[Work in Progress] Kizune's Cowon Z2 Review

[Kizune]

This review is work in progress and will be edited. Feel free to post questions or requests.




I finally got my Z2 and of course I'll share my experiences with you.

Please note that English isn't my native language... additionally, I usually suck at writing long texts. But I will try my best.

Another note: I purchased my Z2 from Export Privé and received it 12 days later... the player was already set to German which is an amazing service; thank you, Export Privé! Anyway, what I actually wanted to say is that Export Privé sells products from Korea which means that my Z2 and its accessories are probably slightly different from the international version.



Photographs






Accessories


The Z2 comes with the minimum of necessary accessories: A white USB cable, a wall charger, earbuds and a manual.

This time, Cowon decided to go the international-standards way and used a regular miniUSB port instead of one of the Korean semi-proprietary ports - a very good decision, miniUSB cables can be found anywhere in the world so it isn't a tragedy if you lose your cable. The downside if this decision is that there is no S/PDIF - a disadvantage compared to the Z2's predecessor, the Cowon D3.
The cable is white, even though I purchased the black player, but this was also the case when I got my Cowon J3 and it also seems to be the case for some other players. Fortunately, I don't care if the USB cable is black or white, but it might be annoying for those who'll get the black Z2.

The wall charger is black (and probably also would be black if I had purchased the white Z2) and fortunately, in Korea the same type of power outlet is used as in Europe - it works like a charm and it seems to charge the Z2 way faster than the USB cable. If you don't live in Europe you'll probably need an adapter to use the charger.

I haven't tested the earbuds, but I assume they sound as bad as usual.
To be honest, if you decide to get a Cowon, you must own a good pair of headphones, otherwise you'll miss a lot.

Lastly, the manual: It's in Korean (which is logical since I imported my Z2 from Korea) so I can't say much about the content. I assume, though, that it's as spartan as usual. The best way to learn how the device works is the trial-and-error method.

It would have been nice if Cowon had included a microHDMI (= HDMI Type D) to HDMI adapter... I'd like to test the player's HDMI capabilities.



Design & Features


I must confess that I absolutely didn't like the design of the Z2 when I saw the first product pictures - it looked like a 10 years old MP3 player. Specifically the white version reminded me of the cheap iPod nano clone I got for my 13th birthday... actually, that clone even looks more valuable than the white Z2 because it has a back made of brushed metal.

Anyway, now that I see the Z2 myself IRL, I must say that I somehow like the player's design.

The general shape is very simple... it's square. This was what I didn't like and I still think that the D3's design is way better... but to be honest, the Z2's design isn't bad. What I really like for example is the "floating design" aspect: The back has a bevel to make it look like the player is floating - IMO a very impressive effect. Despite that bevel, it's quite comfortable to hold the player due to material Cowon used: Rubbery plastic. It's very similar to the Cowon S9's plastic body and it looks very high-quality. I really missed that feeling on my J3 which consists of regular cheap-looking plastic.

On the front there's a pane made of scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass - the S9 and the J3 use the same glass and I never managed to cause a serious scratch.
The screen is a capacitive 800x480 AMOLED screen with multi-touch support and it looks fantastic (there's a photograph at the top of this post showing the Z2 and the J3 next to each other displaying the same picture).
I recently found out it's a pentile screen, but to me, the colors the Z2 displays look the same as the colors the J3 displays (which doesn't have a pentile screen), so it doesn't bother me.
Brightness-wise, the Z2's screen is bright enough for outdoor usage (in direct sunlight it might get challenging, though), but it is slightly darker than the J3's screen. It's very difficult to notice, though.

Below the screen there are the three typical touch-sensitive buttons which are very responsive, the player even vibrates to signalize that the button you press has registered it. Of course you can disable the vibration in the settings.

Above the screen, there is the speaker - a very good position because it makes it possible to use Skype on your Z2. The microphone is on the left side of the player and not on the front so it's probably better to hold the player in your right hand while skype-ing.
The speaker's quality is quite okay, but I noticed that it's noticeably more quiet than the J3's one. If you plan to use it in a loud environment, you might consider using an external speaker instead.

