Portable Media Player Reviews

Mike Kobrin writing over at PC Magazine has posted a candid review of theSony NW-E005F flash-based MP3 player. 'The Sony NW-E005F Walkman is a member of Sony's latest entry-level line of flash-based MP3 players, the E000 series, intended for digital audio newbies. It's basically a USB thumb drive that plays digital music files with a built-in FM tuner and a one-line OLED screen. The player is relatively simple to use, and its small size and light weight make it perfect for exercising and casual listening. But its subpar audio quality, combined with a lack of on-the-go playlisting or PlaysForSure support, prevents me from recommending it to experienced listeners despite its low price.'

The Sony NW-S203 (1GB) digital media player stores and plays MP3 - WMA and ATRAC files and features a pedometer that lets you track your walking, jogging, and running distance. 'I can't get over how much the NW-S200 looks like a cigar in person (smoking it, however, is highly inadvisable). At 3.8 by 0.6 inches and formed in a cylinder, the player is nearly identical in both size and shape to the smaller cigars available on the market. It's also quite light, weighing in at just under an ounce.

CNET has reviewed the Sony NW-S205 (2GB) MP3 player. 'Navigating the NW-S200 is pretty straightforward, and certainly more intuitive than with the NW-E000. The mode button takes you to the main menu, where you can select from several icon-based options. Twisting the aforementioned knob flips through the selections: search, sports mode, stopwatch, all songs, FM, playlist, and settings. If you push the knob all the way in toward the player, it activates the hold function; if you pull it all the way out, you can use it to navigate by album. (In the neutral position, it scrubs through tracks.)'

The Sony NW-S705F (2GB) MP3 Player has been reviewed by CNET Asia. 'Sony's new Walkman effort is sheer elegance. The unit's shiny and reflective veneer is well complemented by a classy user interface fronted by a color OLED display which unfortunately, is faint under sunlight. Despite the cramped dimensions, the three-line display is very well-utilized for toggling between tracks and albums and includes some space for album art. Users can turn the rotating dial to navigate the menu and swap between track and album view by sliding the dial along a horizontal axis.

The Sony Network Walkman NW-S203F MP3 player has been reviewed over at Trusted Reviews. ‘Weighing in at an amazing 26g, it's lighter than my bunch of keys - even the smaller set (house and shed keys) that I usually detach when I'm going riding. It actually feels quite similar to some remote controls I've seen with some devices – let alone a player by itself. It's available in 512MB, 1GB and 2GB varieties - my review sample featured 1GB. Much like the E507, it uses a three tiered toggle switch for selecting tracks. Pull it all the way to the outside edge and you can select the album (by twisting it like the accelerator on a motorbike). The middle is for selecting the track, and the final position is hold.’

PC Magazine have posted their review of the Sony Walkman NW-S705F MP Player. ‘The NW-S705F measures a diminutive 3.4 by 1.1 by 0.6 inch and weighs just 1.6 ounces. The first thing you'll notice about this 2GB flash player is that its main controller is a twisting jog shuttle on one end, supplemented by a few tiny buttons scattered around the device. The shuttle can be moved to two different positions; in one, you twist to navigate individual tracks, and in the other, you use it to move through albums.

A review of the Sony NW-S706 MP3 player has been posted on VNU Net. 'The design is stunning; it’s a little larger than your thumb and includes a multi-functional shuttle switch, which allows you to either browse and skip individual tracks or move through audio via sort categories. This works extremely well and is a very quick and effective way of getting around. The design is stunning; it’s a little larger than your thumb and includes a multi-functional shuttle switch, which allows you to either browse and skip individual tracks or move through audio via sort categories. This works extremely well and is a very quick and effective way of getting around.'

GenerationMP3 have posted their review of the Sony NW-A805 which is Sony's first video Walkman. 'First striking thing, size of the screen. There, one moves away from all that is done at the present time for the readers of this category: it is obviously large and doubtless pretty with posting. After all, Sony also has in its double sack the PSP which lays out of a beautiful good screen. The design of the keys is once again similar to what was made for the series of the NW-A: 3 buttons in frontage: power, back and the directional cross with the reading/selector knob in the center.'

A review of the Sony Walkman NW-A805 has been posted over at Trusted Reviews. 'Available in 2GB(A805), 4GbA806), and 8GB(A808) capacitites, the specifications of the NW-A800 series are certainly up there with the Sansa and utterly trounce the nano. Its 2in (42 x 31mm) 320 x 240 pixel screen is the biggest of any player in this class and is nearly twice that of the nano, battery life is as high as 30 hours while continuously playing music, and the pièce de ré·sis·tance is MPEG4/H.264 video playback at up to 30fps - twice the rate of the Sansa - which it can keep playing for up to 8 hours. All this and it's still only 9 x 44 x 87mm which is positively anorexic compared to the Sansa. All of which puts the Walkman way out in front of the competition, but as we all know there's more to these things than just statistics so let's see how it performs in use.'

