It might not have the simple lines of the iPod, but Sony's new Walkman is every bit as stylish as the manufacturer's TVs and hi-fi components. The black brushed-metal back is as resilient as it is attractive, and the glossy screen is wonderfully vivid.
The menu is simple to use, too, controlled almost entirely by the accurate and tactile main five-way button. There's a dedicated and intuitive back button to the left of this, and another to the right which gives appropriate options for whichever screen is currently displayed. Unlike some iPods the menus appear without delay, with slick and subtle animations when scrolling through options.
By far the best design decision Sony has made here, though, is to drop Sonic Stage. Unlike its players of the past, this one can be updated simply by plugging in to a USB port and dragging files to the disk. Alternatively, Windows Media Player (version 10 or later) makes a simple, free and, most importantly, non-proprietary music manager that requires no setup.
Another area where the NWZ-A826K breaks the previous Walkman mould is with its Bluetooth support, and the player comes equipped with a set of compatible cordless headphones. This seemed like a solution to a problem that didn't exist to us - right up until we experienced the joyful liberation from tangled and snagged wires.
The only problem is that the bundled headphones aren't very comfortable. They wrap around your head and encircle your ear lobes to stay attached, but sit on the outer ear rather than forming a seal, so may need to be turned quite high in noisy environments. Another downside is that they are bulky, and do not become much more compact when folded up; instead they form a bizarre prism which feels too fragile to put in a bag unprotected.
The saving grace of the player is that a pair of extremely comfortable wired headphones is also included. Superior in terms of sound quality to the Bluetooth set, the earbuds form a perfect seal in the ear without being uncomfortable, even when listening for several hours.
Unfortunately this means that the most interesting and innovative feature of the player was also the one that we found ourselves using the least. The wired headphones were so comfortable that we found ourselves heading back to the dark days of untangling a mess before every use.
If you can put up with the faults of the Bluetooth headset, the Sony Walkman NWZ-A826K will free you from the tyranny of wires and be a joy to use. But unfortunately for Sony, if you disregard the Bluetooth connection there are other manufacturers offering players -
Apple's iPod nano springs to mind - that are just as thin, just as stylish and similarly well-featured.
System Specifications
4GB flash memory, 2.4in TFT, proprietary USB, WMA, AAC, MP3, Linear PCM, JPG, MPEG4, 50 x 9 x 94mm, Player: 58g, Headphones: 65g
Verdict
The player itself is stylish and thin, but the major innovation is let down by shoddy design.
Author: Matthew Sparkes
PC Pro Online