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Cowon Q5W DivX/GPS PMP Review (Verdict: Fantastic)
Posted by Jason Chen at 9:09 AM on December 6, 2007
The Gadget: The Cowon Q5W PMP that has a feature list as long as my leg, which (and this is abbreviated) supports a bunch of video formats such as DivX and XviD, along with various nerd-friendly audio formats like OGG and FLAC. It's also got an optional GPS mount as well, in addition to 60GB of storage and a 720x480 display.
The Price: $US599 for 60GB, $US549 for 40GB
The Performance: Since the Cowon has so many features, any combination of which could be the deciding point for you, we'll go through each one in bullet point form.
• Movie playback: Fantastic. The screen is bright and crisp, and played back all the DivX/XviD files we threw at it. No stutter, no lag, no problem. It handles all aspect ratios just fine, expanding it to fit the generous 5-inch screen. Its built-in speakers are pretty good for watching stuff without headphones as well.
• Audio playback: It supports a laundry list of audio formats, and has a playback screen that's slightly too complex for a normal PMP. On the other hand, this isn't a normal PMP that's meant to be used with one finger. You definitely need the stylus.
• FM Radio: It does the job, but you need to have the headphones plugged in to hear anything, much like the first Sirius Stilettos.
• GPS Navigation: Fantastic. Just plug the unit into the dock, plug the dock into the cigarette adapter, and you're ready to go. The dock even has an FM transmitter so you can broadcast GPS sound, music, or movie (audio) over your car's speakers. The actual navigation is great too, with a pleasing female narrator and airplane-esque ding noise. The icons are large enough that you can hit with your finger instead of the stylus, and the UI has a 2D, 3D, and 2D/3D view. You can even listen to your on-board music while you're navigating as well.
• Photo Browser: It's a pretty decent photo browser, but where it really excels is its ability to read RAW files from various camera manufacturers. It ate up our Canon RAW files and displayed them at just about the same speed as the JPG files from our Samsung point and shoot. Good times. Very useful for photogs on the go.
• Internet connectivity: Because the whole device runs on Windows CE, you get Internet Explorer and MSN Messenger as part of the deal. As long as you're connected to Wi-Fi, you chat and browse with the onscreen keyboard just fine.
• Flaws: Although the Q5 is fast when you're inside an app (such as video or audio), getting around the device is kind of sluggish. You also have to make sure the task bar is unhidden in order to bring up the on-screen keyboard, something we had to get help on. The Wi-Fi antenna is also kind of flimsy, and you pretty much need to use the stylus for everything. Other than that, the only major flaw is that it's running on Windows CE, which is fine for some but may infuriate others.
The Verdict: The Q5W is super rich in features and plays back loads of video and audio files. It's fast, but kind of heavy, and is on the borderline of being pocketable (assuming you don't wear Bruce Springsteen jeans circa 1985). The GPS features are awesome for a PMP, and should make this a definite keeper in the car. If you're looking for a device that plays just about every file you have on the plane, on the train, or to work, you can do a whole lot worse than the Cowon Q5W. [Cowon]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Geoffc
Posted December 6, 2007 11:24 AM
Still can't find anywhere in AU to buy these from
Wongsta
Posted December 6, 2007 9:51 PM
you should make a petition on some forum to have them imported then
Laurie Humphrey
Posted July 8, 2008 5:44 PM
Minidisk.com.au sell the Q5 or it cost about AU $70 to get one from the States , you will find them on Ebay.com
Regards laurie
Jason Chen
Posted 5:45 PM 5/12/07
@barkingart: Yeah, my mac just sees it as an external drive, as does Vista.
Jason Chen
Razta
Posted 5:45 PM 5/12/07
How about the battery life? Can you watch 2 or 3 movies on it before recharge? Im assuming it has a battery.
Razta
Jason Chen
Posted 5:45 PM 5/12/07
@Roflcopter_Down: Plastic, like a WinMo phone.
Jason Chen
Roflcopter_Down
Posted 5:38 PM 5/12/07
What's the screen protected with? Is it plastic or the glass like substance on the iPhone/iPod Touch?
Roflcopter_Down
barkingart
Posted 5:32 PM 5/12/07
is it Mac friendly?
barkingart
trampas
Posted 5:24 PM 5/12/07
Many have been waiting for this thing since it was originally posted. There were a lot of delays, that went unexplained. Usually delays mean something comes out with only half the specs it said it would have. It's nice to think Cowon put the effort into making sure they delivered a good device, even if it's later than expected. So will be able to buy the GPS at a later date, or wait for the GPS "compatible" model? GPS Pricing?
trampas
Rain-man
Posted 5:22 PM 5/12/07
That screen looks really reflective.
