REVIEW: Sony WALKMAN 40th Anniversary NW-A100TPS

[@anessenator]

"That's what forty years of progress have brought us" God that's depressing.

[@this_time_imperfect]

400 pounds... 16 gigabytes... What is this 2009?

[@maxtr1986]

it only for the number of songs fit in a cassette lol

[@diogoleonardo7848]

Bizarre

[@MacXpert74]

Yeah this is just silly. My actual 2009 iPod Touch has better specs with 64 Gb onboard.

[@TPassos19]

For less money in 2009 you could buy an iPod Classic 160 GB

[@MysteryMii]

At least it has a microSD slot for cheap expandable storage.

[@fizzys26]

They’d have been better off just releasing a phone case.

[@Sharklops]

fizzys26 - at the end of the day, a case and a simple app are really all they did release. You pay an exorbitant price for those two things and Sony tosses in a worthless old Experia nobody ever wanted for free.

[@xXx_Oshino_xXx]

I would love a cassette player - phone case hybrid.

[@mr.mythoclast4451]

thats what i thought too

[@Solitaire001]

Actually, the case was the thing that initially caught my interest in this player. It looked like a perfect fit for the player and it's unfortunate that Sony hasn't made cases like that for its other players.

[@syn010110]

or an actual cassette player...

[@nickwallette6201]

Remember when devices used to do one thing, and do it well? I miss the days when my CD player didn't have a license agreement.

[@theclownprinceofcrime8499]

goodluck jogging with your cd player

[@PlayThenSay]

@@theclownprinceofcrime8499 weird comment, used to jog with my Sony CD Player all the time, why wouldn't of you? Do you run like Phoebe from friends? Before some points out skipping and I say ESP and they say it wasn't good enough used to attach it to my torso and it worked fine

[@Suedeash]

@@PlayThenSay Depends how good the anti-skip is in the model

[@rangerkasdorf4476]

@@Suedeash In my experience Sony CD players tend to have excellent anti-skip

[@сосмакер]

@@rangerkasdorf4476 mine too

[@Schpoople]

The price on this thing is just simply offensive

[@agfagaevart]

@Tong Zou You keep posting THE SAME COMMENT. It still does not make this thing worth the money.

[@Schpoople]

Tong Zou that doesn’t make this or anything else you’re talking about sound any less ridiculous. If anything, it sounds worse.

[@VariantAEC]

@@Schpoople And yet no one agreed with your comment... I am a bit confused by that.

[@Schpoople]

VariantAEC I’m a bit confused myself. My comment that you say no one agreed with has over 150 likes lol

[@VariantAEC]

@@Schpoople When I wrote that no one had agreed with you... Notice that I posted my comment a week ago. Time confuses you I guess?

[@Matthew-go9rh]

Well, that turned out to be an incredibly unappealing product.

[@GnuReligion]

A "hobbled smartphone" could be marketable product. But yes, this is extremely unappealing and offends my nerdy values.

[@peteking4958]

Indeed. I just think "Why?".

[@GnuReligion]

@@peteking4958 The whole thing could just be an An app with a book-cover case for a smart phone. A high quality mini-cassette, that digitizes whatever you play, and looks up the title/artist etc ... now that would be a thing.

[@peteking4958]

@@GnuReligion Absolutely. And if it could add a background hiss in between tracks and occasionally go all wibbly to simulate a bit of tape that got mangled in the car stereo then it would add to its authenticity!

[@GnuReligion]

@@peteking4958 Or, it could download a flawless new FLAC of of the 40 year old hissy media just played ... hehe. It is a silly idea though. All my cheap old tapes, commercial or not, are sticking to themselves and flaking apart. Turns out vinyl is infinitely more durable.

[@EDP2000]

It’s not a cassette player... what a disappointment.

[@ItsPyrus]

Even if it did it would be garbage because nobody makes good mechanisms for cassette. Why would you even expect it to though?

[@vooveks]

Yeah, I did get a little rush of hope that they'd actually made a real cassette Walkman. Silly, because this is 2019 and that sort of thing just isn't viable economically any more. But in a way, they'd probably shift more units with even a half-decent tape machine than this thing. Tape is making a bit of a comeback and it would have far more novelty value. Still not for 400 bloody quid though! Unless it was built like the old Pro Walkmans (even less likely, of course!)

[@seanc.5310]

I get the nostalgia as I grew on tapes and the Walkman also. But why would you want an actual new tape Walkman in 2019? You realize how much better we have it for music options these days, right? If you like collecting old tech, find an og Walkman

[@seanc.5310]

Jørn Birkeland because they think it's cool. I completely understand retro. I own a bunch of vintage audio equipment and turntables but still don't want to carry around a crappy Walkman built on crappy 2019 tape components when I can just carry my phone listening to every song in history streaming from the cloud

[@root42]

I think a 40th anniversary walkman could have been economically viable. There is enough people out there that grew up with the walkman and would buy a premium for the experience. Make it 200 USD or so, which should be enough to make a decent mechanism, pack in two new tapes, and I'll bet all the hipsters and nostalgic people would be all over it. The electronics are nowadays so small and cheap, that the Walkman could have recording functionality, line in and out, as well as all electronic buttons and controls. And Sony is big enough that they could have made a few 100,000 of those.

[@ar_xiv]

Why didn’t they just release a real cassette player?

[@bigblueocean]

Because they would like to sell more than a handful.

[@MarioManTV]

Practically, it would sound cheap, exactly like every other modern cassette player, because there's only one manufacturer left.

[@ssmaria]

@@MarioManTV Sony could make a good cassette player if they wanted.

[@paulyh4531]

@@ssmaria of course they could is no diff to their TVs they are all cheap made now days nothing like they used to be either.

[@FroggyMosh]

@@bigblueocean Yes. They want ALL of the money, not just some of the money.

[@JapanPop]

I have an A45 model walkman from a few years back. No android! No gimmicks! Just great sound and 40 hours playtime. Perfect for unplugging from the net and getting lost in intentional listening. Wish Sony would have stayed with that. Love having physical buttons that you can feel while it is still in a jacket pocket.

