COWON J3 16 GB Portable Media Player (Black)

I've owned 2 of these. I really loved them (hence the 2), but both of them got unrestorable software issues which made the screen graphics go beserk and no way to reset it back to factory defaults.

So, that was it. Not worth it to go for a third attempt.

I bought this many years ago and I've finally decided to review it.
In short, if my current one ever breaks I'll probably end up buying the same one.
 
Build:
 
It's a very sturdy little device that'll easily fit into most pockets. It has a fully capacitive touch screen that's large enough for most uses. The only thing that I'd advise against is watching videos. The screen is simply too small and will cause eye strain... but if you bought this then you probably had little or no plan to watch videos on this anyways. I love the build of this and the only thing I'd like to see changed is the loud speaker placement. When put straight down on a table it'll block it completely. That and the little piece that covers the ports breaks easily (although I've been without it for awhile and I see no issues as connectivity and everything else works fine).
 
 
Battery:
Spectacular. It still lasts the advertised few days of continuous use. There are times where I don't charge it for about a week and it still goes strong. I use it on average about 5 days a week for about 4 hours a day. Nothing to say or improve here. It's great.
 
Sound:
You really cant ask this to do much more. I've used a variety of different headphones with this and has driven them all very well. I've never once put it past 75% volume unless I was playing from an external loud speaker. I've used the Ortofon eQ5 and the Sony XBA-H3 with this and they've all sounded incredible. Again, nothing much to improve here as it does everything you could ask it for,
 
Price:
I believe I paid around $200 CAD for my device. Looking back, it was definitely worth it. It was extremely well built and has taken a lot of the daily abuse I put it through.
 
I'd recommend it instantly to anyone that is looking for it. It has anything you'll ever need. Only other issue I had with this was the cable. It IS a proprietary cable so it may be hard to find unless you buy it online.

I decided to purchase this after my S:flo2 got stolen from my car. Amazing little player, thin, insane battery life, and an easy to use and incredibly responsive UI. Couple that with great sound quality and a gorgeous screen and you have one hell of a player, a tad on the expensive side, but still great nonetheless. The sound quality on this player is great, with more eq options that you can shake a stick at, the only reason i took off a half star is its just not as good sounding as my s:flo2 was, everything else is a vast improvement though so im happy.
 
Highly recommended