Cowon S9 (32GB)

Pros: Great Design
Exceptional Audio Quality
Beautiful AMOLED Screen
Beautiful Video Playback
Supports a multitude of audio and video formats
Wide range of quite unbelievable UCIs available

Cons: Yes the stock UCI is poor, but with latest ugrade is a vast improvement
no expandable memory
THATS IT

Summary: What do you want from a mp3 player? Music & Video? or music, video, games, app, wifi, GPS, email, god knows what else! I choose top quality music and video with a few bonus extras and the S9 delivers this which exception ease and brilliance.

First impressions were...woowwww, this is light, but not once have I thought "cheap" if it were too heavy would it get 10/10 for build quality at the price of it weighing a ton! It feels great to hold and is great to look at. Build quality is is on a par with anything else....had it for over a year, had few bumps and no major damage yet.

Physical buttons on top may not be to some peoples taste but I don't mind at all.....each to their own. I certainly didn't confuse the play/pause button for a stylus given the fact it has a play/pause symbol on the back and a capactive touch screen.

Slide switch on bottom for power/hold works a treat. No chance of accidental power on or off when in pocket or where ever.

Proprietary USB lead does suck a bit...but hey, thats the way it is with Koreans

Where this player excels is audio and video quality. I ain't a audio technician and don't know much about middle, trebles and bass but I can still tell when something sounds good or bad or great. Throw away the boxed buds and get something decent and you will not believe your ears.....as far as the best sounding players around the S9 is still up there at the top.....alongside newer cowon players. Cowon have the best audio quailty...FACT

Video on the AMOLED screen is gorgeous. I don't have to convert files, just drag & drop and the S9 will play it with no fuss. Maybe not big enough for movie but I have watched a few 2 hour movies with no problem

The stock UCI is.....well not that great. Latest firmare versions have increased speed and tweeked a few things but pale in comparison with the UCIs available online. These UCIs, created by normal folks at home, transform the S9 for a great player to, in my experience with it, a truly exceptional player. I just can't describe how much it changes the S9 but I can just say it is breath taking

Then there is the radio, text viewer, voice recorder, flash player which are all well and good but I never use them much at all so can't comment. They are good to have and do what they are meant to well

So basically, over two years since its release and having spawned a few "replacement models" (J3 and D3) the S9 is vastly improved from what it was. After a year of owning one I am still discovering tweaks and brilliance from UCIs that push S9 past the limits. If you want wifi, email, apps, GPS and all that rubbish get a smart phone or a PSP.......or a ipod touch, if you don't mind a drop down in quality!

The S9 is still priced highly because it still performs highly amongst newer players on the market and rightly deserves its place near the top with only the cowon J3 above it