As usual, Cowon didn't hesitate to put lots of physical buttons on the Z2.
At the top, there is the power button which works exactly the same as the J3's one: One push toggles the lock state and another push makes the player sleep.
On the right side there are the play/pause, rew, ff, vol+ and vol- buttons. I have heard that some of the D3's buttons don't work while the screen is switched off... Cowon fixed this problem on the Z2, it's no problem to play/pause, change the track or fast rewind/forward it. The volume buttons also work fine.
One thing that I miss on the Z2 is the reset hole - my S9 and my J3 had one, but for any reason this time Cowon decided to remove it. It's only possible to reset the player by performing a certain combination of actions and button pushes.

At the bottom of the player, there are the headphone jack, the miniUSB port, the microHDMI (= HDMI Type D) port and the microSD slot (in that order). The ports and the slot are protected by a latch which can also be used as stand. It's way more robust than the J3's latch (which I lost half a year ago by the way) and as you can see in one of the photographs, it does a good job as a stand.
The microSD slot is like the one of the J3 - it's quite fiddly to insert or eject the sd card. I'm not sure if the slot supports microSDXC cards, but 32gb cards will work for sure. Even if the slot only supports SDHC cards, it is possible to get certain 64gb SDXC cards to work... these cards must conform to the SD 3.0 standard and they must be formatted to FAT32.

Just like the D3, the Z2 doesn't have GPS, a camera or other features that seem typical for an Android device.
Of course these features aren't essential and would have increased the Z2's price, but I wouldn't have minded if they had been there... the GPS module would have been useful for Google Maps and the camera could have been used to scan QR codes or take snapshots.



Startup & User Interface


With ~4 gb of music (~500 files) and a 4gb microSD card inserted, my Z2 takes ~40 seconds to boot - that's longer than the J3, but way shorter than my Palm Pre (5 minutes!!) takes to boot. However, I measured the boot time when I already had installed some apps from the Market. In a YouTube video of another Z2 owner you can see that the boot time of a vanilla Z2 is 20 seconds.
To entertain you a little during the startup process, the player shows an animation next to the huge title "Z2" where letters flicker and change their color.

When the player has finished booting, you're welcomed by a lock screen showing the well-known D3-style clock along with the current date and the battery state. While that lock screen looks quite nice at the beginning, it soon starts to get annoying because every time your player's screen switches off, this screen is opened and you have to slide to unlock. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a way to disable the lock screen or change this annoying behavior.

The first thing the player does after booting is scanning the library which is done in the background and only takes a few seconds for me (without the microSD card it's even faster). Sometimes it does cause a short freeze, probably because of the microSD card. Without it, I haven't experienced any freezes, but to be honest, the library scanning was too fast to react quick enough.

The home screen is quite similar to the D3's: By default, there are 5 desktops available, desktop 3 being the default one. If that isn't enough for you, you can change the number of desktops and the default desktop in the home screen's settings - up to 9 desktops can be used. Apart from that, it is possible to define another wallpaper and add icons, widgets and folders to the desktop - that's all.

At the bottom of the screen there is a dark bar showing three shortcuts - calendar, task manager, widgets - and the app slider.

I haven't tested the calendar yet, but it looks quite useful and I'll surely use it.

The task manager is exactly what its name says - a task manager. You can either stop each process with one tap or even all at once. There aren't any advanced features (such as "auto-mass-close every 5 minutes" or similar things).
Apart from showing the currently running processes, the task manager also lists all installed apps which can be uninstalled with one tap, and it shows the current memory usage and an option to "Optimize the memory" - to me it just seems to be a mass-close feature, because all it leaves running is Cowon's home screen process.

The widget button opens a list of all available widgets, Cowon's widgets being in the "Basic" category and third-party widgets in the "Advanced" category.
Cowon provides just a few widgets (at least compared to my UCIs): There are three different clocks, a calendar, a movie widget, a settings widget (where you can toggle WiFi and bluetooth, change the brightness,...), a search input field, a slideshow widget and a task manager widget which shows the currently used RAM, the number of active apps and the number of inactive ones.

