Sony Walkman Exists in 2023?

Turns out it never left...

Team Credits:

Ken Bolido - Host & Writer

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[HuffGLaDTem]

if i had infinite money i’d probably buy one but i can’t spend that cash on something just because it’s neat

[SaveMeAzathoth]

It was nice to see a tech review like this that does a good job of understanding why this device exists instead of just reviewing it like an incomplete smartphone.

I’ve tried using dongles with my phone and while that solution “works”, they’re awkward enough that I decided carrying a second device was actually the less inconvenient option. Wound up going with a Hiby instead of a Walkman, though.

Compared to other devices in the same product category, the Walkman line mostly seems to compete on specs with stuff around half its price. And the “you can walk into a store and buy it” purchase convenience advantage vanishes if you live in a country where volume limiter regulations mean a device with laughable power output unless you import instead like you’d do for the competition anyway.

[infamouzdekay]

I have one lol only because it helps make my phone battery last longer & if it runs out of battery then of course I can just switch to my phone! Good way to make your phone battery have a longer battery life in the long run also without wearing it down so much because lets be honest, we all listen to music for more than at least 30 minutes.. awesome work here ken!!

[saviordream]

I have a Sony Walkman NW-A55 which I purchased back in 2021 when I was working from home. I listened to mostly my own music library, and I found I had too much music to fit on my smartphone at that time (this was when smartphones were getting rid of expandable storage and higher storage models were quite expensive). I really loved it, and it worked well for me. The model I had still used Sony's own OS, as Sony's Android powered Walkman models at the time had horrendous battery life, 10 hours or so on a charge, whereas their own OS models were getting 30 - 40 hours.

Now though, I'm back to working in an office and so I can't really use headphones. Not to mention I was able to get a good deal on a phone that, while still lacking expandable storage, has enough capacity to hold my full music library. Nowadays, I use a small Bluetooth speaker on my desk and either play local files from my phone or stream audio from my Wi-Fi connection. I still have the Walkman, but it's use-case for me has diminished enough that I rarely use it anymore. Still glad they exist though, and for the right person they are most certainly a great choice.

[TheMreargasm]

Hey your acting on spiderman is on point. Keep up the good work. I did not know that you’re a youtuber as well.

[arianrhod]

This would work for my husband. He is still using an old iPod Touch. It uses the original 30 pin sync/charging cable. The Touch is starting to show its age. My husband wants to keep his music off his phone.

[frankov_]

I recently bought an LG G8 unlocked with its quad-DAC for $105 on amazon.

Android 12, excellent screen, microSD and 128GB of internal storage.

My old iPod touch was dying so I went that route instead for a secondary music-only device and I'm very glad I did.

[johnchoy]

What's that weird port that Ken keeps plugging his headphones into? Some sort of jack... for headphones? A headphone jack?! That can't exist in a portable device.

[jessicawilson]

I desperately wanted a discman as a kid but never got it. My first mp3 player however was a Walkman and one of my first phones was a Walkman phone so even though I’m an apple Stan who can no longer be bothered with downloading everything when Apple Music tells me what to like and collects all my fave music for me, I’ll always have a soft spot for the Walkman product segment.

[alexko]

The Walkman CD players were good! I had one that lasted forever in elementary school. I had a few Walkman MP3 players in middle school & early in high school, I’ll say 2006-2010. I can actually remember the CD player killing the cassette player, mp3 player killing the cd player & smartphones killing the mp3 player and 29. I work with a few people who just graduated high school and they thought I was old when I asked them if they remember ripping and burning CDs 🤣😭

[yaps]

It would've been a more compelling buy if it had both 3.5 and 4.4 balanced out, which is very useful when you want to drive some IEMs such as Planars like Timeless and Wu Zetian Heyday.

