The Sony Walkman is perhaps the best known MP3 player that has ever existed. Sony revolutionised the music-player-in-a-phone technology, the clear sound and the ease of keeping your favourite songs in your pocket.
Thankfully though, as fab as they were at the time, technology has moved on. This model is a lot prettier, easier to manage and more advanced than their flagship MP3 Walkman from 2004, which was a step up from the portable CD players.
You can store 3,300 songs on this model, and if that is still not enough, you can pop in a microSD card. High-Resolution Audio is supported so your tunes can sound better than they would if burned to a CD, and you can also play them on your speaker or hi-fi using the Bluetooth ability. It also has NFC so you can connect it to other compatible devices.
A touch screen keeps you in control so you can change the song or add to a playlist or queue. Say you have a big train journey coming up and want the entire trip to be soundtracked without you having to lift a finger – just do it all before you are on board or once you have your seat.
The control buttons on the screen are all easy to see and press, and even though the display isn’t in colour, it is still informative enough and shows the appropriate artwork.
You can also listen to the radio if you fancy putting your playlist choices in the hands of someone else. Sound quality is high, particularly when played through a quality speaker, but beware that this at high volumes does sap the battery. Saying it will last 45 hours is a bit of a stretch, but it is relatively quick and easy to charge.
The price is pretty mid-ranging and great for an item which can hold so many songs. The display and design are a little uninspiring, and further functions are limited, but if you just want to play music on your commute or in the gym, then it does the job.
