Looking for the perfect gadget that has everything you need and still looks sleek and smooth?
Read this review if:
- Great sound for high-quality music playback that will put you in awe.
- You are looking for vivid and clear video that just brightens up your day.
- You are tired of stereotypical media players that don’t get the job done.
Then read on for our comprehensive review on the Cowon J3 MP3 player to find out if this player has what it takes to satisfy your needs.
Developed by Award winning Korean company Cowon Systems, Inc., we’ll take a look if the Cowon J3 mp3 player is one that is capable of serving all your portable media needs.
Cowon J3 is produced and distributed in three memory capacities: 8gb, 16gb, and 32gb sizes. Although they differ in size and capacity, each model is feature-packed, sturdy and durable, and has an unbelievably long battery life.
The Cowon J3 is the latest media player developed by Cowon Systems, Inc. The J3 is their top of the line product, the development of which aimed only to perfect the previous models, by correcting the few bugs and design flaws that were found in its predecessors.
==>Click HERE to find out more on Cowon J3<==
Being the immediate successor to the Cowon S9 mp3 player, the Cowon J3 has already tackled the former’s major flaws, such as the absence of a quality built-in speaker, and the touch screen, which was responsive, but just not enough so for veterans gadget-wise, just to name a few.
What’s so great about the Cowon J3?
The Cowon J3 boasts more than just a sleek design, a user-friendly interface, and an almost featherweight body.
It is a very innovative product, with lots of new features, as well as some age-old features that are just worth keeping.
Cowon J3 Features and What They Mean To You:
- Music, Video, and Picture playback
- Built-in speakers
- Longer battery life
- Highest quality sound output/input with Jet Effect EQ engine
- 8gb, 16gb, and 32g memory sizes, plus MicroSD memory options
- Bluetooth support
- Slim, sleek, and light body
- FM Radio
- Voice Recorder
16 million color 3.3in AMOLED
The vivid and ultra-fine quality given by the 16 million color Active matrix Organic light emitting diode display.
You can enjoy your videos and pictures in silver-screen-like high definition and resolution. Beauty, clarity and quality are what you get out of the screen.
More than just a regular MP3 player, the Cowon J3 can play all kinds of media files such as music (MP3, APE, FLAC, WMA, EGG, WAV), image (JPG, no limits) and video (NTSC, PAL), which is more than any other top-end media player on the market today.
Not even Microsoft’s critically acclaimed Zune or Apple’s viral iPod Touch could match the Cowon J3’s media versatility.
Sensitive and Highly responsive touch screen
An improvement on the Cowon S9, the Cowon J3 now has upgraded touch sensors to give you a better and more responsive touch screen experience. No need for you to wait.
When you want to share the sound, go for it. The built-in speakers offer exquisite, if not unmatched, sound quality.
A big step from the previous models, the speaker is one of the new features found only in the Cowon J3.
64 hours of music playback, and 11 hours of video playback, or a whopping 350 hours in sleep mode, the Cowon J3 will outlast even you at the end of the week.
You can use it all day every day and it’ll still be ever ready to serve you whenever you need it.
New and revolutionary from Jet Audio, the Jet Effect 3.0 EQ engine gives the BEST sound options on the market today.
With BBE+ and 39 presets, the sound you will be getting from the Cowon J3 will surely blow your mind.
The Cowon J3 comes in these three memory sizes, but if you are running out of room, there’s no need to fret.
Built-in MicroSD card slots can give you more space when you think that even the incredible size of 32GB isn’t enough. MicroSD cards can also be used to organize your files, and keep backups of the things you want to keep forever.
Whether you’re with at home, or work, or on go, Bluetooth is always a useful feature, and Cowon J3 supports this.
Lighter and slimmer than most other portable touch screen media players, the Cowon J3 still looks sleek and smooth and comes in either black or white casing.
You can tune in to your favorite stations, and just let the great sound quality carry you away.
Mental notes? Written notes? No need for those. Quick access to the voice recorder, backed by the highly sensitive microphone and smart noise filtering offered by the Cowon J3, allows you to make voice notes whenever, wherever you are.
What’s NOT so great about the Cowon J3?
Although Cowon Systems, Inc. fixed many of the issues found in the Cowon J3’s predecessors, it does not fix them all. And although it is not perfect, it does come pretty close.
A few Cowon J3 reviews stated the problems, although minimal, that many users found while using the J3.
- Minimal App support
- Pricey – starting at $180 (8GB)
- Minor sound problems
- Confusing and, in a way, hard-to-use user interface
Yes, it’s true. The Cowon J3 doesn’t have the wide array of built-in and/or downloadable apps that many other media players, including the iPod Touch have.
No games, no fun apps, no cool programs, none of that. But if you wanted apps, you should have gotten a smart phone.
The Cowon J3 is a media player, and it does a great job being what it is.
Although you really are getting your money’s worth, at $180, is a pretty price to pay.
But get this. While it costs less than the iPod touch (which is priced at $229 for the 8GB model), many professionally written and end-user Cowon J3 reviews still put the Cowon J3 as the better mp3 player, and not just because of it’s lower price.
It is all about the MUSIC. Great sounding music, that is.
Bass and other sound effects problems were found in a few models by a few acute-sensed people. The problems were very minor and the sound quality was still better than many others.
