REVIEW: Benjie K9
Specifications:
Screen: 1.8”OLED
Case: Zinc alloy
Size: 94*38*9mm
Weight: 79.2g
Capacity: built-in 8GB flash memory, up to 32GB SD card external storage
Price:
$25, from Penonaudio.
Accessories:
- Micro USB to USB Cable
- Earphones
The earphones are very hard to drive, even for the K9 itself it's needed to reach about half of the full volume (~15/31) steps
Build & Design:
Build quality is quite good for the low price, and much more solid than the more expensive popular budget options like Sandisk Clip and iPod. The player is very compact, made of sturdy metal alloy body for back and sides, and transparent plastic front panel and plastic buttons. While compact and very pocket friendly, it also has some weight due its metal material. The OLED 1.8" screen is quite nice and quality is very decent.
The control/navigation buttons are all placed at the front panel. At the bottom there're the ON/OFF switch and 3.5mm output plug, and at the back part, the built-in speaker.
UI, Navigation, Firmware:
I won't cover all the features and functions of the K9 player, just will mention some characteristics. After all, it's affordable enough to give it a try and rather intuitive to figure out after some use anyway. There's always the included manual for more details.
Firmware seems solid and stable enough, and I haven't found any kind of bugs or crashes. But unfortunately, the UI and navigation are the worst part of this little device. It's very illogical and so incoherent. Just to mention some things:
- When switching on it goes back to the start of the last session, including even the volume level used last time.
- Play/pause also works as on/off when held a few seconds (if switch is On)
- Back (left) and Fwd (right) are used to navigate up and down through menus.
- There are no dedicated volume buttons. V (vol) is to be pressed for a few seconds to access the volume control screen and adjust with left and right buttons.
- No Home option. Needs to use V button to go back to the main screen.
- Folder skip; doesn't play files of a selected folder alone, once it reaches the last track it continues to the next folder, and after playing the last track it starts the whole list again (even when Repeat option is off).
- Files and folders are not alphabetically ordered, but displayed in the order they were added.
- Switching from internal storage to micro-sd card and vice-versa stops the whole playback.
The only good thing I found on the K9 is that it can delete a whole folder content, but even that is just half good, as the folder is still displayed despite being empty.
The K9 also works as an image viewer and its quality is actually not that bad. Images can be displayed without stopping the music playback. Same goes for the text (.txt format) reader. The manual also mentions Video playback, but only in '.amv' format which I couldn't test yet. K9 has also some extra features are FM Radio and Voice recording.
PC connection and file transferring:
When connecting the K9 to a Windows computer, the device is turned on regardless the switch position. It's possible to choose between 'Charge & Transfer' or 'Charge & Play'. With the first option the device is automatically recognized by the system and listed as "M27", while the second option is only to charge and keep using the player normally.
Battery, Hiss/Noise:
Not sure about the rated battery specs, manual states ~12hrs, and the official site ~20. From personal use, the 20 hrs seems to very accurate and the battery behavior is solid enough and doesn't suddenly drain.
Hiss and background noise were not noticed even with most sensitive CIEM sets.
Power, Volume:
The K9 can get quite loud and powerful for its small design and small budget price. It can drive harder sets such as the Yuin PK1, VE Asura (1 and 2) earbuds with their 150ohm impedance without trouble, and doesn't show any kind of distortion, and even the Zen 2.0 can be driven to a decent level and still not passing the half 30 volume sets.
The volume control is just awful and not well suited for sensitive sets. The volume jump from step to step is very strong; the sound is either too low or too loud. Personally, I find this as a deal breaker despite the very low price. Using an amplifier fixes this issue but makes it a bit less portable.
Sound, EQ & Amplification:
The K9 sound presentation is towards the warm and rich side without a strong roll-off at either end. It does still add certain coloration to the sound, trading some transparency and detail for more fun, musicality and deeper tone and richer texture, but keeps a good overall balance from lows to highs.
With a fairly strong low end response, bass is more impactful and better bodied, but can be slightly boomy with warmer sets, though not more aggressive than it should. On the other hand, leaner, brighter or analytical head/earphones can find a good match with the K9, achieving a more substantial lower end without losing their strong detail. The extra warmth also contributes for a more natural texture and decay, though just a tad slower in speed.
While the bass is not really dominating, the midrange is not as forward as the low end. It is still fuller, not too sweet but not too dry, which works well with any kind of earphone. Yet, with more v-shaped sets, the mids seem to be slightly more distant than what they already are, though it can be quickly fixed with the simple equalizer of the device. Vocals can sound more dry and less engaging, but instruments keep a fairly good level of separation.
Treble is offered in a similar fashion as the midrange, well balanced and fairly extended with a slight roll-off at the upper-end and more laid back nature. A bit more presence and sparkle could have been nicer, but at least the more musical presentation of the K9 is fatigue free even with more energetic earphones and tracks.
Micro detail is not the strength of this small player but nothing to complain for the small price. Soundstage is about average in width or height, but the K9 adds more depth to the sound. Imaging is decent but not too accurate, though it still compares really well to other popular choices.
The K9 easily beats the Clip+ in terms of coherence, naturality and almost every other aspect. The Zip and iShuffle also sound smaller next to the K9, though I found the Zip to be more balanced. Lastly, the K9 and Clip Sport are fairly equally matched in overall sound, but with different flavors; Sport is leaner, brighter and more detailed, while the K9 warmer and more musical and bigger sounding.
EQ:
The K9 lists a few equalization presets options and a simple custom 5-band option. Apart from the 'Rock' and 'Jazz', the rest of the presets are not worth mentioning. On the other hand, the Custom 5-band works surprising well (far from the terrible custom EQ option on the Sansa devices). While not as accurate as the HM700 one, it still helps to personalize the sound quite nicely.
Amplification:
The K9 is quite a powerful device to need an amplifier for pure volume matters, but it does benefit quite well from extra amplification to reach a higher sound level. Improvements in dynamics, stage dimensions and detail are easily noticed, although the K9 strong sense of warmth is still perceived through the extra device affecting the overall transparency unlike the Clip Sport. Using an amplifier also fixes the K9 volume control issue.
All-in-all...
Among the so many and random low priced Chinese players the Benjie K9 small player is surprisingly a good contender. Having more expensive and dedicated devices, I was planning to use it mainly as a backup device, but then, the sound quality and presentation for its low budget price proved to be much better than expected. The outer build quality is quite good as well, and also has a solid battery performance and firmware. Even though, there're some flaws. While it's possible to get used to the interface and illogical navigation, the biggest issue is the volume control that make it useless with many IEMs to be used on the go. For those who can overlook or do not care about these issues, then the Benjie K9 should be great buy.
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Had some issues uploading photos, but will have it fixed asap. sorry)