If you ask "Why would someone use a Walkman instead of a phone?" probably don't join the Super* Discord channel: discordapp.com/invite/ZBpXZnp

After few years, people will be like : I wish these things were a bit thinner, a bit bigger and maybe had a camera and were able to make calls too!

We had a 1st gen Echo in our master bathroom for listening to music in the morning kzfaq.infoUgkxABghAEkaIDGZfHRBH3D3rBrlraNmnC71 and while in the shower. I didn't realize how tinny and awful the sound output on the original Echo was until we replaced it with the Studio. It was a sonic upgrade far beyond what I was expecting. Just wow. I love it because it's like having speakers IN the shower. My friend likes it because the music is so loud that she can no longer hear me singing. So that's a win-win.

wish they made a new xperia in this design

Thanks for taking the time to post this. It answered most of my own questions about the same upgrade from the NW-a45

I really wish Sony released their walkman phones again with same size as this A105

Wow. It's built so perfectly. It's what we dreamed of one day getting back in in the mid 2000s.

I bought one of these on Amazon and it arrived yesterday. It is so small and compact. As a blind person I was able to turn on the talkback screen reading feature by pressing and holding the two volume buttons for three seconds. I have been playing around with it a little bit but like yourself I probably will get a SD card because as you say it has got lots of software preinstalled. My walkman did not seem to come with headphones but I have a good stereo pair which I used and the sound was quite good. I like yourself will probably only use the music player feature rather than any of the other apps on there. I am so glad though that it is accessible, as many years ago you had to learn your way around the device by memory or get someone to help you.

Now, we can just use a flip phone and bring this to check mail or maps, and this is a damn good Player

Your comment on the potential security risk is important. Thanks for that!

Love the Computation joke on 6:05. Your background is really nice.

Your suggestion of using pinning as a solution for the security issues was valuable.

Thanks for all man. This is what I'm looking for a review, lot of information and a direct comparation for the last generation. I will keep my Walkman NW-A55 as my DAP for the moment, as you do, I don't use streaming apps too, and the battery is very important be cause on my work I can't charge nothing because we use machines that needs special plugs of power. Keep the good work, and happy New year.

Ah, the Xperia compact everyone wanted. Also Google play services probably is the reason for the battery life

Listening to you is such a pleasant experience, and your reviews are very digestible and useful!

If this thing could make phone calls it would be my primary device

I've been using the Sony Walkman (NWZ-A17 I believe) for years now. It's the best thing ever. I'm grateful for your review, this is curious.

Using my all time favourite music player whilst wearing a pebble makes this really special for me.

Big ups to you for crediting the artist whose music you used, especially putting it in the video not just the description. Too many channels don't.

Cheers for this review. Everything covered for me. Had 3-4 years off from Sony Walkmans after using them for many years. Only recently plugged an old ZX1 (the expensive 128gb full metal body) where the port is now old/intermittent and realized how much better it does sound than my Pixel phone. But moved to Spotify and didn't look back. This brings the Walkman back into the fold, esp downloading songs on Spotify and filling with FLACS so you can keep the player on airplane. It's the physical buttons I really miss on my phone--cycling with a bumbag, can't believe I've gone so long taking phone out, swipe screen each time to change tracks. The pinning feature is also a good one--cheers.

This looks sick! Nice review man. I need android DAP in my life.

Your taste in music is awesome! Personally this is the player I've been waiting for. A Walkman, Android, and Affordable. The battery thing is a major bummer, but alas - I have USB C chargers everywhere I sit so charging shouldn't be a problem. I can't wait to get my hands on one!!!!

Love the shirt! Nice review. Keep it up!

Just return fiio m6 after 2 days dealing with the Bluetooth connection and just ordered this one. I kind of like some of the features you said on the video. Security is one issue also for me but I’ll figure it out a way to not compromise some personal info. Battery I understand that but I will use this one just for music and maybe for about 2 or 3 hours the most. Thanks for your review the most complete one I’ve seen in KZfaq 👍🏽

Mine is A55 it is just awesome. Good video as always.

