Cowon Plenue D3 (PD3) Digital Audio Player with 2.5/3.5mm outputs and Bluetooth - Silver

THE GOOD: You can use your phone charger to charge it. Music quality is excellent and the effects (JET) boost the incredible sound and are adjustable to your taste. An expansion slot for SD card allows most people to have their whole collection ‘on the go’.THE BAD: As mentioned by others the Bluetooth does drop out occasionally but analysing this, I realise it is ‘distance & obstacle’ related – eg: player in my trouser pocket buds (JABRA ELITE 65T) in ears works fine but if I bend over it cuts out. Another example: Strategically place Plenue…. walk a few metres (10) away with BOSE SL-MINI SPK – and cut out occurs with direct LOS. Actual distance hard to analyse in different situations as LOS is key and surroundings will also play a part.Interface is a little quirky and takes a long time to get used to which leads onto…. You cannot and I mean cannot (I’ve tried everything): write an M3U playlist file transfer it to the device with music folder directories set correctly and get it to work. The files appear on the device but not in the Plenue Playlist Menu and ‘tapping’ the files has no effect. You can of course compose your playlists on the device but as with all devices that can be tedious.

Bluetooth leaves a lot to be desired, keeps dropping out. Tried diff codecs and diff earbuds, still dropping out.U.I - weird, strange symbols, screen movement very erratic and grainy displays.Database update gets done every time it turns off, very annoying.The sound is the only thing worthy of praise, quite good.Overall it is disappointing when this is supposed to be the PD2 with Bluetooth.......Returned for refund.....

Great sound quality, decent battery life, very nice all round. Only let down is a slightly slow interface

I bought the PD3 as it had Bluetooth (I had two PD1’s). I had regular issues with clicks/scratches and dropouts. This happened with two different TWS earbuds. Also I had no problems with bluetooth with my smartphone or my PD1’s/the PD3 (with a Bluetooth transmitter). There has been no firmware update released so far. I returned the PD3 within 4 days. So disappointed after my love affair with the PD1’s. I await the What Hi-Fi review to see what they think about the Bluetooth on the PD3, given their stellar reviews of the PD1 and PD2.

Nice device and good sound but it only lasted 3 days before it died and would not boot up. I did contact the seller twice but no reply. Refunded.

Sound quality is as fantastic as ever with Cowon devices and there is less hiss and noise with sensitive headphones than the plenue D. Ive owned many of their DAPs and most recently upgraded from the Plenue D. The bluetooth quality is decent good despite there being no Apt-X or LDAC, but not amazing. The construction feels a bit cheaper than previous models--the back is glossy plastic that attracts fingerprints and scratches as opposed to brushed aluminum, the dial is disappointingly plasticky and flimsy which was a huge letdown for me. Together with the good-but-not-great bluetooth implementation this makes me wonder if it's worth it over the D2.

unfortunately, l just found out that for a refund you must send the Corean device to...Shenzen, China.I can only imagine how service and support works...

Wow, simply wow!!

I've been using COWON plenue players for many years now. (since 2015)It's the 3rd device that I bought, which might seem as the build quality is not adequate. However the opposite is true! I use the player EVERY single day throughout the year. I use it during work, while working in the garden, while riding my bicycle, etc ... The device that broke, only broke because I dropped it multiple times. The jacket of the headphones took some hits and stopped working.It REALLY is the best sound, the longest battery life and works with any format of music files! I couldn't miss this player EVER .. I've tested apple players, sony players, etc. Nothing compares to COWON PLENUE ! ;-)

CONS:Plenue D3 Battery last only average 5-6 hours!!,playing FLAC music files,16bits 41Khz,(NOT 30 hours,as advertised) and D3's Bluetooth(Old 2003 version 3.0!) transmission (AptX) to 6 renowned good quality TWS earbuds always has audio cuts-off/drop out,stutter,every few seconds on all FLAC(avg 900kbps) & Mp3(320kbps)files!!Very disappointing & sad,cause its sound stage is moderately wide,it has nice pleasant balance on Low,Mid & High frequencies.No issues found when listening via wired IEM earbuds or wired headphones through it's 3.5mm or balance 2.5mm audio outs.PROS:D3's music tweaking, Jet Effect 5,BBE,factory presets,user control 5 band Graphic Equalizer all are super excellent,hands down,no other DAP companies yet able to achieve so high refinements and so many user friendly options for users.But,unfortunately,what good use it has if it runs only for average 5 hours on battery!It's main purpose or target is very small form factor for portability in any shirts/pants pocket.So,with a broken heart(I like to have wires free listening via TWS BT earbuds or headphones),feel so sorry(cause its sound output is very colorful & enjoyable with amazing user adjustable & over 40 presets of JetEffect5+BBE+GEQ twaekings!)but,I've to return it for very poor battery charge retaining & very poor Bluetooth transmission,requesting a full refund from the amazon(USA) seller after dully tested it over 100 hours.