But for the price, I'd rather just refurbish an old Android phone and install LineageOS and get a USB-C Dual DAC like the tanchjim Space or the Truthears Shiro + add a microSD card if possible

[alejandroelcid]

I would like to hear his take on some of the portable DAC/AMPs available. I'm talking about the those from brands like Shanling, FiiO, and Qudelix. They are cheaper, smaller, and give you the option to use them with a wire or with Bluetooth.

I personally use the BTR5 from FiiO, because my wire headphones sound better than my Bluetooth ones, and sometimes that is what I want to use on the go; it cost less than a third of the price than the Walkman. You can even get a neckband from Moondrop, Little White, use it with adapters and now you're all set. These all have their use cases even for non-audiophiles but for people not interested in audio it might not matter.😁

[alvzcizzler]

I mean the Walkman outlived the iPod so there's that!

[bluemist_ch]

So nice that you really get into the weeds of the features here. It made me double-check the specs and realize it's also a USB-C DAC! It suddenly became appealing to me because I have forever looked at DAC/AMP reviews but never considered myself audiophile enough to want a dedicated one.

That Walkman does seem like a device that can fit in specific use cases very effectively.

[atherasia]

I think it's reasonable to carry a dedicated listening device especially in today's day and age where everything you do is condensed in to a smartphone, which hopefully will decrease the amount of time interacting with smartphone. Or at least, that's how I justified myself If I happens to owns it.

[boing]

I have a Sony NW-A55l which isn't an Android driven device like this but if they have followed the same software operation then the bookmarks will be a disaster for podcast listeners or audiobook users. First issues is basic navigation, if you switch the device on go into the file tree to find a track to play it will let you step backwards from the track out to the main file tree with navigation buttons BUT if you start the player at a track the backwards navigation button will only take you the the album and no further so if you want to jump to another album from the same artist you have to go to the top of the file tree and find it from scratch.

If you save tracks to one of the 10 bookmarks lists you have to remember which list you're using as you can't rename them or go into them when saving to check the contents.

Saving a podcast or audiobook in the bookmarks list starts it from the beginning, not from where it was bookmarked, I get this when saving a song but there needs to be an option for other content, not much fun scrolling through a 10 hour audiobook to see where you left off...

Final issue is that when you've pulled up the bookmarked content and played it the player will not go to the next item in the folder where that content is located, it goes to the next item in the bookmark list, so if you bookmark a podcast and want to run straight onto the next one in the folder you have to stop the player at the end and go to the top of the file tree to find the next from scratch. This somewhat negates the point of bookmarking in the first place.

[MrPatonMarshall]

I was excited to see this product line make a comeback and I have been considering leaving my phone behind and just relying on my watch so a dedicated device sounds fun. However... I do not like that there is no clear future for devices like these. The older ones had no operating system and their lifespan was limited by the availability of the medium they played and the mechanical quality of the parts they were made of. I don't think we will ever see anyone successfully revive this style of player so really it does come down to audio quality and expendable income. If the audio quality was otherworldly then sure... but at the end of the day it's just an android device that can DAC it up a bit.

Love the channel btw.

[Betelgeusewaitforit]

I have a Sony A55. I only use it with my iems. It wont drive proper headphones but the sound. Man the sound is amazing even after 3 years. I find that it was a great investment. The dap is so good and it gives life to actual instruments bein played. If you like computer generated audio you don't need it. Use your phone.

[boutthere]

I bought one and love it. I don't use it for streaming and I don't connect it to wifi. I like being in control of my own files and just dragging and dropping my music files onto the micro SD, inserting it back into the player, rebuilding the data base and listening to my files independently of a phone or the internet. The only time I link to wifi is to check for an update otherwise it's not connected. Another big plus is how much better my files sound on this vs my iPhone. I listen to mostly Old Time Radio Shows(showing my age) and I was very impressed how this tiny player made them sound which is very impressive when you consider how low quality some of these files are. This little player has impressed me so much I'm now willing to look at the higher end units down the road. My only concern is battery replacement?

[Kero]

As someone using an a105 for the past year, one of the best decisions for no distraction music listening while studying or editing