Thanks for the review. I got this to replace/upgrade the NW-A17 that was almost 10 years old. The operation, speed and controls are superb, in addition to the sound quality and build of the product, which you have sufficiently covered. I had a lot of concerns in relation to the battery, but I used some open source software called Universal Android Debloater and was able to uninstall from my Walkman things like Gmail, Drive, Chrome, Google Assistant, Calendar and other things like the Calculator, Contacts and location / printing services. I left Google Play store. Not only this *dramatically* improved battery life, but I also no longer have security concerns, as there are no Google services that can be accessed from it. Truly recommended fix for this rather brilliant music kit!

I liked your review and your headphone collection intrigued me.

Ive been using an a55 and im looking at this device because ive found myself using the a55 as a blutooth dac to listen to podcasts. Thank you for informative video

The battery life on the player is what had me send it back. With the player on, but doing nothing (airplane mode, bluetooth, wifi, etc. all off, no music playing) the battery was dropping between 1.5% and 2% per hour, giving standby time of around 2.5 days when not in use. I did wonder if that were simply some major screw-up Sony had made and would be fixable by an update. But I realised that if they didn't test that prior to release I didn't want to know what else they might've screwed up. With wifi on the battery life drops to at most 7 hours. I found the UI of the 55 to be as smooth and easy to use as the 105, felt as good as the 105 in my hand and the fact that the 105 doesn't support playlists in any really usable way (not possible to create or edit on the device), the 55 just presented itself as a much better option. The only place I could find where the 105 outdoes the 55 is with the EQ - 10-band rather than 6. Since I'm not really in a position to hear any sound quality difference between the 105 and the 55 I just decided I don't think a 10-band rather than 6-band EQ is worth an extra £140.

You're the one keeping audiophiles alive.

What a good Review I think I will still get this and if I do buy it I wont forget to use your link Thank You

Thanks for a fantastic review.

I was actually looking this up a month ago, especially the anniversary edition purely for the aesthetic and the fact that I'd like a good dedicated music device. I really liked the cassette vibe and I thought it'd be really cool to have. But the price tag went crazy, so I'm trying to recreate it with the A45/55, but no dice. It's exclusive to the A100/105.

i really love the form factor ... so compact!

Thank you so much. You really showed me what the device does. I think I’m going to buy it.

thanks for this review!!!!

This is perfect! My school banned phones and this is the closest thing to a phone. Now I just need the money. Oh

Still using A45 too, the A55/A105 are finale available in Europe since Dec. But the A45 is enough for me. Thanks for the Unboxing and Review.

Thanks. Very well done review. I appreciate. :)

I had an Android powered Walkman back in the 2010's. It's good to see that they're continuing to make it.

As impractical as a dedicated music player may be in 2020, I'm thrilled to see a few holdouts. Maybe they'll make a comeback as an offshoot of the "minimal phone" fans? I like this device. Would like to see other UIs than Android, though.

At the moment, even if it's older I am still sticking with the Sony NWZ-A15 because of the battery life and size/weight

Thanks for very professional review!

Oh wow, Erasure, Fingers and Thumbs! Was listening to that very song a few days ago. 🙌🏽

it looks so goood! the color and hardware design is my kind of aesthetic and i love sony! 🖤🖤🖤

This just launched today in the Philippines and just bought one. Oh boy. Being a 1st time walkman user (Has an LG G6 cause of the HiFi DAC) I am quite excited to use this in the long run.

Great review. Looking forward to hopefully trying this out. I use a cheapo cellphone, which I don't carry with me, and wasn't looking forward to spending more money on a phone simply to have a DAC and a quality music experience. Enjoy the new year.

Great review! Thank you!

finally no more propiertary charging connector.

