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CNET editors' rating:
4.0
stars
Excellent
Detailed editors' rating - Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 9 reviews
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Product summary
CNET Editors' ChoiceJul 07
The
good: The Cowon iAudio 7 is one of the most versatile MP3 players available. It plays music, video, and photos; has unbeatable sound quality; records line-in, voice, and FM; supports OGG and FLAC file formats, plus DRM-protected WMA; works in MTP and MSC connection modes for use on both Mac and PC; and has an unmatched rechargeable battery life.
The
bad: As tiny as the iAudio 7 is, it's still about three times the width of an iPod Nano. The reflective, glossy plastic found on the front and back of the player is prone to smudges and glare. There's a learning curve to the Swing Touch interface, and we would like to have seen support for Audible audiobooks, as well as a memory expansion slot.
The
bottom
line: The Cowon iAudio 7 beats the industry heavyweight iPod Nano in price, features, battery life, and sound quality. The user interface could use some refinement, but all-in-all this is a very impressive MP3 player.
Specifications: Device type: Digital player / radio ; Flash memory installed: 4 GB ; Digital player supported digital audio standards: WMA , FLAC , ASF , WAV , Ogg Vorbis , MPEG 1 Audio , MPEG 2.5 Audio , MPEG 2 Audio , MP3 ; ; See full specs
Price range: $74.99 - $90.54
CNET editors' review
- Reviewed on: 07/19/2007
- Updated on: 08/15/2007
Editor's note: Although CNET's battery drain tests revealed that the iAudio 7 is unlikely to meet its claim of 60 hours of continuous music playback during realistic conditions, we still feel it is an excellent player worthy of the Editors' Choice distinction.
While the Cowon iAudio 7 is cosmetically indistinguishable from its previous life as the iAudio 6, it still proves to be a significant upgrade. Under the hood, the 4GB microdrive technology found in the iAudio 6 has been transplanted with up to 8GB of faster, leaner flash memory and an improved battery life. We still feel that Cowon's Swing Touch interface takes some acclimation, but with the 4GB player selling for $170 and the 8GB selling for $220, the iAudio 7 is one of Cowon's most competitively priced and full-featured MP3 players to date.
Design
When we heard that the latest iAudio player would toss out the microdrive in favor of flash memory, we presumed the result would be a slimmer player. Thus, it was a bit of a letdown to find that the iAudio's dimensions went unchanged. Granted, the iAudio 6 was small to begin with, but it's certainly not as slim as the iPod Nano. Side-by-side, the iAudio 6 and iAudio 7 are indistinguishable aside from the iAudio 7's screen being slightly offset and the back cover changing from a matte to a glossy plastic. The good news is that by resisting the temptation to go skinnier, Cowon was able to fit a higher-capacity battery into the iAudio 7.
One of the most notable design elements on the iAudio 7 is Cowon's unique Swing Touch user interface. While we admit it does take some getting used to, the iAudio interface is an effective and novel way to quickly navigate through files. The diagonal bar can be used to scroll through lists in three ways: swiping your finger up or down, holding down one corner, or just tapping a corner. The Record and Play buttons on each side of the scroll strip also serve to take you in and out of file directories.
Features
Cowon players are seldom light on features, and the iAudio 7 is no exception. Cowon packed this little dynamo with an audio player, a video player, a photo viewer, an FM radio, a line-input recorder, a voice recorder, a radio recorder, and even a text reader. With support for an exhaustive array of file formats, including MP3, WMA, OGG, FLAC, and WAV, the iAudio 7's music player is really the crown jewel of this device, especially given its exceptional sound quality (see Performance). While support for purchased and subscription WMA is great, we wish we could have seen format support for Audible.com audiobooks.
Using the included Cowon Media Center software, adding and optimizing photos and videos for the iAudio 7 is mostly painless. We quickly converted AVI, MPEG, and XVID movies for playback on the iAudio 7's small screen without any audio or visual artifacts. You also have the option of adding cover artwork for your music, which displays as a background image during music playback.
The Cowon iAudio 7 has an exhaustive array of customization settings that make it a gadget-tweaker's delight. Beyond the adjustable 5-band EQ, users can also enhance the player's sound by adjusting BBE settings to add clarity, Mach3Bass settings for low end, MP Enhance to compensate for harmonics lost in music compression, and 3D Surround to improve stereo separation. Users with hearing loss will appreciate the iAudio 7's panning control for balancing the volume from one ear to the other.
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User reviews
- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 9 reviews
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Where to buy
Cowon iAudio 7 (4GB, silver):
$74.99 - $90.54
| store | price | in stock? | rating |
|---|---|---|---|
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$90.54 | Yes |
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$74.99 | Yes |
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