Cowon Systems iAUDIO X5 (20 GB) MP3 Player

Pros: Sound, size, file support, price
Cons: Playing video files

I have had my iAudio x5 for a few weeks now and feel it is worth reviewing. I will not go into great detail with technical specifications, as this information can be found in countless places, including Cowon's website. APPEARANCE/BUILD: The ...

Pros: Slender design, 20GB of storage, USB, and overall superior performance.
Cons: Maximum 15fps for visuals.

iPod? excuse me? The X5 as I see it, (from retrospect of performance, design, and capacity) is leaps ahead of Apple’s “iPod”. So much, in fact, that I often consider what made me come to the conclusion of buying a mini iPod ...

Pros: Inexpensive, great build quality, great sound, great feature list
Cons: Lackluster accessory package

After dodging the MP3 player bullet for years due mostly to the distaste left in my mouth by the iPod craze, I finally succumbed to the realization that, as a technology buff, I absolutely had to get one. This, after wholeheartedly adopting the mp3 ...

Pros: Compact. Great audio. Video playback. Battery life.
Cons: Bud style earphones are HUGE, and my ears are small!!!

Firstly, I'm still new to all this MP3 stuff, so if this review comes off as being a bit "simple" don't blame the player, blame me. This is one of those few items that I've purchased, sight unseen, based on the reviews and info that I could garner ...

Pros: video, cool design, solid build, usb on the go
Cons: could do with a dock in the box.

This is awsome. As you will now if you have read my iAudio M3 review, I am a big fan of Cowon/iAudio and this is quite simply the best jukebox on the market imho. Got mine from a mate who was in Korea and paid in the region of £250 for a 20GB unit. I ...

Pros: Sound Quality, Battery Life, Drag and Drop Files, FM Radio, Picture Viewer, Video Playback, Recorder.
Cons: No speaker

I wanted an MP3 player mostly for the Bose system in my car using an FM transmitter and occasionally in my home Bose (no, not the one made for the ipod). So, first I bought an ipod shuffle. I tried it in the car and compared the sound quality by ...

Pros: Beautiful color screen, easy to use, video capable, excellent sound.
Cons: Video quality is so-so, headphone jack on the side, subpack is a little annoying.

I simply hate the trendy IPods, but I was in desperate need of an mp3 player, since I was walking with a bulky cd player to classes. After researching mp3 players, I finally settled on an IRiver H320. However, the unit I purchased was faulty, and I was ...

Pros: GREAT sound, good battery life, DURABLE, FEATURES… voice record, line in, radio, usb host
Cons: cannot charge and listen at the same time via usb, no picture viewing with music

IAudio x5 (60 gb) I began in the world as an innocent ipod person. I wanted something that I could play ALL my music on, watch the occasional video, and sometimes look at pictures. Ipods did that, even somewhat well. But then there was iTunes. ...

Pros: Wonderful sound, vivid screen, no bigger than ipod, fast music transfer, long battery life
Cons: Joystick a bit on the tiny side, could lose charging adapter

Ive bought and returned tons of gadgets in the past 5 yrs to play with, review, and return. Yes, Im pretty sure Im on the blacklist of a lot of stores. This unit is one that never got returned. It is everything you could want in an mp3 player. I was ...

Pros: Rugged. Nice display. Good sound. Not crippled by anti-consumer software.
Cons: 10,000 song limit. Touchy joystick. No removable battery.

PC sees it as a flash drive. Works perfectly with linux! Files are in the directories you put them. MP3 tags are only used for display purposes. Unlike ipod and it's ripoffs, if you are missing an MP3 tag, the songs won't get stuck in an unlabeled ...

Pros: styling, FM section, audio, head set, clear display
Cons: software, instructions, in-ability to transfer mp3 and WMA files, adaptor plug

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN UPDATED 10-22-05: The iAudio X5 comes in two flavors, a 20GB model that goes for $300 and a larger 30GB model priced only $50 dollars higher at $350. (I purchased the 20GB version)The 30GB version includes an inline remote control ...

Pros: Uses files and folders, ease of drag and drop.
Cons: little adapter for usb cable and power adapter, is small and could be lost.

I love my iaudio x5 (60GB) I use it in my stereo at home, in my truck, for files from friends computers and as a back up for the 'my music' directory on my computer. I bought it because it uses files and folders just like my computer. I've used other ...

Pros: Small, compact, funky, sounds awesome
Cons: Software, software, software, software.

I bought the iAudio on the recommendation of a mate, who told me that it 'plays video, shows photos, records radio and has a feature list to rival the Titanic'. He was right. What he didn't tell me however, was that its failings render it (to me anyway) ...

Pros: FLAC codec, FM tuner with recording, Batteru life, no pc software needed.
Cons: My ears ring sometimes but that goes with useing earphones with anything.

Oh, and in the settings everything is customizeable. This includes settings for the scroll speed of the title of song, wall paper, display screen brightness and time it stays on, and much much more. Sound qaulity is awsome. Strong hi's and lows. Clarity ...

Pros: Great audio quality. Good battery life. Excellent reliability. A-B repeat. 20G storage.
Cons: Have to use adapter module to charge and load files. Won't display some jpg's.

Having used my X5 for about 6 months now, I can say that I'm still very pleased with it. I've owned a Rio and iRiver. Both of these players had lock ups and only average audio quality. The X5 has NEVER locked up, and the sound quality still startles me. The A-B repeat feature is not advertised, but for a musician, this is a nice feature. Battery life is great. I've only had a few things that I'd like to improved:

For some reason it will not read some jpg pictures. Size does not matter.

Needs the i/o jacks built into unit instead of using the adapter. It's a nuisance.

Can't display album art.