I'm digging this, i could minimize the battery usage of my phone by this...also when travelling (on car, ship etc) i got dizzy when i'm looking at my screen even to change song...the idea of 1 decice for social media and interactions, one other is for music and youtube, kinda pretty neat...

Sweet.... The Cure!!! I was listening to that album " Kiss me" tonight coming home from work.

Excellent review!

I love Sony products but I can’t see myself buying this, only because I won’t to carry around two devices, phone and Walkman.

Enjoyed your video ! Brought back great memories in the 1980s, when I had the Sony Walkman WM-FM 10 Stereo Personal Cassette and Radio Player. Love Sony ★★★★★

no one else talked about app pinning. That's the only thing I needed and you just convinced me to upgrade to this from my nw-a35 in the future.

At 360p i thought it to be 720p ! Great work:)

I still use my creative zen. Which is over 10yrs old now and plays anything including films, it’s small lightweight and nearly indestructible. Best thing I’ve bought.

the iPod - Android version/alternative. (I just hate the apple system to import file) I love to have them in folders.

Perfect job . The different sound quality if you listen to DSD file infact of you can hear different sound .

Hi! Great review!

If I can add a Sim Card to that thing I will probably use it as my phone it reminds me so much to my old Xperia E1 it had a walkman and button, it was durable and overall the best phone I've ever own and it was low end phone from 2014

True, I don't want others to look at my chrome and youtube histories 😨😂

That's pretty dope!!!

I'm still using my 45 at work and it saves my phone battery and gives me plenty of music time. This one looks way sexier but I'll wait with it till my 45's battery gets too old. But thanks for the review. I'll keep this one in mind

it's like a compact xperia phone!! I just like the block style from sony.

That Sony Music app is available if you root your phone I installed it years ago on my note 4 And there's plenty of updates for it

I am really pleased with my A 45-I bought it to replace a NW 15 that I had stupidly left on a train.The proprietary connector is a pain but I have a few spare leads so having USB C is not a big draw. I would probably not bother with streaming on another device so I was grateful for your review which saved me several hundred bucks.

Thank you for the 30 minute lock screen tip! In love with this player, but that constant PIN number was driving me nuts.

reminds me of the Xperia series, but with a smaller and thicker size.

when you have an Android based media player it means you have a small computer with a processor to work. and there is a lot going on in the one that is not going on in a one player without Android

Bro u are a legend very thorough i think ill go with this one or would you recommend fiio within this price range

See this tiny lil walkman is just what I need when I go to the gym and need to listen to my tunes. It's already equally or more powerful than my current adnroid 7.0 cell phone and I am not sure if or when I can upgrade anytime soon.

Does anyone else remember when it took Sony 2 years to add a 3.5mm jack to their phones after Nokia had them?

USB C port finally！！！！

What’s this, after years of listening to IGN Tech Fetish I’ve finally found this delight of a man again, couldn’t be happier to see you’re still at it!

Congrats for your channel! You think I’ll get better AQ using LDAC with good Bluetooth earphones vs AAC with my iPhone (Apple music mainly)…