[@mikipav1064]

Sony killed the legacy of Walkman a while ago. They even renamed their Walkman app into “Music” for their smartphones a couple of years ago.

[@VariantAEC]

Did you ever figure that they changed the app name to preserve the Walkman legacy? They don't make this kind of hardware anymore why is that considered a problem now? Who uses cassettes anymore. Most people I know who really want to preserve their old content digitized their own cassettes long ago. The problem is cassettes aren't really a great format. CD is far better in a lot of ways the media itself is smaller, waterproof stores more higher quality audio content. The player hardware itself is larger, but typically weighs less, it works faster and as a bonus it's still user friendly, light on battery consumption and new devices don't skip or damage discs when tossed around a little. Of course digital media is where this player sits and most devices these days sound excellent even non-Walkman enabled devices far outside of Sony's dominion. That wasn't always true and even when I first purchased my Samsung Galaxy S8 I noted that it had terrible audio quality... That changed and for the better as it should've seeing as how the equipment on board is superior to my previous phones innards in nearly every imaginable way. The phone I upgraded from was a Sony Xperia Z3 and that was an awesome phone but it had heating issues little OS support and Sony stopped selling their phones through carriers which is why I picked up the Samsung Galaxy S8 instead of an Xperia Z5 Premium. The Galaxy S8 is a powerful device and thanks to continued support the device received proper sound fixes that brought it up to par with previous digital Walkman equipment I own. Everything sounds good these days this particular Walkman and most digital Walkman's cater to a niche market. I honestly can't say anything about the quality of these newer devices because I've not picked up a premium Walkman since the X1060 back in 2009. Back then that device also cost $400 USD and it was one of the first to include DNC built into the device itself and it came with the headsets which is why I picked it up. It was glorious and truth be told I wish Samsung had its own integrated DNC feature on smartphones or that other manufacturers jumped on that train Sony's Xperia line of phone's combined all of Sony's best into a phone and the Z3 still has DNC over any new devices including some of Sony's own newer devices and was an incredibly forward looking portable... but I digress. This device is a luxury and like all luxuries it isn't necessary. It has a place for those who do buy it but personally I agree with most people here. Sell a phone case or animated wallpaper skins they'd probably make more money and appeal to a wider range of Walkman fans.

[@Qpwoeiritu1019]

They changed walkman app from xperia devices to reserve the walkman branding only for proprietary walkman devices. They even removed SenseMe and only left it in walkmans That's more like preserving the life of walkman devices. Who would buy it if smartphone has it all

[@drdj69]

go rest in peace . what you doing here?

[@bojangbg]

Still the best app on the market

[@Youtube.Commen-tater]

VariantAEC Tape still has a place in the music industry, it's extremely cheap to produce music on them and can even improve the sound depending on what is being recorded. Metal tape in a tape deck made for metal tapes will sound just as good if not better than CD

[@pasu2k]

Seems like a typical case of paying 100 pounds for the device and 300 pounds for the brand name

[@cyrilleliszt5670]

Given the spec, more like £29.99 for the device (price of the cheapest 16gb unlocked smartphone).

[@-abacchus]

Agreed! Such a waste of money! Not even a true Sony product...

[@alexatkin]

@@cyrilleliszt5670 To be fair it "probably" has a better DAC than a £30 Smartphone, but that certainly should still be under £100.

[@DJGeosmin]

@@cyrilleliszt5670 bet that phone has a really shit dac in it

[@garnhamr]

00sony licenced to print money

[@SomeBorkedAccount]

Slightly depressing that this is the current state of the Walkman

[@Maring0418]

It's still a music player and it does more than what the original Walkman could ever dream of. The only category the old Walkman has the new one beat is in battery, to be honest. Remember that we're talking 2019 - not 1989 or something.

[@SomeBorkedAccount]

@@Maring0418 I completely agree that it is functionality superior to the original Walkman, or any other Walkman for that matter. My issue is that this isn't really a Walkman anymore. It's more of an almost phone. The average phone is good enough to do most of what it can, so this Walkman ends up solving a problem very few people have. Audiophiles can get better hardware for less money, and average people like me are fine with what they have. That said, I still use a minidisc Walkman on a semi regular basis, so there's definitely some bias on my end.

[@heyjoeway]

@@Maring0418 >It's a music player It's a phone with a bunch of shit removed.

[@Maring0418]

@@heyjoeway so? Phones are music players already. DAP:s are a extremely niche market but this DAP does more than most other DAP:s while still not being a mobile phone.

[@heyjoeway]

@@Maring0418 Then why the fuck should I buy a DAP that carries all the hassles of phones with no benefits?

[@darkunderworld]

Way overpriced for a smartphone without the phone... what a missed opportunity

[@ItsPyrus]

missed opportunity for what, exactly?

[@bland9876]

What are you talkin about it has a headphone

[@900Yugo]

Even a new Sony Xperia cost less than this and it has the Walkman app too.

[@hedgehog3180]

@@ItsPyrus Making something similar to the Ipod Touch but for Android, if it was cheaper it would be an interesting product. Products like this are what parents with kids who aren't old enough to get a smartphone but might want something to play games on and use the internet with are looking for.

[@MrPkmngmr]

@@ItsPyrus it's a £400 for a limited edition 16gb Android-powered walkman with poor amp & doesn't even have earphone/headphone included. surely there's something that can still be added considering the cost, can't it?

[@mdmjeremiah]

I'm glad I watched this because I was seriously considering getting this because nostalgia but after this review I reconsidered. Thank you for saving me a lot of money.

[@dano272]

guaranteed - you will be the only reviewer who can drop the actual 1979 Walkman along with the various Anniversary editions along the way. The benefit of your burgeoning hardware library!

[@KaiserGayserOfficial]

Definitely not... 😉

[@RandomAcronyms]

Wait no Memory Stick Duo? Damn Sony, you've changed.

[@Faz-Mania]

PSP ol'day

[@Jdbye]

Maybe it does M2. You can have MicroSD and M2 support in the same slot.