CNET have published their review of the Sony NW-S705F (2GB, black) walkman media player. ‘Sony is one of few companies capable of competing with--and occasionally surpassing--Apple's design sensibilities and attention to detail. Truth be told, the NW-S705F is a sexier player than the iPod Nano with similar dimensions (3 inches wide, 1 inch tall, with a thickness that varies from 0.25 inch to 0.5 inch) The metal along the edges of the player adds an luxurious-feeling heft and also helps prevent wear and tear. While the tiny menu buttons are a bit too discreet for our liking, they work well and are unobtrusive. Play, pause, and volume controls are all located on the same four-way rocker on the front of the NW-S705F; and track, skip, and scan functions are controlled by an interesting spring-loaded shuttle wheel located below the headphone jack. The shuttle wheel can be used in two modes: one that skips between songs and another that skips between albums.’

IT Reviews have published a review of the Sony - NW-A806 multimedia player. 'The A800 series is a full-blown multimedia player, with support for video and photo content as well as your music. We already know Sony is at the top of the pile when it comes to audio quality so it'll be interesting to see how it handles the rest. Just to reassure those new to Sony's game, sound quality in its players is typically top-notch, and it's nice to see that the A806 we have on test doesn't shirk its responsibilities. Audio is superbly crisp and clean at default settings, but the combination of some excellent in-ear bud 'phones and wide range of adjustments available takes things to another level.'

A review of the Sony Walkman NW-E015 MP3 player has been posted over at Trusted Reviews. 'The hardware itself isn't much to write home about either, at least in terms of looks and design. In fact most of the people I showed it to said the NW-E015 resembled a lipstick or tube of mascara more than a digital music player, which gives you an idea of the level of build quality and finish. With no retainer strap, you'll almost certainly lose the lid that covers the integral USB plug and the small plastic buttons ranged along the edge of the player, with silver skip buttons built into the lid collar, make it fiddly to use.'

A review of the Sony NWZ-S610 (2GB, black) Walkman MP3 player has been posted over at CNET. ‘The newest series of Walkmans comes in a variety of capacity/color combos. You can go with a 2GB ($120) S-615 version in black, pink, red, or silver; a 4GB ($160) S-616 model in the same choice of colors; or the more capacious 8GB S-618, which comes only in black and will set you back $210. It's not the cheapest player on the block--the Creative Zen V Plus, which offers roughly the same features, runs 30 to 40 bucks cheaper. However, the NWZ-S610 offers a more sophisticated design with a larger (1.8-inch) screen and a higher-quality feel. It's also a little larger overall, measuring 3.1 inches by 1.6 inches by 0.4 inch, though whether this is a good or bad thing depends on the user. It's certainly pocket-friendly.’

Trusted Reviews have published a review of the Sony Walkman NWD-B105 MP3 player. ‘In an attempt to give the NWD-B105 the edge over the competition, it has an ace up its sleeve. While you can simply drag music tracks to it as if it were a USB thumb drive, this player also has a lightweight piece of software on it that can be run automatically when you plug it in. Called Auto Transfer, this scans commonly used music folders for compatible tracks (the NWD-B105 supports WMA and MP3 files) and transfers a selection to the device. It's simple, but beautifully so and means you can 'shuffle' your music without having to resort to a more heavyweight application such as Media Player or iTunes. Why Sony couldn't have done this years earlier is beyond me?’

PC Magazine have published their review of the Sony Walkman NWZ-S610 flash MP3 player. ‘The screen is sharp and surprisingly watchable for such a small player, and navigation is straightforward. The player is neither ugly nor awe-inspiring. If it lacks some personality, it is still sturdy, simple, and compact. Designed to work with Windows Media Player 11, the Walkman supports AAC playback, amongst other audio codecs. (Sony has abandoned the SonicStage software for the Walkman line and now encourages you to use Napster over its old Connect store which it is phasing out for music.Yes, that means no ATRAC file compatibility.)’

CNET have published a review of the Sony NWZ-A818 (8GB, silver) portable video player. ‘The Sony NWZ-A810 is a pretty slick player. It has a high-quality, metallic build with the main body decked out in the brushed color of your choosing--black, pink, white, or silver. A chrome-like strip surrounds the edge of the device, and accenting of the same style surrounds the buttons and makes up the logos on the front. The overall look is more elegant than flashy, so it may not turn heads, but users with an appreciation for understatement will like the style. Actually, the most eye-catching feature is the excellent, 2-inch QVGA display (320x240)--it's bright and crisp and can be used in landscape orientation for viewing photos and videos. The main menu screen is well-organized, with icons that highlight and magnify as you scroll through them, and the playback screen displays album art and a wealth of information. You can even set a screensaver to display the time and date while you're not actively using the player.’

