Sony Walkman NWZ-W202/P

Full Review

The new Sony Walkman NWZ-W202/P takes mobility in a new direction by completely cutting out wires from the picture. A number of micro MP3 players are aimed at fulfilling the ‘music on the move’ need of joggers but this one takes the cake in terms of design.

What Sony has done is basically incorporate the earphones and the player into one neat device which can be worn without the worry of long earphone cables. The playback can be controlled with the help of buttons cleverly arranged on the underside of the right ear-piece. For charging and connecting to your PC, the player comes with a cradle. There is however no 3.5mm jack, so you can’t use the player to output music to speakers or a separate pair of earphones. The entire gadget can be worn thanks to a cord that snakes around the back of your head similar to wrap-around headphones. However, we could have done without the horribly garish florescent green paintjob that our test model came with.

The entire gadget can be worn thanks to a cord that snakes around the back of your head similar to wrap-around headphones.

The Walkman plays music relatively well, relative being the operative word here. If you are into bass heavy music like Dance Pop, Electronica or Hip-Hop then you will be disappointed. Although the bass is tight, it lacks punch and is especially drowned out when the highs and mids come into the mix. On the other hand, if you are into Classical music, Jazz or Acoustic Pop, then you are in for a treat. The player is able to pump out smooth highs and clear mids. However, when playing metal or rock with heavy usage of hi-hats and cymbals, the highs got a little uncomfortable.

Controlling the player is easier than it seems. It uses a system called Zap-In which plays you short snippets of songs so can choose. Otherwise skipping songs is handled normally with buttons.

The Sony Walkman NWZ-W202/P is priced at Rs. 4,990 for 2GB of storage. That is definitely a high price but it will also get you a player that is high on design and innovation. The choice, as they say, is yours.

Bottom Line

The Walkman combines stellar design with good music playback but at a price.