First time checking your videos and gotta say kudos for bringing up all the points I wanted to hear.... I might disagree with a few points that I'd like to address. First of all let's just agree that reaching the point to buy an audio player means that you're looking for an ultimate sound experience. I understand that there's no audio improvement over the A45 however the only reason I think Sony introduced this one is to include the Android OS. For example, I'm a lifelong Sony Xperia user who for unfortunate reasons had to switch to something else cause after my XZ3 was destroyed, I couldn't afford to get the Xperia 1 ii which for me is Sony's first move to try and use all their cards wisely. The first thing I noticed once I gave all other flagships a try was the lack of sound quality and options that Sony provided....not saying that they're bad but non of my headphones ever sounded as close as an Xperia did. So I know that I can get something as cheap as the A45 but there will be one important thing (in my opinion) that's missing....and that's streaming apps. I got so used to stream via Spotify or listen to a performance on KZfaq.. I got used to Sony phones for years that I couldn't get used to the sound setup of any other phone (even though they're good but Sony is Sony). So I understand that the battery life for this device will drain pretty fast even if I'm using WiFi and Bluetooth but it'll offer something the A45 will never offer... which is using apps like Spotify and/or Android streaming apps. And for someone like me who's willing to invest in an additional device to get the Sony audio eq and features... I really have no problem in getting a power bank and SD cards as well. Do I think this device is perfect? No. I think they need to increase the battery life and keep everything else as it is. Same audio like A45 isn't a bad thing, it's good cause you get the same sound on more apps. I'd rather wait for Sony to add a new device with longer battery life but quiet honestly as a musician and music lover I seriously can't live with basic audio interfaces of other phones and I won't buy an expensive pair of headphones while Sony always gave me the best quality in every headphones I used...I must own this player. Anyway, you've done a good review, great tips on the security part and generally I liked the way you showcase the pros vs cons...just keep in mind that there are people like me who only care about a good sound quality over battery life and other features.

I would totally buy because of how much I miss IPods, I’m an early 2000’s kid so almost every cool kid used to have one, but that American price man... you could totally get a brand new Nintendo Switch or Xbox One X for that price 😬 idk, maybe I’ll keep waiting for a price drop or just stick to my good old Smartphone

Hey mate loved this video, made this purchase decision after watching your video... i too had a45 and can agree on the battery, apart from that everything youve mentioned so far is true. Although i do have some quetions that neither sony or the web can help me with, hopefully you can. 1. In the Audio settings there is hi res streaming option, does that mean that straight out of the box and when plugged in the player does not use the hi res opt until its been turned on?. Would like some insight on that. 2. What would be the most recommended pair of earphones that i can get the maximum out of this player? I do own a 1000xm3 but going to sleep with headphones can be troublesome so i am looking for something inear. Hopefully you can help me out here. Regards, Gav

nice! you review music players. thats a subscribe from me

Thanks for the good review. Might get this, the music on my Samsung s7 edge is taking up too much space, plus being able to use it as a full phone/android device with 3G/4G can be distracting.

The Sony music app (formerly Walkman) can be downloaded from xda and side-loaded to any device running android 4.2 and up

New sub! Nice security risk solutions! By how much did your syncing through wifi via gdrive improve your experience with your device?

Ethan Embry reviews videos now, neat! lol jk...this is one sweet walkman. I love my sony pocket VGF-AP1L, one of my favorite mp3 player designs.

While some like the Android platform, including myself, im not a fan of it being on my portable music player. I have a Sony nw a55 that only has Sony proprietary music app which I put on the Mr Walkman firmware. I LOVE IT. It's portable enough to be completely unintrusive, yet sounds great. And let's not forget the battery life. When I'm home and in the mood to stream from quobuz, I use my astell&kern kann alpha. But I hope sony keeps the non-android platform in mind.

I feel like iM a kid in the 80s again. Japan releases so much variety and accessories for their country, but give us scraps. wth

I bought this from an eBay vendor who is located in Japan. I was worried that I could not work this device in English, but the first screen on the first power on I chose English. I rip music CDs, and so I was happy that I could drag and drop MP3 files on Windows File Explorer to this device. I turned off WiFi, NFC, and Bluetooth to conserve the battery.

I enjoy your review as it gives honesty. I have bought it using your link. i need your guidance/tips on synchronizing music, the underrated feature you had spoken about? And how do I improve battery life, you had mentioned by downloading some software? Please clarify.

Okay that defines I will go with LG V60. Thanks man.

