Also print
vowelsList.size();
for both, and you will see the difference;)
Spoiler:
The general type of the first method is char[], so you get a list of size one. His type List<char[]>. The general type of the second code Character, so your list will have as many entries as an array. Type List<Character>.
To avoid this error, do not use raw types! The following code will not compile :
List<Character> vowelsList = Arrays.asList(new char[]{'a','e','i','o','u'});
The following three lines are in order:
List<char[]> list1 = Arrays.asList(new char[]{'a','e','i','o','u'});
List<Character> list2 = Arrays.asList(new Character[]{'a','e','i','o','u'});
List<Character> list3 = Arrays.asList('a','e','i','o','u');