[@keithv708]

the same here

[@gancuimian]

Can i transfer my ATRAC music via SonicStage or OpenMP Jukebox? Wait no ATRAC support?

[@randywatson8347]

I was shocked that I had totally missed on this, but after watching this vid I was relieved...

[@diversityandcomicsbear2625]

The longer this video goes on, the less desirable this device feels. Sony should make a good old fashioned stand alone Walkman.

[@moosemaimer]

If the headphones were included, they couldn't charge you another $110/£85 for them.

[@nunyabiz2016]

People who would buy this already have nice headphones or IEMs so nbd

[@cms1138]

Customers: Hope this 40th Anniversary cassette player will be a fitting celebration of the world's best loved personal music device! Sony: No.

[@thegougy]

well said! :/

[@maunster3414]

xactly

[@richycline]

Nothing about this device indicates it's worth the price. Insulting product.

[@HNedel]

@Tong Zou what exactly is so spectacular about the circuitry in this particular model?

[@NicolasChanCSY]

​@@HNedel These audiophile-grade audio devices often have cleaner and more transparent sound than our daily devices because their circuitry are designed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and thus less noise. Also, the circuitry of these products are tuned so that the outcoming sound from different brands may have a different sound signature. Also, the audio processing of their chip affects the quality of the sound. These devices are specialised to render audio and thus often provides a better soundstage and background sound. Therefore, users can enjoy "more" of and from their music. Regarding price, this player is on the beginner's side. Sony also has DAPs that are way more expensive due to their top-class hardware and software. Those have retail prices of more than USD1000, or even more than USD3000 (WM1Z). So this one is really not that expensive for those audiophiles or enthusiast. Think it like this way, while you may say that Michelin star restaurants are non-sense for their prices and etc., many people love to go to these restaurants because of many reasons, like to have best food, to showoff of social status, to try something new, etc. This player may not be one of those "Michelin stars", but closer than our smartphones or laptops.

[@HNedel]

@@NicolasChanCSY i was asking about the chatacteristics of this specific model, not what "audiophile" quality is and why it is better and costs more.

[@Vincent_Preston]

Only people this could be marketed to are hardcore walkmen fans

[@Cobrancrx]

*owns apple product

[@antonstefanov2146]

This feels like a massive scam to me.

[@veedub95]

Why?

[@Fusiongearz]

bruh normies trying to act smart xD y don't u all go bak 2 n ride dat chad dik LOL XDXDXD

[@WildfireX]

its because you don't understand what it's for (the base version, not this TPS gimmick version)

[@Fusiongearz]

@Cody Martell not wut ur mum siade LOL

[@Fusiongearz]

@Cody Martell yeh n i enyoy erey bit of dem bones xD

[@cdl0]

The packaging seems to be worth more than the product.

[@drdj69]

naah bro you fkn blind?

[@gameznthingz]

@@drdj69 r/wooosh

*doesn't actually play cassettes.

[@hedgehog3180]

Y'know honestly an android device with a good cassette player in it might be an amazing product for transferring stuff from tape to digital that could probably become pretty popular.

[@Roberob1189]

Crazy. I remember picking out a tape and then a cd to listen to on the way to school. Having to pick just one and that’s what I had for the day. When Napster came out I was stoked having the ability to have a mixed cd. Now I carry 20 million songs on my phone and don’t have that worry of only having one band to listen to for the hole day. When I had my Walkman I used to record off the radio so I did have a mix. Damn I miss those days.

[@tarbyonlineful]

Love the cassette animation (and changing types depending on quality). They can keep the rest though! This could easily just have been an app

[@LakeNipissing]

*400 Pounds* and no charger or headphones included... just incredible.

[@pielichiewicz]

Heh - Apple sells monitor stand Pro (o ho ho ho ho) for $1000

[@taraemsavana6729]

@@pielichiewicz So if Apple sell overprice product does that mean every company should sell overprice product?

[@pielichiewicz]

@@taraemsavana6729 Why this device is overpriced? Perhaps this device is so good in terms of music quality that price suits its performance. I just tried to say that price of this walkman (I know some similar devices that have higher price) is nothing comparing to ridiculously priced Apple Pro monitor stand, which have to be bundled with monitor for free and which can be substituted by much cheaper VESA wall mount without any negative effect to monitor's picture quality.

[@frankschneider6156]

@@pielichiewicz Because 400 pounds for something nobody really needs is insane. Apple (due to their demented fanbase) and providers of luxury goods (where the prime reason to pay a lot is to pay a lot to feel good, which is as irrational as people get) get away with this, but Sony isn't. That is as long as they don't want to position themselves in that niche (which would loose them most of their existing customers). While Sony is certainly not being known for being cost efficient, this will contribute to their general view as a "provider of far overpriced" products. There is a fair distinction between being seen as "high quality provider" and "overpriced provider". From an economic point of view is this a clear step towards brand suicide.

[@Spagooblio]

@@pielichiewicz I'd say it's the lack of charger (arguably passable to be honest), headphones (for nostalgia value), and the ROM it uses Definitely could've gone with custom Walkman ROM for the special edition to make it way more Walkman looking instead of a stock Android ROM it has

[@sickregret]

This seems like a big waste of 400 bloody pounds.

[@antwango]

@Tong Zou Sony themselves have a dap for £6000+ and up.... blew my mind.... i have the £150 one lol that i wanted to connect to spotify... im happy with it, if i could connect to wifi would be a bonus... but not sure if hd audio streaming is common yet...

[@jimjam139]

I agree. A complete waste of money. I think I will pass on this. Also audiophile explanations seem removed from the actual physics/biology involved and more like marketing BS to me.

[@richardisaacs567]

@@jimjam139 it's the placebo effect, people convince themselves they need something and because they pay a lot for it they feel it improves their experience. It's really just draining people's bank accounts for profit but if people feel they need it then whatever. This seems like an utter waste of money to me.