Opening the list of apps works exactly the same as on the D3, you can either move the slider to the left or you can just tap it.

Since I purchased the Korean Z2, I have no idea what 50% of all the apps do... anyway, these are the apps which will probably there on the international Z2: Music, Videos, Radio, Internet, Pictures, Paint, Recorder, E-Mail, JetVD, Twitter, Contacts, Telephone, Search, Documents, Comics, Clock, Calendar, Calculator, Task Manager, Settings and Downloads.
Yes, there is a phone app. The Z2 does support VoIP using a so-called SIP number. Since I don't have a SIP number, I can't test the app, unfortunately.

I've never really used an Android device before, so it's difficult for me to say what Cowon modified and what was left at default.
One thing I can say, though, is that I'm very glad Cowon didn't modify the interface to make it look like the C2's or V5's - those players have a very Asian interface, i.e. lots of colors and cuteness - and decided to make it neutral instead.



Android & Performance


W



Summing up: Annoying things


While using my Z2, I noticed some things that are very annoying and that makes the Z2 inferior to the J3 in some aspects.

1. Bad responsiveness (can be fixed with third-party app)
It usually takes one or two seconds until the track changes when you use the physical buttons - in contrast, the J3 reacts immediately.

2. No playlists (can be fixed with third-party app)
There isn't even a favorite list like on the S9 or J3 - all you can do is setting bookmarks. Paradoxically, the picture viewer has a favorites list...

3. No shutdown timer
There's only a sleep timer in the music app which pauses the music when triggered - but it doesn't shut the player down, it only waits for the screen to shut off (= sleep).

4. Random shutdowns
It doesn't happen frequently and it's completely random, but when it happens, it's often when I leave the player alone to do something else for a few minutes.

[snakebite2]

1. Does the stock music app have playlist creation? If it does can you post a pic of the UI?
2. Is there a option to block the Z2 from sleep went using the Music? A user said it's missing.
3. Can the web browser view flash contents?
4. where is the build in speaker placed? I don't see it in the pictures.

[Kizune]

Originally Posted by snakebite2

1. Does the stock music app have playlist creation? If it does can you post a pic of the UI?

Nope, all I can do is creating a bookmark, but I can't create playlists.

Originally Posted by snakebite2

2. Is there a option to block the Z2 from sleep went using the Music? A user said it's missing.

I don't know, but I'll check it.

edit: When I play music, no matter if the app is running in the foreground or in the background, my Z2 doesn't go to sleep mode.

edit 2: Ah, sorry, I forgot the sleep mode is different in Android... if you mean that the display shouldn't turn off while music is playing: Yes, there is no option to change that behavior.

Originally Posted by snakebite2

3. Can the web browser view flash contents?

I have installed Adobe Flash from the market, so I don't know if the Z2 supports Flash by default - but it does work when Adobe Flash is installed, even in the default browser (I use Dolphin HD as main browser, though).

Originally Posted by snakebite2

4. where is the build in speaker placed? I don't see it in the pictures.

Yes you do - it's the hole which is shown in the pictures #5, #6 and #7.

Originally Posted by Sakadagami

Looking at the photos, the back side seems to have a rubbery texture. Is it true or is it plastic?.
On the other hand, I wonder if it is comfortable in your hands with that bevel.

Yes, the back is rubbery - I like that, that was something I missed on my J3 which has a regular plastic back (I had an S9 before which has a (semi-) rubbery back)
At first it felt strange when I held the player, but it isn't uncomfortable IMO and it's easy to get used to it.

[sanxion]

Very interested in this player. I'm looking forward to reading it.

I was about to buy D3. I hope waiting time worthwhile

[Sakadagami]

Looking at the photos, the back side seems to have a rubbery texture. Is it true or is it plastic?.
On the other hand, I wonder if it is comfortable in your hands with that bevel.

