Cowon A5 - aka "Cowon Z2 'Video Edition'"

[Kizune]

Did you know that the Cowon A5 emerged shortly after the Z2's revelation? It's true, I mentioned the player in the Z2 rumor thread when I had my "anti-Cowon phase" - but my post soon fell into oblivion.



Now Cowon has finished the A5's product page. The first time I opened it, I'd have almost thought I accidentally opened the Z2's product page - the specifications of both players are almost identical!

The only differences I found so far...
... the A5 has a 4.8" LCD screen, 480x800 (Z2: 3.7" AMOLED, 480x800)
... better battery: 40h music, 10h video (Z2: 22h music, 8h30 video)
... very chunky design probably due to the larger battery (reference picture)

The other specs are the same. The A5 has the same CPU/GPU/VPU combination, also uses Android 2.3 GB, supports the same audio and video formats and utilizes JetEffect 5.0 + Lossless Mixer.

In my opinion the A5 is just the "video edition" of the Z2 - the large screen makes it ideal to watch videos on-the-go and the battery is way better than that of the Z2.
However, the screen is only an LCD one and the resolution is 480x800. Come on, Cowon, the A5 is able to play HD videos smoothly... why do you kill this feature with a low-res LCD screen?

Even compared to other companies' players, the A5's battery is very good. Recently, the Z2's battery life was compared the the battery life of Samsung's Galaxy Player 5 which provides 8h video and amazing 60h music playback - of course the conclusion was that the Z2's battery life is worse. But the A5 is a video-centric player and in that aspect, the A5 lasts 2 hours longer than Samsung's Android player.

So if you often watch videos on-the-go, the A5 might be a good choice for you - the large screen and the good battery make it a decent video player.
Even if you don't watch videos that often, the A5's battery life is a lot better than the Z2's... however, it's a very large and chunky player and if portability or a superior screen technology (Z2's AMOLED vs A5's LCD) are important to you, the Z2 should be your choice.


Cowon A5 Discussion Thread