[@veedub95]

Buy a Fiio for half the cost

[@veedub95]

Sony sells a DAP unit for $3000

[@rationalrabbit797]

If it's not an actual cassette player, why not just release a commemorative Walkman mug or T shirt, or simply sell a Walkman Music Player app on the Playstore?

[@humansrants1694]

Because joggers need a player with better sound and physical buttons.

[@sedatmehmed4371]

@@humansrants1694 And this have only the physical buttons. It isn't better player

[@costascostas1760]

The problem is in a few years the android version inside will be too old and you won't be able to install any new apps. Even the Sony headphone app might be updated to the point you won't even find it on the play store of this device. I have a tablet that I cannot use youtube because it says it needs to be updated and it won't update because the update doesn't show in play store. Another device can't display the play store well either and cannot install anything because the UI is buggered. This device is a fail for me, it should be a self contained unit just like the original Walkman

[@MrDuncl]

They actually make one the NW-A45 and sell it for less than half the price of this. After eagerly awaiting this review I have just ordered the NW-A45.

[@ArrowRaider]

It also won't get any security updates and could be vulnerable to exploits and attacks.

[@bookshelffury]

Im over here still running kitkat on my sony xperia z3 (2014). I can still install all the lastest apps and they all still get regular updates...

[@costascostas1760]

@@bookshelffury wait a few more years then :) My oldest tablet is an Archos 101 g9 from 2012 with 4.1 android. It wont allow me to use youtube because it says I need to update it. That is only 7 years down the line. I have a laptop from 20y ago I can still use fully... The other tablet is an Asus something which updated their music player to a cloud online version and now they dropped the online support so I have to install another music app than the default. My Samsung mobile tells me a new youtube app version is available, and yet when I go to the playstore, it does not have an update option. All these make me worried, a lot :) I hope with the Sony things will be different, I would not count on relying on online updates and access for the long term though

[@bookshelffury]

I hardly use apps anyway to be honest. I'm replying to this comment on my phone thru the Firefox web browser. I hate the youtube app, it's so useless, so i watch youtube vids thru the web browser as well. And the sony walkman music app i use is original to this phone, never updated it cause it just works. Can't think of much else i use besides Google apps like Gmail, Maps, and Drive. I should be alright. Andriod kitkat rocks. 5 years and no slow downs, no lock ups, havnt had to restore it, it just works. Best phone ive ever had. Soooooo much better than my Samsung s4 which after a year got so slow and locked up all the time and what a pos.

[@christianbolt5761]

They should have made a digital player of similar size to the old Walkman, using the space for a large battery, more memory, and high end amplifier

[@joshuaewalker]

At the very least that's what they should've done

[@Solitaire001]

@@joshuaewalker I agree about the size. One of my issues with many digital audio players is their size, often they are too small to comfortable fit in my hand and I usually end up getting a case to both protect the player and increase its size. One of the few things I liked about my iPod Classic was its size, it fit very comfortably in my hand.

[@PixelOverload]

@@Solitaire001 this thing already looks about the size of an iPod classic, a Walkman is a good 4x larger at least

[@alexanderleatherman]

@@Solitaire001 I bought the Samsung 10e phone because of its size. We are not the only people who have grown tired with our gadgets become behemoths.

[@McFlurryMachineIsDown]

This gotta be a joke... Sony playing us now lol

[@KlaasDeforche]

If only they had released a real Walkman that plays tapes.

[@PięknoŻyje]

@@thefonzkiss for a dollar? Where?

[@VariantAEC]

@@thefonzkiss Forty years ago? Sony discontinued making Walkman cassette players less than 10 years ago.

[@watershed44]

@The Fonz Sure you can except it's been picked out of a trash bin and is destroyed and hasn't played a tape in 30 years. Stop trolling moron.

[@rationalmartian]

Bullshit. Are you telling me you cannot find a Walkman for sale? Maybe you will pay a premium for a collectible or sought after model, but you could find one from any make. BUT WHY? Why the fuck would anyone want to piss around with cassettes and cassette decks these days. They were shit thirty years ago. Now obsolete and useless comes to mind. I see no niche even. Unless you are a collector, OK. But to actually use. Day to day as a system for music, either static or on the move, it is a non starter. In the day, even if you went all out with good chrome and decent metal tapes and a damn fine and expensive TEAC, Sony, Technics or Nakamichi, etc deck, they were still an inferior product and sound. They just seem to suffer from tape hiss and lack of headroom, even with the different Dolby systems, which created another problem in itself especially on the move or sharing stuff, as it would invariably be the wrong one, or was mislabelled or not labelled. I most certainly do NOT miss bloody rewinding etc, either. LOL.

[@VariantAEC]

@@rationalmartian Agreed. Collected, fine: typical use... There's better methods of listening to music these days. Wish I had the foresight to digitize some of my old cassette media though (even if the quality wasn't fantastic).

[@ruslan10]

Such a missed opportunity... An iPod is half the price and is: -thinner -Has two cameras -latest iOS -more internal storage How did they manage to make the iPod look amazing.

[@mejiolo]

IPod doesnt sound like A100. Walkman sound miles better. IPod isnt even aiming for audio quality...

[@viper1vols]

Surat Kittimingmongkhon The player is just an app....... you’re really saying this device will play the same digital file better than another device?

[@spicecaptain7279]

In every tech thread there’s always a person with animoji userpic telling that Apple has something better

[@ruslan10]

Spice Captain Spice Captain I was looking forward to this walkman. Look at it and tell me that its not rubbish, an £80 android would give you a camera, phone and at least heaphones included. Absolutely nothing can defend this product.

[@jcardboard]

You can get some really good phones for less than the price of this, some of them will have very good DAC etc if you care about that. Just use them as a digital audio player if you must. Shame this product is so lazy

[@williambrown319]

Four hundred pounds for a phone...that doesn't make calls. Really Sony?

[@bland9876]

If you really wanted to make calls on this you would have to download one of those apps that allows you to make phone calls over Wi-Fi also he didn't mention it having any speakers in it so you would have to have headphones with a microphone I'm assuming it would be able to get audio from your microphone

[@xboxlive6]

Think different... wait, wrong company.

