players out there.
But using a preset equalizer setting (BBE) I can notice a huge change in the sound quality of this device, the sound becomes clearer and warmer.

The user interface can be changed for a custom interface created by yourself or other users. I've been using a custom interface that really shows off the AMOLED screen.

The screen is incredible, I've compared it to that of the Ipod touch's screen and the Ipod doesn't even come close to the beauty of this screen.

As expected the screen is a fingerprint magnet, but you can clean it off with your shirt of a microfiber cloth. A screen protector is not needed unless you want to be extremely protective of the device, the Corning Gorilla glass on the screen that is used is scratch resistant, but a screen protector would help with fingerprints.

The biggest downside I had with this mp3 player was that it did not support Audible's audio format, but a few days ago a new firmware with Audible support was released.

Pros:
-Sound Quality is the best I've heard personally from a portable music player.
-incredible battery life 11 hr video 55hr music.
-The video quality from the AMOLED screen is amazing.
-Strong but very light.
-CORNING GORILLA GLASS covers the screen, not plastic. Incredibly strong

Cons:
-Default user interface is poor in places (coverflow, but that can be disabled now) and good in others. However, there are many user interfaces being made by owners and designers already, so they can be changed.

The Cowon S9 is a very good media player with a few minor issues. Here's my summary:

Physical Design - It's nice and sleek, fits well in your hand, and is light weight. The body is plastic, but it seems solid enough to me.

AMOLED Display - Just fantastic - blows anything less out of the water. I am an amateur photographer and my pictures look like high quality prints on the S9. Videos also look great.

Audio Playback - As others have said, great audio quality, and open standards support. It also supports the audible.com format, which was important to me.

Video Playback - Excellent. The video conversion software can convert most formats, except for it appears to me HD.

FM Radio - Good, seems to work better than the D2, although this is not a big feature for me.

Battery Life - never had it run out - seems long enough for almost any purpose. One thing to note is that the unit must be returned to Cowon to replace the battery, when that becomes necessary.

Firmware - The firmware that came with my S9 was a little disappointing - but I upgraded and now it's pretty good. Cowon appears to be improving the firmware all the time. If you buy, upgrade and check the site frequently for updates.

Usability - Good, but not great (with 2.30 or higher firmware). It would be nice if it were a bit more responsive, but you get used to the occasional pauses.

Flash Player - Not a strong point. The player is slow and can only play simple flash programs, and I've had it lock-up for some files and had to reset it. There are folks on the net who have tested and listed flash files that work with the S9.

Non-standard USB cable - Agreed this is annoying - just don't lose the cable.

Overall its an excellent unit, and Cowon appears committed to improving it with frequent firmware updates.

I really enjoy listening to music, my previous player was the Palm TX using Pocket Tunes software this was good for the last two year. But, after upgrading my wife to the Coby 8g mp3 player and listening to my son ipod Touch. It was time for daddy to get his groove back!

I own a great set of high-end speakers "the Paradigm Monitor system". So for me it's all about the sound quality,that being said my mp3 player must also have high-end audio and video sounds. The Cowon S9 really, really shine as a music and video player the sounds coming from the player are high-end. No matter what's your music taste the Cowon S9 GOT YOU COVERED!

Having high-end audio sound is the best way to enjoy music. My friends, after listening to my player called me a walking stereo. So here's my recommendation buy the Cowon S9 player and the Grado Labs SR 60 headphone, and like myself you will be in music heaven!!!

Go PHILLIES, beat those Yankees