iAudio X520L-20GB MP3/4 Player-Black

Sound quality is excellent, and you can also tweak the EQ. There's built in radio, as well as voice and line-in record. USB OTG allows you to plug in a wide range of USB devices and transfer data directly without a PC - great for digital cameras (not all supported but various memory card readers are), and because it's plug-and-play it's like having a portable hard drive: you can transfer files directly, including MP3, WMA, Ogg Vorbis and FLAC music files.

For the style conscious it definitely looks good and is solidly built. For those who like to have accessories there's a remote with screen that apparently gives exactly the same control as through the main input.

Whilst it is an excellent DAP, it may not suit everybody - support for DRM is available but apparently a little flaky at present. It also doesn't allow searching/sorting based on ID3 tags. These issues may be fixed with a future firmware update - but there's no guarantee.

It supports picture viewing and video playback but these have some limitations - so it's not ideal if these are important considerations. Also the screen is a little too small for prolonged viewing - though it is very sharp. Some of the extra features require you to carry around the, very small, hub, which also includes line-out.

For those after a solid, high-quality DAP, who don't want to shell out for all the add-ons required to get the equivalent functionality with an iPod, and who can organise their files, then this is a perfect choice... Although Cowon have released a newer player so it might be worth checking that out first!


fantastic mp3 player and much more   September 27, 2005
42 out of 42 found this review helpful

There are loads of reviews on the net, basically I have just bought an iAudio X5L (20Gb) and I can't reccomend it enough.
The things I like the most:
- Plays all of the mp3 files I have
- FM radio
- Plug and play (only Win 98 needs a driver which is supplied): windows just reads it as an external drive straight away.No fuss.
- Easy to use menu
- Plug other usb devices in and copy and paste files/ folders from one to the other. So far I have tried this withmy digital camera, several memory sticks, my 6in1 card reader, several other mp3 players and I am sure many more will work too.
- File transfer& storage, why limit yourself to a 256mb usb stick or hunt for a cd writer at work? just plug this in and use windows explorer, what could be easier.
- No special software needed. Why be tied to iTunes or Sony Software? There is no need.
- View photos, ok so the screen is small but it is quite fun.

Annoyances? Just that there is no stop button (you have to use pause, change to another function or switch it off). And since that is my only quibble I think this says a lot about the player.

Basically use it as an mp3 player that can do a lot more when you want it to. with a 30hr battery life and sleek looks you can't go wrong. I would happily choose this over any of the 14 other mp3 players I looked at.