Cowon Z2 launched in Korea

[Kizune]

The waiting is over, Cowon officially launched the Z2 "Plenue" in Korea, which is apparently the Cowon D3's successor (of course, the naming scheme is as stupid as always) and comes with a lot of changes.



First off, the Z2 does NOT have Android 4.0 ICS, it still uses Android 2.3 GB. But who knows, maybe we will see an update to ICS in the future?

Anyway, these are the Z2's specs:

CPU/GPU: 1GHz ARM Cortex A8, 800MHz VPU (for FullHD playback), 320MHz Mali 3D GPU
RAM: 512 MB
Screen: 3.7" AMOLED 800x480
OS: Android 2.3 Gingerbread
WiFi: IEEE 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth: 2.1 + EDR, A2DP / AVRCP / OPP Profile
Battery: 22h Music / 8h30 Video
Dimensions, Weight: W x H x D - 62.8mm x 116.5mm x 11.8mm; 116g
Available Memory: 8GB, 16GB, 32GB
Other: microSD Slot, G-Sensor, Radio, Microphone, Speakers

Supported Audio: MP3/2/1, WMA, OGG, WAV, ASF, FLAC, APE, M4A

Supported Video Containers: AVI, WMV, ASF, MP4, MKV, MPG, DAT, TS, TP, TRP, 3GP
Supported Video Codes: DivX, XviD, H.264, WMV 9/8/7, MPEG1

Audio Effects/Enhancements: JetEffect 5.0
> 44 Presets + 4 User Profiles
> 5 Band Equalizer
> BBE+: BBE, Mach3Bass, 3D Surround, MP Enhance
> Special Effects: Stereo Enhance, Reverb
> Lossless Mixer
> Playback Speed: 50% - 200%


Prices:
8GB: 259,000 KRW -> 228 USD
16GB: 299,000 KRW -> 264 USD
32GB: 339,000 KRW -> 298 USD


Links:
- Official Product Page

[nehrou]

Gingerbread is 2.3 though...not 3.2

but anyways...i wonder what this device will cost....anyone would have a guess?

[Kizune]

I found the prices on another site and added them to the first post.

[RedlanceEQ]

That JetEffect 5.0 is interesting. Makes me wonder if they'll update the J3's firmware to add that too.

[nehrou]

WOW!!! that is surprising MUCH cheaper than i thought it would be

[doomlordis]

Battery life is still a bit low imo, especially with a 1950mah battery on board. The move to a cortex should have offered better battery life over the TCC8900 series in the D3.
I like the cover/stand and it looks like they have moved onto the micro usb that phones use!

[nehrou]

Next....can someone explain what exactly is the 'Floating Design'?

[Kizune]

It's just a nickname for the design, for instance the S9 has a "curve design".

[nehrou]

ohh...I think I get it now....lool...they just saying that it looks like it floating when it's on a flat surface? looool marketing

[Kizune]

Haha, that would be awesome.

[Urne]

Originally Posted by doomlordis

I like the cover/stand and it looks like they have moved onto the micro usb that phones use!

Indeed. As far as I can see the three openings are the microSD slot, a microUSB port and a miniHDMI out - I'm very pleased with the move to the new universal ports!

Battery Life and Screen size is the disappointing part for me though..

EDIT: Of course, it could be that Cowon has changed testing environment that gives more realistic battery life, hehe.

[sonic]

Actually, I quite like how they are still keeping their PMPs GPS and 3G/4G free. Keeps the prices reasonable which is particularly important for students and those embroiled in the current economic climate.

Hopefully the creative mixture of (2010)1ghz cpu + gpu + vpu will make for performance which benchmarks well against competitors over the next year.

Personally, I'm now saving for a portable dac/amp combination device (30 hours+ battery life) to pair with my D3 and look forward to a 64gb pmp from Cowon (and others) which runs ice cream sandwich on a slightly larger screen. All that coupled with the increased affordability of 64gb micro-sd cards should make for a viable desktop-replacement imo

In light of the 64gb cards, I suppose it makes sense that they might have felt that >32gb isn't required at the moment.

As others have said, 20 hours playback for music (esp if reflected in real life tests) is actually pretty decent. I'm just curious if that's with or without jeteffect and whether it is identical regardless of lossy or lossless playback (ideally the latter).

I look forward to reading the reviews

Also, as someone else said, it would be great if jet-effect 5 was soon included in firmware updates for some of their others models.

[Kizune]

^ Nobody said 20h is decent, everyone said it sucks. (And if Cowon meased it the same way as the J3's or S9's battery life, you'll never reach that limit)

[sonic]

^I meant for an android device, 20 hours is decent enough (i.e. acceptable, on par with others). I've given up using 'decent' as meaning 'good' or 'amazing' given much disappointment in electronics over the years

[Kizune]

Okay, compared to other smartphones, 20h is indeed decent.
(But the Z2 has no 3G or 4G and you can't make calls^^)