Cowon iAudio F1 (1GB, Black)

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CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
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Product summary

The good: The flash-based Cowon iAudio F1 includes an FM tuner/recorder, voice and line-in recording, OGG support, excellent sound quality, and a compact, unique race car design.

The bad The bad: The Cowon iAudio F1 is a little pricey, and it lacks DRM support. None of the other announced colors and capacities will be available, so you're stuck with the black 1GB model. The device also has subpar battery life, the USB/power cable is proprietary, and line-in recording maxes out at 128Kbps.

The bottom line: The good-sounding Cowon iAudio F1 is the perfect fit for race car fans and male preteens, but lack of DRM support and lower-than-expected battery life make it only a typical choice among grown-ups.

Specifications: Device type: Digital player / radio; Flash memory installed: 1 GB; Digital player supported digital audio standards: WMA, ASF, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, MP3; ; See full specs

See all products in the Cowon iAudio F1 series

CNET editors' review

Reviewed by: Michael Degnan
Edited by: James Kim
Reviewed on: 02/23/2006

For those of you who have been longing for a flash-based MP3 player that resembles your treasured Hot Wheels toy car of the past, your prayers have been answered. The uniquely designed black Cowon iAudio F1, available at 1GB ($160; other sizes and colors such as red, yellow, and white were announced but never became available), will keep most owners happy with a host of features that include excellent sound quality, an FM radio/recorder, voice and line-in recording, and support for OGG audio files. However, we should point out that this little race car does not support WMA files with DRM, and real-world battery life came in way under Cowon's rating.

The Cowon iAudio F1's OLED (128x64 pixels) is bright, active, and easy to read, although color is limited to only blue and orange. It features scrolling song titles, graphic EQ, and track time, not to mention battery life and track information, such as bit rate and the ability to show the song's lyrics. The highlight of the GUI has to be the fluctuating stereo volume and the time-elapsed meters, which look like a car's dash instrumentation panel. While the novelty of the shape of the player might wear off quickly, the player's size is definitely pocket-friendly, measuring a mere 2.9 by 1.4 by 0.7 inches and weighing a slight 1.4 ounces; for comparison, the LCD-less iPod Shuffle weighs 0.8 ounce.

The Cowon iAudio F1 ships with a tiny USB adapter, an uncommon headphone-jack-to-USB adapter, decent headphones, a line-in cable, a USB cable, a manual, and software (JetShell and JetAudio 6). As with most flash players and even many hard drive players, you don't get an AC adapter, which is optional.

The Cowon iAudio F1 supports a number of file types, including MP3, OGG, WMA, ASF, and WAV, but not purchased or subscription-based WMA files. While the iAudio F1 is a decent flash-based player packed with a good number of features, it did have some problems. The menu can be a little cumbersome to navigate, even seeming a bit counterintuitive at times, but with the help of the instruction manual and a slight learning curve, it's not a concern--but maybe an annoyance to some users. The iAudio has a five-way joystick for menu navigation and volume control, while the corners surrounding the joystick handle the play, record, menu, and pop-up controls. It's an interesting design choice, putting all necessary functions at thumb's length, but the overall experience is still not ideal for first-time users.

See more CNET content tagged:: Cowon,; flash,; joystick,; car,; WMA

User reviews

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4.0 stars

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

"Pretty good deal"

by bap on February 25, 2006

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0.5 stars

"Second item which doesn't work"

by Danail_Tonev on October 8, 2006

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Cowon iAudio F1 (1GB, Black)

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Reviews from around the Web

pcmag.com

Editors' rating: 50

Summary: With its cool matchbox-car design, the Cowon iAudio F1 should appeal to younger music fans, but its subpar battery life, weak bass, and lack of WM DRM 10 support hold it back.

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mp3.com

Editors' rating: 60

Summary: The good-sounding Cowon iAudio F1 is the perfect fit for race car fans and male preteens, but lack of DRM support and lower-than-expected battery life make it only a typical choice among grown-ups.

Read full review