Rain-man
Husar
Posted 5:22 PM 5/12/07
Any video-in options to save helmet cam video to it?
Husar
jsmjr816
Posted 5:19 PM 5/12/07
This looks very pleasing to me, but then the price hurts it. I know an all in one device is where you want to be but still I could get nuvi 200 for under$200 and $50 increments for each upgrade (ex:200W or 350 etc) and the archos wifi player for $300ish, so for a great gps and a great PVR I would spend $500ish. If cowon could bring this down $100 and make the touchscreen fingerable (go ahead and laugh) they would control the market as far as I am concerned
jsmjr816
Keebler
Posted 5:18 PM 5/12/07
Good review.
At first I was thinking to comment that it would be nice to see it physically compared to other things more... but I suppose the iPhone pic shows it's too big to fit in your pants (pocket Jason, pocket), so it doesn't matter so much.
Keebler
cudthecrud
Posted 7:11 PM 5/12/07
I got a mio c320 on black friday from radioshack and was delighted to see that it is really a windowsCE device. Already some enterprising people have opened up the winCE capabilities. With a big SD card you have a PMP/GPS with a nice pretty 4.3" widescreen. For 150.
cudthecrud
OldSchoolGadgetLover
Posted 7:05 PM 5/12/07
Very cool... I have all the same functionality with my Touch, but the thought of using this in the car intrigues me. A GPS / entertainment system. I would love to have a nice GPS / car sound system / car video system while commuting. I guess the later is technically illegal, but hell, I live in LA and I sometimes get to spend a good bit of time in one place while "driving".
OldSchoolGadgetLover
electrikecho
Posted 7:02 PM 5/12/07
Nice to see other PMP manufacturers are coming out with full-featured devices. The GPS is really a nice touch which may allow some drivers to justify its hefty price tag.
When a model is out that has at least 160GB and costs less than $400, until then, stuff like this will just have to sit on store shelves and tempt me with their PMP goodness.
electrikecho
Jordan Lund
Posted 6:53 PM 5/12/07
@Razta
Yeah, what he said... "Battery Life"? Charge time?
Jordan Lund
mandarin
Posted 6:52 PM 5/12/07
its also as expensive as a full laptop...
mandarin
yojinbo
Posted 6:44 PM 5/12/07
This looks a lot like the Archos 704Wifi only a year late. What am I missing here? Is it weightless?
yojinbo
Sylveran-01
Posted 6:11 PM 5/12/07
Wow... I like the idea of GPS and the full audio format compatibility, but for its size and screen resolution and memory capacity (not to mention the price tag attached to it), you're probably better off with the Archos 605 WiFi.
Sylveran-01
kingjew
Posted 6:07 PM 5/12/07
Does it support windows ce games and apps.??? Please let me know can you download things from the internet such as mp3's also will it play pandora streams? thanks Jason
kingjew
SirNirian
Posted 8:13 PM 5/12/07
Looks nice Futurama FTW! (and horde FTW and all tht good stuff too).
SirNirian
hanswurst0815
Posted 8:06 PM 5/12/07
On the other hand, Monkey Island and GPS on one device could lead to confusing results. I don't want Captain Dread saying "We can't go there, man, it's the Triangle of Death" instead of the pleasing female narrator saying "Turn left".
hanswurst0815
dave the wet sprocket
Posted 8:04 PM 5/12/07
is critiquing the content off-topic? because the new futurama was a huge disappointment to me, and i just can't keep it in anymore.
but the screen it's on looks pretty enough, i guess.
dave the wet sprocket
hanswurst0815
Posted 7:59 PM 5/12/07
@kingjew: Yeah, support for ScummVM would be nice. As I understand it, this should be no problem as it runs WinCE.
It just bugs me that Microsoft can't manage to build a mobile OS without the sluggishness. I always think "just add a faster processor", but looking at WiMo devices, that alone doesn't seem to work.
hanswurst0815
nobodyzhome
Posted 7:58 PM 5/12/07
How many times do people have to say it? B A T T E R Y L I F E????
nobodyzhome
MagnoliaBoy
Posted 8:31 PM 5/12/07
How 'bout a menu rundown? Any equalizer, bass boost, 3d spacializing settings?