[@MrMichaelfalk]

it has a very nice dac and amp that is WAY better than any phone - dont believe everything you see on youtube. It is for people who loves good sound... The only phone that can match this is an LG with QUAD dac.

[@MrDuncl]

The funny thing is that at the start of the century ago a mobile phone was a fraction of the cost of an MP3 Player. Real prices from the 2003 Argos catalogue Nokia 3310 Mobile phone £80. Rio Riot 20GB MP3 player £330. Since the phone is obviously the cheap bit why do we call them phones ? :-)

[@FroggyMosh]

​@@MrDuncl Oh, yeah. Travel through time and Describe what you can do with a modern 'phone' to someone who lives in 1992. They will not call it a phone. for one, A phone has big numbered buttons and a plastic hook you talk into. And it's wired into the wall, maybe a car. A phone is also not an encyclopedia... nor a photo camera, photo album, camcorder, boom-box, mirror, calculator, _"Hey where's your address book?", "wha- Wait!? You control this by touching the screen? You're pulling my leg."_

[@darrenmckeown990]

That’s a lot of money for a device which simply displays a digital rotating tape

[@davidgreer4790]

When you said “ATRAC”, it sounded like “8-Track”. 😆

[@PassiveDestroyer]

Oh, I really thought he said 8-track. Which is funny that a Sony device doesn't even support their own audio standard.

[@сосмакер]

same here

[@rienpost3145]

It's official: Sony has lost the plot. Thanks for the warning.

[@Aleksa_Milicevic]

They've lost the plot back in the mid-2000s, with spyware-infested CD releases. The Walkman had been reduced to an Android application years ago, after the endless watering down of the brand through naming myriad feature phones after it. The app ended up with a very original name, “Music”. An overpriced, outdated, half-skinned smartphone-minus-the-phone with a horrendously poor battery life isn't the easiest product to pitch, either to the audiophile niche or to the wider market, and it certainly isn't what the Walkman enthusiasts deserve.

[@nicomeier8098]

If Sony had any balls they would bring out a walkman that runs cassette tapes!

[@FroggyMosh]

I honestly think people would have bought that. People might even have bought a Sony smartphone built around an actual cassette player. Especially if they'd stylized it like the original Walkman.

[@smug_slime]

@@FroggyMosh that is a horrible idea.

[@nunyabiz2016]

They might if cassette sales keep going up

[@FroggyMosh]

@@smug_slime It's a bit niche. But slapping an android phone onto a cassette player is what they tried to emulate with this product. Except this is not even a phone. It's a stylized 400 GBP 3 inch tablet-thing. They tried to sell you a 400 pound _media player skin._ Edit: And they try to up-sell you extra on a 115 GBP blue-tooth headset.

[@OttosTheName]

They still sell cd player, casette player, radio combo's... So they know there's still a small market. Honestly this kubd of no-phone-phone seems almost more niche than a tape playing walkman.

[@vooveks]

Gah. No. This is just...Bad. 400 notes? I mean, you said it all. Even if it was 200, it would still be lame. The only cool thing is the tape animation (where they couldn't even be bothered to show the tape spool changing for track position). All the things you could get for 400 quid. You can nearly get an iPhone 8 for that. Anyway, an entertaining and thorough review as always, thanks.

[@kruzerblade4740]

1. Ipod touch seems much better. 2. What's the point? You could just buy a cheap smartphone and them install the sony music app there. If not that. There are many more better music apps.

[@vooveks]

@@kruzerblade4740 Or you could buy the smartphone and _not_ install the Sony app ;)

[@kruzerblade4740]

Citizen of Nowhere anyway

[@dettespaghetti5412]

after seeing this all i can say is I WANT IT.this is perfect for me being an amateur collector and i can see why some may not be interested but as for me i'm sold and i'm extremely exited to get my hands on this awesome new device

[@cole1714]

you are the only market for this thing lol

[@BaggyMcPiper]

Sony's really asking people to pay hundreds of dollars for an mp3 player in 2019, huh?

[@henrikpetersson3463]

Had it been a really good one I would have been interested. But they probably thought not that many would be interested so they didn't even bother trying.

[@Ozzymandias493]

The walkman was such a success that the retarted execs believe nostalgia will bring back those same customers.

[@MrExnihlo]

I paid 200 for a walkman (A-45) and love it.

[@hendrikschuch]

aha and apple can keep their prices up, but Sony really is giving you some hd audio device, which is compared to others pretty good if you want some real good devices you probably have to spend more than 500 bucks this price is ok

[@memesfromdeepspace1075]

And Apple want you buy a stand ,

[@Ngamer834]

So the only reason to buy it "Oh wow a cassette animation so awesome!" I think I'll pass on this one.

[@JeeGee114]

Don't forget those stickers....

[@damionlee7658]

So Sony have created a slightly modified "Sony Music Centre" app, and included tape animations >>inspired

[@MilanCekic]

First of all, dear Techmoan, thanks for sharing this video. Very well presented (as usual) and informative. But essentialy, what I felt after watching - what a nice, lovely, well-made and utterly expensive vinyl case! Have no other words to describe how generic and ordinary feels and looks this device (without the case). And I couldn“t agree more with many other users talking about "missed opportunity", "garbage" and "original cassette player". What a heck is with Sony guys anyway? Cassettes are currently facing a great comeback, there are more and more brand new albums (and these are not limited to hipster and indie sounds anymore, but also mainstream and other genres are rising and having a new and different life on good old cheap medium, which original walkman made so popular in golden days!).... People want cassettes again, cassete is sturdy and relible, and then, obviously, they want to buy a gear to listen to tapes.... what happens is that (not that) cheap, low quality chinese devices are being sold like hell these days, sounding like crap, and the original inventor and producer of genuine "pocket cassette player" (also one of the world“s largest music labels!) haven“t even bothered to notice a trend. In that context, this "anniversary" so called "walkman" fits like a fist in the eye of any true walkman and sony admirers.... what a pity! Many people asked me for advice what cassette walkman to buy nowdays, and most of them are shocked that only proper solution to enjoy (old and new) tape albums and compilations is to buy a used, refurb or "old new stock" device (luckily, some of your videos are explaining very well what to buy or not, so I advise them to use it as refference - once more: thanks, Techmoan!).... knowing that other serious large companies are following the trend (like Tascam, with a very decent 202ᴍᴋVII deck), it“s a great shame that Sony totally ignored a great chance to show who is the bass, once again. :( cheers!