A review of the Sony Walkman NWD-B105 2GB MP3 player has been posted over at the Register hardware. 'Aesthetics aside, the product's most noteworthy trick is that there's no software bundled with the product. The normal SonicStage app is missing, presumed lost. Instead, this player is all about simplicity. A basic-looking folder icon appears a few seconds after connection. With a sub-folder for storing any voice recordings made or transferred onto the player, files are just dragged over from the computer. The no-nonsense approach is continued with a built-on USB jack which plugs straight into the computer, so there are no cables to lose, tread on, lend out and never get back.'

Trusted Reviews have published a review of the Sony Walkman NWZ-A815 portable media player. 'Navigating round the NWZ-A815 is again very similar to the NW-A805, with directional buttons used to navigate the grid based menus. There are a few very minor cosmetic differences like larger icons and a different background, but essentially it's the same. With the advent of the iPod Touch and its incredible touch driven interface and the latest nano and its new CoverFlow and half list/half thumbnail menus, the NWZ-A815's menus do look a bit behind the times on the funkiness scale. However, for simply getting to where you want to be, they are still without fault. To accompany the new drag and drop interface, a new option has appeared in the music library that allows you to browse by folder and file name. So, if you can't find your music using the tag generated library, you can at least go back to basics and pick it out by hand.'

PC Authority have published a review of the Sony Walkman NW-A805 media player. 'The NW-A805 is the latest attempt to bring the Walkman brand up to date, adding a full-colour screen and video playback to the range. The A805 comes with 2GB of flash capacity, but there are also 4 and 8GB versions in four different colours, as well as a broad range of accessories available separately. It’s $20 less than a 4GB iPod nano, but easily matches Apple for build quality; in contrast to the almost disposable feeling of many of its peers, the slender metal casing is lightweight and solid. The menu system (as also used on Sony’s Playstation Portable) is also excellent – easy to navigate and responsive, making the most of the bright, high-resolution screen.'

CNET Asia have published a review of the Sony NW-A808 (8GB) MP3 player. 'The Sony NW-A808 is a pretty slick player. It has a high-quality, metallic build with the main body decked out in the brushed color of your choosing--black, pink, white, or silver. A chrome-like strip surrounds the edge of the device, and accenting of the same style surrounds the buttons and makes up the logos on the front. The overall look is more elegant than flashy, so it may not turn heads, but users with an appreciation for understatement will like the style. Actually, the most eye-catching feature is the excellent, 2-inch QVGA display (320 x 240)--it's bright and crisp and can be used in landscape orientation for viewing photos and videos. The main menu screen is well-organized, with icons that highlight and magnify as you scroll through them, and the playback screen displays album art and a wealth of information. You can even set a screensaver to display the time and date while you're not actively using the player.'

Personal Computer World have published their review of the Sony NWZ-A815 digital media player. 'The NWZ-A815 addresses one of the biggest issues we had with the range - the lack of drag-and-drop file transfer. Previously, Sony has persisted with the Sonicstage media management suite along with its Atrac format, but it has thankfully given up the ghost and bowed to popular demand. The NWZ-A815 includes all of the features of its predecessors in this range, including video and photo playback, but now includes an improved 2in colour display, offering superbly vibrant video and photo playback to go with the impressive audio.'

A review of the SonyNWZ-S616FSLV Walkman Video MP3 player has been posted over at DAP Review. 'The controls for the S610 series are cleverly built into the surface of the player. Essentially, it's a D-Pad control scheme that goes in four directions, with a slightly raised button in the center. With no physical distinctions of where one direction begins, and the other ends, this intuitive implementation may sound frustrating to you; at least it did to me before using it. I'm pleased to say, I had very little trouble adapting to these internal buttons. Each direction provides ample enough space to make your selection without fault. The center button also helps to make this distinction. I really liked how responsive these controls felt as well. When pressed, they give back a pleasing resistance.'

Computeractive have published a review of the Sony NWZ-A815 digital audio player. ‘There is a wide range of ways to select and control the music stored on the player, from the intelligent shuffle to searching using the artist's initial letter, as well as a range of audio effects including an equaliser, presets to make it sound like the music is being played in different environments, and some advanced sound processing technology. This all adds up to the cleanest and most impressive sound we've yet heard from a portable music player, and it all reinforces Sony’s position at the top of the pile.’

