For Cowon have made a move into the ultra compact world of USB MP3 devices. Much like VW resurrected the beetle to give them a lower rung to their range and Mercedes gave birth to the A class, the iAudio U2 provides an entry level device for the Cowon range. Of course like the A class small does not mean cheap or less featured, the iAudio U2 comes in 3 sizes from 256mb to 1Gb and in Blue , Red or Black, with support for WMA, ASF, MP3 and future support of Ogg Vorbis the U2 isn't limited to which fuel it runs on either.

Equipped with the faster USB 2.0 connection the iAudio U2 is pretty quick device to load even when completely refilling it using the supplied Jet Audio software, the U2 can also charge its Lithium Polymer batteries from the USB connection before running for a maximum of 20 hours before needing a top up.

At 34 grams the Cowon U2 won't make much of an impression on your pocket either and at 73.8mm x 25.0mm x 18.0 mm it is much smaller than most USB Sticks and the flash based storage means that playback won't be interrupted no matter how much you shake it.

The 128 x 64 pixel backlit screen is a bit of a rarity on a device of this size allowing display of 4 lines of text with 40,000 characters in multiple languages, both ID3V2, ID3V1tags are supported for display of track data from artists name to genre.

As with most of the Cowon range the iAudio u2 supports direct MP3 encoding and will handle replay of bit rates from 8kbps ~ 320kbps for MP3 and 20kbps ~ 192kbps WMA, there is an FM radio tucked away for those moments when you have exhausted the MP3 storage of the 1gb device and there is the obligatory EQ system (even though we dislike them immensely).

Nice touches include a fade in / out of MP3 tracks thus avoiding the horrible pauses that are present when you play a ripped "mix" CD on an Ipod, navigation and the overall interface is very good for such a small device, the 5 way metallic navigation key feels solid enough and is well placed to the right of the screen with the play / pause and record buttons tucked away on the side alongside the hold switch.

Audio quality is indeed excellent for such a tiny device with the Mach3Bass system offering a reasonable stab at real bass in the slightly cheap standard headphones, you don't get an inline remote but then it would probably be as big as the unit itself which would defeat the object. Supporting the far east obsession with Karaoke its even possible to download lyrics to the iAudio U2 in Chinese and Korean but the less said about that feature the better.

What we have here is a pocket marvel, not much bigger than a cigarette lighter the Cowon iAudio U2 packs 1gb of storage, direct MP3 encoding and multi codec support all in a 34 gram unit, beauty when its this small does come with a big price tag and its expected UK on sale price of £169 is a bit rich for a 1gb flash player. After all you could get a 20gb 4G apple Ipod for that money but try stuffing one of those into your back pocket!

More MP3 Player Reviews -

[ Up ] [ BenQ Joybee 120 ] [ Creative Muvo TX ] [ Diva Gem MP3 Player ] [ MPIO FY200 MP3 Player ] [ Creative Muvo TX FM ] [ MPIO FY300 ] [ Rio Cali Sport ] [ iRiver N10 Review ] [ Samsung YP-T6Z ] [ Oregon Scientific MP3 Player ] [ Yakumo Hypersound XR ] [ Xen EMP-500 ] [ Sony NW-E107 Review ] [ MobiBlue Cube DAH ] [ Sony Bean NW ] [ Qoolgee X Sports ] [ Mcody M20 Review ] [ Sony EWS 703 Review ] [ Netac A200 Review ] [ Mobiblu Cube 2 ] [ New iPod Shuffle Review ] [ Cowon iAudio 5 ] [ Datasafe oomi ] [ JVC XA-MP51 ] [ Nike PSA610 ] [ Ipod Shuffle MP3 Player ] [ Sony NW-E407 ] [ Rio Forge ] [ MPIO FD100 MP3 Player ] [ MPIO One ] [ iAudio G3 Review ] [ iRiver iFP-390T MP3 player ] [ Creative Labs Rhomba Mp3 player ] [ Cowon iAudio U2 ] [ Xen EMP 200 ] [ Cowon IAudio 4 512mb ]