[@303nitzubishi4]

You made a good point about the compatible earbuds; they should be included at this price point. The case and the app with the visualizer are the only things that have ANY value here. Thanks for filling in the details of the device for all of us I think alot of us just saved $400! I'll stick with my 10yr old 16gb Walkman I love that thing.

[@GTAbestplayer123]

I am just going to hold to hold on to my NW-A866. It still sounds amazing and can do Bluetooth so it is still very convenient to bring with me since I can use my Sony XM4s with it.

[@yournamehere23435]

So essentially Sony is selling an app for 400 pounds...

[@GeorgeNoiseless]

Oh the things you can sell to an "audiophile".

[@CoTeCiOtm]

@Tong Zou well, you can expect those gullible people to buy anything.

[@marktmdyorkshire7610]

Wow I'm actually disappointed. I was going to get one of these. I'll stick with my phone. Great video, thanks for sharing.

[@rochester212]

I have a 20 year anniversay sony wm-ex20 walkman. That thing looks stunning, all made from stainless steel with a mirror finish. Works fine 20 years later. Now that's a walkman!

[@Narayan_1996]

The whole fun to me is using tape, so that means a solid NO for this product.

[@VariantAEC]

If that was the point why did you watch this review? Did you not know Sony discontinued making cassette players? That was newsworthy stuff apparently because that literally made global headlines a few years ago now.

[@Narayan_1996]

@@VariantAEC "If that was the point why did you watch this review?" Since when does having an idea about a product stop me from seeing a review about it? I said fun, no point, because I use digital media and I don't complain that they can't play a tape. Why did I watch? because I wanted to know what it was, since the product is advertised as a Walkman, and I thought it might be a new cassette player. You express yourself very badly and assume too much for people. Not everyone has the same view and opinion about everything, and I am proof of that. Have a good time.

[@dannydownsouth6078]

Why wasn't this a cassette player with smartphone controls and streaming capabilities instead!?

[@peterjf7723]

Because cassette player are too mechanical and it would cost too much to tool up a factory to make them.

[@mejiolo]

because A100 is a standard for for Sony DAP rightnow.

[@otakuribo]

"Flippin'" **turn to Side B* " 'eck!"

[@MichaelMurphy-mg2nr]

Would be nice if Sony came out with a cassette Walkman. As cassettes are making a comeback.

[@MaxBrix]

Hey Sony, where's my $300 pager? It's 2019 I need a $300 MP3 player AND a $300 pager.

[@mejiolo]

300 dollar mp3 player is actually budget entries rightnow, try searching what a DAP is before commenting.

[@MaxBrix]

@@mejiolo Have you seen how good pagers are these days. A DAP is a digital audio player, did you mean DAC?

[@madson-web]

Overpriced AF. A decent headphone should've been included at least.

[@Ninja-Alinja]

Madson Freitas to be fair, anyone who would spend this much on a “Walkman” will have and will want to use better headphone than what they could have included

[@humansrants1694]

You only buy this to play HD music so one would use high end headphones like those costing over £70 .

[@SiberianIce2022]

I wonder what the "pounds" would look like in US funds when the original Walkman's were being sold.

[@DaaaveO1971]

14:32 The most honest sales pitch you'll hear for this device

[@mrb2917]

I'd like to see them do a modern take on the WM-D6, a new flagship Walkman that plays actual tapes. Slightly smaller, super nice metal shell, direct drive, Dolby-s, etc

[@Twist3rOffical]

They should do the d6c for the Dolby c

[@orronoco524]

I really want Sony release their new phone with the same size like this.

[@tonyjones9442]

Techmoan saved us all £400. Thankyou. I actually thought the first few minutes of this was a joke!

[@lm_dccxl4078]

No wonder why they are struggling on everything but playstation division.

[@thegrimyeaper]

They are also putting out award winning receivers.

[@YoungBlaze]

Their cameras are good

[@tylerdoop]

They make really amazing sounding audio equipment like cars and home theatre setups. Their TVs are also some of the best in class.

[@apachehelocopto1779]

What about sony semiconductors?

[@funtime974]

Sony is making profits off Playstation, cameras and medical equipment. This Walkman isn't going to cost the company too much in terms of loss. Not like their phone division which was bleeding cash. The Walkman was probably made in the phone division. Which would be more economical to produce and the most likely reason it uses Android.

[@Daehawk]

Shame they didn't make a real cassette player as they are starting to become popular again like vinyl did. I love cassettes. Guess cause I grew up as a teen with them in the 80s.

[@WaveSineReverse]

I'd hope that Sony will make that app available in the Google Play Store since the different cassettes displaying is neat.

[@TemporallyYours]

Yeah I'm waiting for someone to upload the APK, definitely the best part of this whole release.

[@hawyercruz3618]

The cassette UI is adorable

[@stvlu7333]

This is just like when they turned the "Pressman" portable pocket recorder into the Walkman. It's just an upgrade and not an actual new product like it should have been. Way to go Sony.

[@drzazgi666]

This is probably the worst piece of hardware released this year

[@viciokas1993]

You could literally get an iBasso DAP with balanced output for the same price as this. No idea what Sony was thinking, especially since they have some high-end DAPs too. All they needed to do was downgrade the specs on them a little to bring the price down from outrageous to somewhat affordable, and they would have been sorted. I had an iPod Touch in 2010 with basically the same functionality and specs, and it was cheaper than this too...

[@dreadnaut1269]

Google stadia haha

[@ccateni28]

Stadia: Move aside!