The interface is, at first, confusing and hard-to-use. That much is true, but once you get used to the controls, you will find that the interface actually speeds up the way you navigate through the J3’s features.
It makes you feel like you are in control.
Technical Specifications:
- Weight: 76 grams
- Depth: 9.9 mm
- Height by Width: 106.5 mm x 56 mm
Lighter than most other portable touch screen media players, the Cowon J3 might make some users less secure about the products durability, but rest assured, the J3 is a very resistant and reliable gadget.
It’s like having a pocket of air in the palm of your hands.
Slim and sleek has been the way to go since the tech gadget revolution in the early 2000’s.
Cowon is not only living up to the standards, but it’s actually setting the bar for other media players. At an ultra thin 9.9 mm depth, the Cowon J3 DEFINES slim and sleek.
Elegant yet practical, the size of the Cowon J3 is both compact yet seemingly uncondensed. The perfect blend of height and width. Not too long, and not too stout. Just right.
Cowon J3 vs. Other Portable Touch Screen Media Players:
VS. The Apple iPod touch
One of the leaders in the global market for portable touch screen media players, the iPod touch has it all.
Hundreds, if not thousands of apps. Memory sizes in 8gb, 32gb, and 64gb. Quick access to movies and music with the award-winning iTunes store.
But it has a less than decent battery life of 40 hours maximum of music playback, and a truly disappointing 7 hours max of video playback.
Sound and video quality on the iPod touch are both great, but the Cowon J3 has this player beat when it comes to sound quality.
With better sound and longer battery life at 64 hrs. music playback and 11 hrs. video playback, with an astonishing 350 hrs. in sleep mode, if you are looking for a media player that can play great tunes, and last longer than you can, the Cowon J3 the player for you.
VS. The Microsoft Zune HD
Microsoft took the world by storm when they released the first Zune in 2006.
Zune was to be Microsoft’s contender against the virtual monopoly held by Apple on portable media players with the global iPod phenomenon.
Microsoft’s Zune HD was released in 2008, and is today a top seller in the media player market, matched only by Apple’s iPod Touch. Yes, it’s got games, apps, HD radio, a high-res OLED display, movie rentals and music subscription.
But no, it doesn’t have video format support as good as the Cowon J3. And no, it doesn’t come close to the sound quality.
So if you want great sound and vivid graphics and great video support in a media player, go with the Cowon J3. Really, it isn’t rocket science.
VS. The Cowon S9
The Cowon J3, as mentioned before, aimed at perfecting the Cowon S9, which was already an award-winning product.
The flaws found in the S9 were quickly extinguished in the development of the J3.
Though much of the framework, software, etc., are similar and mildly changed, there is no doubt that Cowon’s J3 mp3 player will serve you better than the S9. The J3’s the latest in the line.
- VS. Android 2.1 4G Mp4 Player V5
One of the most widely used portable gadget operating systems used today would be Google’s Android.
It has a wide variety of apps, backed by thousands of coders and programmers as an open-source program (most Google programs are), and, being an internet based OS, easy navigation and almost completely designed like a web browser.
But once again, it barely scratches the surface of the Cowon J3 when it comes to the actual media playing.
Sure, it’s got decent enough sound and video quality, high res and high def, quick response touch screen, but the Cowon J3 remains unmatched in the area which really matters in a music player, and that’s sound quality.
Final Verdict:
When it comes to playing music and video, the Cowon J3 does not disappoint. You will definitely be getting your money’s worth by buying the Cowon J3 at $180, which for some people, is a bargain.
And hey, you do not pay more just because it looks better, it’s more durable, and has a longer battery life than any other media player on the market.
You are paying for the enhanced experience, the one of a kind sound quality that you won’t get anywhere else, which, in our opinion, is the main reason people would be looking for a media player.
One of the world’s top contenders for the title of BEST portable touch screen media player, the Cowon J3 can hold its own against the likes of global leader such as the Microsoft Zune HD and the ever present Apple iPod touch.
Because when it comes to the actual playback, the Cowon J3 is unmatched and unrivaled.
==>Click HERE to get Cowon J3 at the lowest price with FREE shipping<==
how is it compared to the D3
How can a review of this product not include whether it works on a Mac or not. Everything else is there, it sure likes as if you excluded this important fact on purpose.
Hi Ray,
I did not mention the Mac compatibility issue on my review because I myself do not have a Mac and would not have been able to confirm this (where’s the manual when you most need it?)
But judging from a few quick research on the net, it looks like the Cowon J3 will in fact work on Macs, but not without some issues apparently. However it looks like there’s a workaround: http://iaudiophile.net/forums/showthread.php?t=36921
We appreciate you for the recommendations. Very helpful.
Andy
Thank you, I have been looking for info about Cowon J3 and yours have the best info so far.
One thing I’m struggling to find on the internet is about the quality of music out of my phone, the HTC Sensation XE. This was marketed as having Beats audio technology, which I assumed would give great sound quality (admittedly it does and the bass sounds sick through my IE8s), but would I notice a considerable boost in sound quality with the Cowan J3? I’m literally only interested in the sound quality (ability to play FLACs is great), if this sounds better then it’s worth the money to me.
Thanks!