[Enzyme]

glad they figured out where a speaker should go

watching closely at bug reports with this device as i have a nagging thought about replacing the j3 and doing a battery mod on the z2 instead if its worth it.
i know i slated the idea previously but theres a lil part of my brain that cant resist that stuff.
just not at the current price, and i'd be scared of the usual screen falling off type issues.

i understand it's early days but based on close inspection and general in the hand feeling whats your view on the overall build quality compared to lets say the j3 and s9...are there any obvious improvements or would you say it's on par?

apart from the loose feeling button of the s9 (which is gonna happen with plastic build sliders), to me the s9 had a slight edge over the j3 in that respect.
the j3 feels like you could twist it apart with your fingers, the s9 a lil more solid.

[Kizune]

Originally Posted by Enzyme

i understand it's early days but based on close inspection and general in the hand feeling whats your view on the overall build quality compared to lets say the j3 and s9...are there any obvious improvements or would you say it's on par?

One thing that definitely isn't there on the Z2 is the glass pane being lifted.
Generally, the Z2 feels more high-quality than the S9 and the J3. There isn't the glass pane problem, the Z2's body feels very nice (similar to that of the S9 and way better than that of the J3 IMO) and I really like the floating effect because it looks impressive.

Here's my personal ranklist regarding build quality (better -> worse)
1. Z2
2. S9
3. J3

[Enzyme]

righty-o, thats a good sign.

i was really unimpressed with the j3 build compared with the s9 (expected an improvement and certainly not a cheaper build), and my glass was one of the ones that was well fastened.
although latley im getting that squeeking plastic issue which i can only imagine is stress\heat damage, or just the glue coming unstuck ><

heres hoping they put a lil more thought into it this time around.

[Kizune]

Originally Posted by Enzyme

heres hoping they put a lil more thought into it this time around.

Definitely, the Z2 feels the best quality-wise. Even the latch which covers the USB slot, the microSD slot and the microHDMI slot feels a lot more robust and as you can see in one of the photographs, using it as stand works perfectly.

Originally Posted by sanxion

Does the player include a RDS receiver?

Nope.

[sanxion]

Does the player include a RDS receiver?

[NonApplicable]

How loud is the internal speaker? The D3 speaker was way too quiet =(

Nice pics btw

[Ghisy]

@Kizune, does this mean there's no FM radio?

I will probably buy it or not based on your review so I trust you on this!

[Kizune]

NonApplicable:

Thanks.

I don't know what you mean by "loud" or "quiet" (everyone has another definition), but I can tell you if it's loud compared to the J3's speaker (which is loud IMO). Wait a minute and then I'll add the result to this post.

edit: The Z2's speaker is more quiet than the J3's.


Ghisy:

Yes, there is a radio, but the tuner doesn't support RDS.

[NonApplicable]

Originally Posted by Kizune

I don't know what you mean by "loud" or "quiet" (everyone has another definition), but I can tell you if it's loud compared to the J3's speaker (which is loud IMO). Wait a minute and then I'll add the result to this post.

edit: The Z2's speaker is more quiet than the J3's.

Thanks for the response.

I'm talking specifically about volume output. You did previously own a D3, correct? The D3's volume output was so low, I never had the luxury of watching movies/videos without earbuds plugged in. If you can recall, how does the Z2 fair in comparison?

How are you enjoying your new toy? Are you happy with your purchase?

[Kizune]

Originally Posted by NonApplicable

I'm talking specifically about volume output.

I know, but people who plan to use their player in loud environments have another understanding of "loud" and "quiet" than someone who will only used it in quiet environments.
Do you see my point?

Originally Posted by NonApplicable

You did previously own a D3, correct?

Nope, my previous player was the J3 (and I'll still use it, its battery life is invaluable).

Originally Posted by NonApplicable

How are you enjoying your new toy? Are you happy with your purchase?

Absolutely, I'm glad Cowon learned from their fail, the D3, and fixed many problems (such as the button problem when the screen was switched off).