[@monetize_this8330]

All manufacturers should be fined a huge sum for products with p!ss-poor battery life or limited lifespan.

[@maxtrex7977]

How does the sound quality compare with the early Walkman devices such as the NW a55 and a45? Is it worth the upgrade? (I have heard that this device also has some low power issues in a wired setup)

[@MemoryLane2]

You assessment and comments is on point m8. I do missed those back from the 80's itself, solid, metal, cool to touch and simplicity at it best. Thank for your reviews.

[@kufjapierdziele]

Person who designed this pice of .... should be fired

[@Mustakari]

Maybe they did. After the month it took to create this product.

[@ItsJustElenore]

No GPS but at least it has Google Maps preinstalled...

[@berkut6313]

Just gave it a try. I compared my Wh-h910n with LDAC Bluetooth and wired through the output socket, the A100 is really enjoyable. Next I plugged in my closed-back Focal Listen Pro (more geared towards studio mixing I’m told, but appart form my reddish and black color, I bet the drivers are exactly the same). The Sony sounded pretty much the same with or without the wire (which tends to prove LDAC is really nice in this DAP price range - and that the built-in headphone DAC isn’t bad at all, just as the internal amplifier isn’t too distorted). The Bass is very present (no boost, no eq, no dsp tricks), details (transients, attacks) are Ok. On the Listen Pro, the bass is thinner, but the details are much clearer, as is the stereo imaging. Initially I enjoyed the Sony a lot more, but I realized it might get fatiguing over long periods. The Focal « listen » brand name is correctly describing what it is for. I think I’m going to use the Sony when I multitask around and want a good vibe, but plug-in the Focal when I want to rest and do just that : listen. The Wh-h1000Xm3 and 4 have bigger drivers I’m told, but the 910n has already got Bass-a-plenty, and as an iOS device user, have no need to pay for APT-X codecs : SBC, AAC and LDAC is all I need.

[@williamjones4483]

Excellent video from Techmoan as always. Sony Walkman 40th anniversary "cassette" player, not so much.

[@TDHurley]

Total waste of money and future landfill waste product.

[@herrfriberger5]

It was Aiwa that designed and built the original "Walkman" in 1978-79. (Aiwa was partly owned by Sony at the time, but still a totally different and separate company with their own research and product development.)

[@sjac9242]

With sim card option and camera this will be the perfect small Smartphone! I hope to see some day Walkman phone this size.

[@atilliar]

What's next? An anniversary version of a Discman that doesn't play CDs?

[@themac6356]

Jonathon Hurley DON’T GIVE THEM ANY IDEAS!

[@Pocket-Calculator]

For years Sony has been releasing Walkmans which are just digital players. I remember buying one back when the iPod was a thing. It was great.

[@unisonproto]

You can probably sideload that music app onto any Android device!

[@W00fer]

It's quite a cool piece of technology and I'm really happy Sony put's effort into creating Hi-Res Audio devices. Although pricey it's the one of the few options to go for if you want Hi-Res Audio with the format support in a compact form factor with 3,5mm audio and USB-C. The SoC used is coming from Freescale/NXP type i.MX 8M Mini Quad, or MIMX8MM6DVTLZAA CPU which runs at 1.8GHZ and it is unclear whether or not it will get an update to Android 10. That being said, it's hopefull that OPUS, Ogg Vorbis and other formats are hardware accelerated as well as they can eat quite a lot of battery when software decoded.

[@joshuaewalker]

This is a great example of dropping the ball on a really cool idea. If Sony had just used their own custom OS instead of Android that little thing would probably get twice the battery life and 10x the standby time. And for that price a nice set of wired headphones definitely should've been included.

[@shapeshifter8986]

they produced this crap just to point out the genius of the 1979 model

[@mejiolo]

It's just a limited version of A100. Walkman has changed it's market and focus more on sound quality not portability anymore. You would be surprise that this one is actaully a budget level im the market.

[@nuvitcoskun4324]

as a fan of retro stuff and music this had zero attraction to me... i own creative mp3 players with awesome retro look and sound quality without the hassle.

[@Sharklops]

that 40th Anniversary clip-art blends so beautifully with Sony's design aesthetic

[@jingarjay8754]

"No GPS" Then what's the point of including Google Maps

[@SianaGearz]

Well it's not like simply having a map isn't useful. When we used to have paper maps, we didn't have GPS either... But then, you do have a smartphone in your pocket. They included it because they had to by Google Apps agreement - if you want the Play Store, you also get Maps; if you don't want Maps or 20 other Google apps cluttering up your device, you have to make it like the other Android portable player mentioned in the review, and provide your own app distribution system that would by its nature be limited to a handful apps, plus sideloading, plus you'd have to be afraid that once device maker's app distribution system goes offline, you have a brick on your hands - a brick that someone with technical skill can easily remedy, but someone's typical grandma will struggle with.

[@UnitSe7en]

Are you stupid?

[@vooveks]

Well, to be fair, it does have WiFi. I use Google maps 'indoors' all the time. Not that I'm saying this thing isn't a pile of crap. ;)

[@FroggyMosh]

Well you could still use a map without GPS. Why Google Photos is on a device without a camera is beyond me though..... Unless you want to sync all your photos onto a device meant for playing music? While also lugging your phone around in the other pocket. You know, the thing which probably shot said photos and still holds most of said photos _(unless you are one of the 4 people in the world who actually sorts and deletes their photos)_ This device is just utterly useless in-and-of itself. Just a plastic brick. A £400 paper weight.

[@vooveks]

@@FroggyMosh They've basically made an iPod from a time just before everyone got an iPhone and didn't need their iPod any more. Well done Sony!

[@MBDWilkes]

I also got one of these. Yeah... The first thing I did was uninstall and deactivate all the stupid Google apps, and disable the Google Assistant button. It's disappointing that the tape display isn't a lock screen display (making it work on any audio source, albeit maybe without the fun tape type feature. I'm glad you explained why the ambient noise reduction wasn't working, I thought it was just terrible. I wonder why they don't trust any arbitrary mic input on headphones for that. One thing you didn't mention is that the build quality is quite good, it's a satisfying thing to hold in your hand. For me, I think it was a bad purchase at £400, but I'm glad I bought a DAP and it's not so bad that I'm going to get rid of it and buy another.