Laptop Magazine have published their review of the Sony Walkman A810 Series digital media player. 'Available in 2GB, 4GB, and 8GB flavors and four colors, its anodized aluminum shell, trimmed in chrome plastic, has a solid feel. The 8GB model measures a svelte 4 x 1.7 x 0.4 inches and weighs 1.9 ounces. There are volume buttons on the side and a hold switch on the back, and the buttons below the two-inch LCD were simple and comfortable to use. Two things set this player apart from the pack: Sony's EX series in-ear headphones and the excellent battery life (an impressive 8 hours for video and 33 hours for audio). The silicone-tipped headphones are far superior to regular earbuds, though we're not thrilled about the asymmetrical two-piece cable design.'

The Sydney Morning Herald have published a review of the Sony Walkman NWZ-S615F digital media player. 'The imaginatively named NWZ-S615F is designed to go head-to-head with Apple's Nano and comes in 2GB and 4GB capacities. The main control is a four-way switch with three extra buttons and a dedicated volume control. It is neatly and logically laid out and intuitive to use. The software is easy to navigate and won't send you scurrying for the manual every few minutes. As well as the usual music library, search and shuffle functions, you'll also find a decent FM radio, a slideshow application and a surprisingly good video player that makes movies easy to watch on the bright 1.8-inch screen. Sony claims an impressive 33 hours battery life for music playback and 9 1/2 hours for video.'

A review of the Sony Walkman NWZ-S615F portable media player has been posted over at InfoSync World. 'The NWZ-S615F is tiny. Roughly the size of two Bic lighters, its button layout is very simple, with a flat D-pad and three raised buttons (two below the screen and one in the middle of the D-pad). The 2GB flash drive on the device seems a bit small for today’s standards, especially for a video device. We think Sony did an excellent job managing screen real estate, however, letting videos play horizontally on the screen to maximize their aspect ratio. The stated battery life is 33 hours for audio and 9.5 for video, and during our review period we never once had to charge it, and we listened to many hours of music and watched several movies. We admire the device's power management, as we noticed that after only a few seconds the LCD shut down, saving power.'

A review of the Sony Walkman NWZ-A818 MP3 player has been posted over at InfoSync World. 'The NWZ-A818 is very skinny, and in form factor resembles the first two generations of the iPod nano. Unlike those Apple creations, however, the A818 has a larger 2-inch screen that takes up more than half of the device's face, and plays videos as well as music and photos. The button layout is simple, with a circular D-pad with a Play/Pause button in the center, circular Option and Back buttons (sized differently), a two-way volume toggle on the right hand side and a hold switch on the back.

PC World have published a review of the Sony NWZ-A818 Walkman media player. 'The NWZ-A818 has a 2-inch QVGA (240-by-320-pixel) TFT color display, comes in either a black or a silver case, and weighs 2 ounces. Supporting .aac, .mp3, .wav, and .wma files, the unit can play music for about 30 hours on a full charge. Instead of using its own software for advanced management of music and playlists, the NWZ-A818 syncs perfectly with Windows Media Player 11 (a copy of the program is included with the player). More-advanced users will enjoy the players' ability to accept music and videos introduced by dragging and dropping.

Trusted Reviews have published a review of the Sony Walkman NWZ-A829 portable media player. ‘The Walkman is a few grams heavier than its predecessor - 5g to be precise - but it's still an extremely pocket-friendly 58g. It's a touch wider and taller than the A815 too, at 50.2 x 93.6mm, but makes up for these slight increases with a fractionally slimmer profile (9.3mm) and, more importantly, a much larger 2.4in screen to match the one on the bulkier Sansa View. The screen is bright and colourful, plays back videos at up to 30fps, and there's a rather neat plastic dongle included that plugs into a socket on the back and acts as a kickstand for hands-free watching.’

CNET have published a review of the Sony Walkman NWZ-A829 (16GB, black) MP3 player. 'The Sony NWZ-A820 is stocked with features, including music, photo, and video playback, and built-in Bluetooth audio streaming. On the audio end of things, Sony is continuing its support for MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV, and DRM-protected subscription music files. In typical Sony style, the restrained design of the music playback screen betrays the awe-inspiring music enhancement technology working behind the scenes, such as a 5-band EQ, Clear Bass, Clear Stereo, DSEE high-frequency restoration, and dynamic normalization.

A review of the Sony Walkman NWZ-S718F flash MP3 player has been posted over at PC Magazine. ‘The $200 Sony NWZ-S718F, one of the latest additions to the Walkman line of portable media players, looks similar to the previous round of Walkmans. Ostensibly, this compact 8GB player's major selling point is integrated noise cancellation. Sony takes a commendable stab at noise cancellation here, but it's nowhere near as strong as with, say, Bose's Quiet Comfort 3 headphones. In addition, the circuitry works solely with the included earphones.