MagnoliaBoy
vizion
Posted 10:04 PM 5/12/07
Is this the same Q5 that Gizmodo called "Absolutely Craptastic" just a few months ago: [gizmodo.com]
vizion
mferrari
Posted 9:51 PM 5/12/07
click the link to the other post about it for battery life "a laundry list of audio formats"
im not gonna tell you lazy asses tho
mferrari
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
Posted 9:40 PM 5/12/07
Looks nice.. I'd probably get it if I already didn't have my Archos 604 and a 13.3" laptop which kinda rendered my Archos almost useless. Been taking dust for a while...
Bokusatsu_Tenshi
diabolusunknown
Posted 11:00 PM 5/12/07
@vizion: That was Jesus Dias who wrote that review. He was probably pissed that he couldnt pinch pictures with two fingers to enlarge them, so he instantly declared it a loser, whereas Jason Chen realized this is an extremely feature rich device that probably has no choice but to carry a pretty complex interface. Considering what its capable of, i would say its worth it...if it had 160 gigs for 599.
diabolusunknown
diabolusunknown
Posted 10:49 PM 5/12/07
@MagnoliaBoy: Cowon is known for having some of the best sound enhancing features in their players. This one is no exception, as per Cowons website. They make shit headphones sound good and good headphones sound amazing.
Oh, apparently it has bluetooth as well.
From the website:
Sound
Enhancement
JetEffect(5 band EQ, BBE, Mach3Bass, MP3 Enhance, 3D Surround)
(Personally heard JetEffect, and its abilities are amazing)
Battery Life
Audio : up to 13 hours continuous
Video : up to 7 hours continuous
[www.cowonglobal.com]
diabolusunknown
vizion
Posted 1:53 AM 6/12/07
@diabolusunknown:
I understand that they're two editors. I'm just surprised at the two opinions that are totally on either side of the spectrum. Gizmodo team members often speak of products in terms of group speak, so I'm wondering what Jesus will say when he writes about the Q5 in the future. Will he still refer to it negatively, despite the shining preview by Chen?
vizion
lkanthatham
Posted 1:22 AM 6/12/07
There is another review on [gadgetaholic.com] that also compares it to the Archos 605 WiFi.
lkanthatham
otaking241
Posted 1:56 AM 6/12/07
does it play .mkv files?
otaking241
Beast-D9
Posted 5:49 PM 5/12/07
This thing rocks hardcore. I'm writing this from a RDP session to my work pc from my meeting while listening to linkin park in the background. Also I plugged a wireless keyboard and mouse in it and it works great!
Q5W FTW!!!!
Beast-D9
lkanthatham
Posted 2:55 AM 6/12/07
No it doesn't play .mkv files.
lkanthatham
kronik
Posted 9:10 AM 6/12/07
@otaking241: Concerning the .mkv playback: the Cowon A2 has playback of .mkv files so there might be a firmware update along the line to support this filetype. Or it could be that they ditched it altogether...
kronik
lkanthatham
Posted 10:11 AM 6/12/07
icepagoda, it does support external storage. In fact, I tried connecting multiple flash drives to it using a hub and it was able to access all the drives connected to it. It is essentially a tablet computer with Windows CE running on it.
lkanthatham
lkanthatham
Posted 7:02 PM 6/12/07
It doesn't support AAC. None of Cowon players supports AAC. Check out the review at [gadgetaholic.com] . There is a mention of this problem in the review.
lkanthatham
Worf
Posted 5:29 PM 6/12/07
Does it support AAC and H.264 as well? (C'mon, it must support more than just MPEG-4 part 2... support the rest of the spec?).
And the Archos 605 suffers from quality problems - the LCD screens are full of dead pixels (you'll return 5 or 6 of them to get one without an annoying dot on the screen while watching movies)... you can bet the other components aren't so hot, either.
Worf
Chibbie
Posted 3:21 PM 7/12/07
Here is a size comparison vs. Archos 605 WiFi / Zune / iPod Touch: [www.sizeasy.com]
Chibbie
lkanthatham
Posted 1:57 AM 8/12/07
I didn't try it but there shouldn't be any problem running Doom Legacy for Windows CE on it. It's a Windows CE device after all. However, I have yet to find a keyboard and a mouse compatible with the Q5W.
lkanthatham
gizmodome
Posted 5:51 PM 7/12/07
can it run doom?
gizmodome
lkanthatham
Posted 4:36 PM 7/12/07
I have just updated the review with a video. Enjoy.
lkanthatham
MrHellpop
Posted 5:35 PM 5/12/07
What I want to know is: in the Iphone size comparison picture, why is the goddamn I phone oriented in the opposite position?!? It is now very difficult to accurately visually compare them! Damn!
MrHellpop