[@vooveks]

Oh man. Sorry for your loss (of 400 quid) ;) I think the only reason to buy one would be to keep it sealed as a collectors item to resell at some point.

[@SianaGearz]

The problem is not about trusting the mic, there is probably no functionality in the device hardware to implement this for wired headphones, because after all it's probably reusing standard phone hardware which has a dumb output, and the latency is much too long to implement it at the operating system level. It's even worse for wireless headphones, it's fundamentally impossible to implement on a wireless host - the latency is enormous. So how it is implemented, is in the wireless earbuds internally, that's the only way, and you get CSR headset chipsets with the noise suppression function implemented as a stock library which uses the on-chip DSP, you don't actually even have to do much engineering. And then they probably went in and created artificial vendor lock-in by allowing only their host to turn this feature of the headphones on or off, because that's just SONY for you.

[@matthewwilkes6162]

@@vooveks It was £300 in the end. I got progressively more and more annoyed after posting my comment, until I'd worked myself up to the point that I called Amazon to say that I wasn't happy that the ambient sound and noise cancelling features weren't actually possible to use and that I wanted to return it. They asked if £100 would change my mind, and it did.

[@jmiller007]

I had a silver and a blue ex672 (the 20th anniversary ones). Best Walkmans of the lot, IMO. They had fantastic SQ and battery life was over 50 hours. They were the biz.

[@hasbeendrummer]

I was severely injured in a skiing accident, and I'm confined to a wheelchair. Am I allowed to own this product?

[@JacGoudsmit]

Soooo... a smartphone with a couple of extra buttons and no phone. Yeah that doesn't sound (pun not intended) like a GBP 300 reason to buy. Comes in a nice box though :-)

[@ElZamo92]

Jac Goudsmit it’s £400 actually

[@hedgehog3180]

Considering you can make gesture controls that you can use while the screen is locked that can do the same you're not even really getting extra buttons.

[@Light-DelaBlue]

is literaly a 10 year old xperia for me X3

[@perikholt3395]

So it took Sony 10+ years to respond to the iPod Touch.

[@MacXpert74]

And the 10 year old iPod Touch I have is still better! LOL!

[@locobrown]

Near the end, our guy was a bit irritated at that point and seemed to become a bit upset but managed to keep his cool as he was finishing the review of the device. I felt a sigh of relief when he said his staple iconic phrase: "As always, That's it for the moment, thanks for watching". I was feeling anxious, we can all be glad this was over. Sony really dropped the ball here with what worthless device. Techmoan, send that device back from where it came from. Demand your money back. Its not worth your time to fiddle with it nor anyone else, i would have preferred a mechanical retro re-release of the Walkman also.

[@ct92404]

Yup, good analysis and I agree completely. Sony is trying to cash in on nostalgia just to sell another boring, bland digital device. Disgraceful.

[@TomPlotagon]

They should have done a combo, one side the actual cassette Walkman, and on the other side the digital screen. Plus they should make it a heck cheaper, considering you can get an MP3 player for 30 dollars these days, and a portable cassette player for 25 dollars.

[@liquemascis]

I'm glad you bought one so I don't have to. I had friends post links about this thinking it was an actual cassette player. Which would have been great. Like you said it's more of a phone without the phone.

[@video99couk]

As I watched this I went from "waste of time" to "that's actually really nice" and back again several times. The only app that would matter to me would be Spotify, which I'm sure works fine, but would it be better than an S10+ for that? No, probably not. Perhaps a cute Walkman screen on the 'phone would be almost as attractive.

[@Fusiongearz]

See your s10+ may be able to take good pictures and have a good screen and what not, but that doesn't mean it will sound the same as this Walkman. Your phone has a low quality dac and amp that won't sound as good as a device that actually took the time to put good components in there. There is a reason DAPs like this exist and that's because they will sound considerably better and be louder than any smartphone. Mind you not everyone cares about sound quality and be fine with the cheap earbuds that were included with the phone or some $10 skullcandies. However, for those that do enjoy good quality sound a device like this is actually worthwhile. Especially since it runs android which means you can get streaming apps to run on it and with services like Tidal you can get master quality audio streams. The only smartphone manufacture that is actually putting in decent dac and amp is LG and those phones aren't that popular. So chances are you like most people are fine with mediocre sound and that's fine, to each their own.

[@video99couk]

@@Fusiongearz I like decent sound which is why I use good quality Sennheiser HD25SP wired headphones on my S10+. This player can't stream away from wi-fi which really limits it.

[@Fusiongearz]

@@video99couk A lot of services have options for offline streaming so I doubt that is really much of a problem.

[@sideskroll]

The thing Im interested the most in: Where/how to get the walkman app by itself?

[@rzeka]

Maybe in 10 more years they'll make a walkman that's actaully a walkman

[@Bobtubeau]

This would have been fantastic around 10 years ago

[@hardrivethrutown]

"A standard industry walkman with a plastic shell... We waited 40 years and paid £400 for a plastic shell"

[@berkut6313]

Advice to those who might be interested : the NW-A100 series do not offer a (usb)-DAC function. The A55 does, but the it de-activates all the Bluetooth circuitry, and you cannot use it as an LDAC bridge.

[@InvidiousIgnoramus]

The tape not serving as an indicator of time left is a missed opportunity. Also, the standby battery consumption will get MUCH better as Android learns your use habits. I've always found that the case when I've reset my phone.

[@Sheevlord]

A castrated smartphone for the price of a fully functional one! Pay more, get less!

[@V0odOo]

It should have been Apple branded!

[@ChintanPandya01]

I was so excited for this video. Now I am just disappointed. Sony truly missed an opportunity here. Still love the brand though.

[@Willsanky]

£400!? Really? For a glorified mp3 player? WTF to that