PEOPLE ASK QUESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS that are easily looked up in the web: Android Direct download and streaming via WiFi. High-Resolution Audio wireless LDAC, premium wireless codec. 3x standard BLUETOOTH bit-rate. DSD playback DSD audio formats up to 11.2MHz. High-quality PCM to DSD conversion. S-Master HX delivers High-Resolution Audio in maximum quality Digital amplifier, with reduced distortion and noise. High-Resolution Audio Compatible Higher-than-CD quality. Rigid aluminum milled frame for improved sound quality Superior rigidity for low impedance and clear, stable sound and solid bass. Optimized circuit board layout Separate Audio block on the printed circuit board. DSEE HX Upsampling is improved a processor which intelligently recognizes instruments, voices and musical genres. Hence it can accurately rebuild detail lost in digital compression. The processor also works when streaming. NFC One-touch and Bluetooth for instant connectivity Near Field Communication and Bluetooth for a quick, seamless connection. Film capacitor - High-quality Transparent, expansive highs and natural sound. Fine Sound Resistor Even, effective distribution of power to the circuit components, for consistent sound quality. Supported by Android 9. Gives a huge range of media apps and music services. Wi-Fi compatible for direct download and streaming Enjoy your favorite streaming and music apps. Advanced solder containing gold for clearer sound Minimum signal loss. For clearer sound and vocals. Cassette Tape UI Cassette Tape user interface and screensaver. Does it do tape-hiss? Store even more music with the microSD card slot . USB Type-C port . Vinyl Processor Subtle mimicry of the low-frequency resonance, tone-arm resistance and surface noise to deliver an authentic listening experience. Does it do tape-hiss? Listen for longer with up to 26 hours’ battery life When playing MP3 128kbps

Great review - I've had my eye on this device for a while and i'm going to buy it. I've never been a streamer before, via my phone, so want to get into that with this device. My only issue (unrelated to the device) is that I have a library of about 30GB, and I used to dread having to connect my current Sony NW-A20 to the PC when refreshing the library, via the Sony Media go software. Playlists would duplicate, and it just wasn't a nice experience. I'd love to know the best way of managing a library stored locally, as well as utilizing Android apps for the same purpose.

Hey, I am loving this informative video, I’m fairly interested in getting one of these to replace my dead iPod classic. I have got a few questions about this Walkman. Firstly, is it able to be used while charging or will it not be allowed to be used while charging? Secondly, is the provided cable the only cable that the player allows you to use to transfer your music like the ps4 only allows you to use for the controllers or can you use any type or brand of c type usb cable?

I almost wish phones didn't exist. This looks really nice

This review was way to long! But with that being said you did a great job!

I heard they made both hw and sw improvements in audio quality compared to previous entry WMs but I'm not sure I understand why they went Android again. I do understand that streaming audio was their goal but having a device which is wifi only means you can use it only when hotspot is available so that means you either make one with your phone and end up with battery drain on both devices or you just use A105 indoors. I believe BT audio streaming solution introduced on A55 was far more superior when it comes to efficiency, all you needed was LDAC ready phone and you were ready to go. After all only very few streaming services offer high quality audio that would benefit from wired headphones.

Great review. Can you add an app such as Line or Whatsapp and talk to people with voice on that? Can you record audio while walking? And what would I need to make either of those happen? I'm in Japan and debating if the 30,000en is worth it to spend on this or shall i wait for something else.

How about try to compare some LG Quad DAC phones and compare with some DAP with some IEMs And your review SUPER ;)

I bought this player some four months ago (about the same time this video was published), and yes, its battery life is *very* disappointing. You might need to carry it with a battery bank. Otherwise, the sound is great.

the nice thing about old walkmans is they were simple, the nice thing about the new walkman is the interface is familiar

The micro SD card slot solved my long standing dilemma of how to have all my music with me in one place. The fact it allows me to stream Apple Music as well as listen to my existing library is fantastic. Form and meaning have reached ultimate communion. I indulged in the retro NW-a100TPS just for the nostalgia, and paired it with the Fiio FA1s. I had earbuds in the 80s that were orange and blue. Nostalgic nerd heaven! Thank you.