It was more than two decades ago that Sony released the first Walkman. It became a sensation as music listeners could experience music on the go. It is fair to say that the Walkman was the first ever product to give the music industry all over the world a major boost.
When Sony finally decided on infusing the Walkman culture into their not-so-popular cell phones, sales went bananas. However, the idea wasn’t difficult to imitate as Nokia, Apple, and Samsung took over the market throughout the last decade by including similar functions in their products.
The Walkman was then almost forgotten. As streaming music becomes the industry norm for how we listen to music using services such as Spotify and Apple Music, the Sony NW-ZX100 has introduced itself as a delightful throwback to the not-quiteretro and yet not so distant past.
As a norm, comparing a new product with its predecessor is very much a must. The NW-ZX100 is a definite uplift from the previous Walkman version in terms of hardware design and device casing. Specifically, the NW-ZX100 features a high rigidity frame, low dielectric board and enhanced solder impedance to ensure the top music listening experience on-the-go.
The NW-ZX100 only comes in metallic silver and a black leather backing, which gives it a touch of class and comfort to its user. Judging from its common flagship design, the NW-ZX100 is just as polished as demonstrated by the shiny golden audio jack and stylishly engraved Walkman logo.
First and foremost, Sony kept the S-Master HX amplifier to the NW-ZX100, which never fails to impress by delivering topnotch quality music. Usually, with other music players, trying them with Jamie XX’s “There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” gives them a mixture of odd vibes.
The NW-ZX100 was able to differentiate the low key reggae bass up to the clear cut high pitched rap percussions. Eagles’ “Hotel California” also plays well, while giving an imaginative and realistic serenading session. It felt so real as though there was a romantic nearby singing to his lover.
While maintaining the old specs, Sony also added the Direct Stream Digital (DSD) and Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE HX) which sees a never ending possibility of upscaling compressed audio picks to a level closer to High Res audio and as well projecting clearer and crisper audio quality.
Remember the times when the trend was having the Sony Ericsson Walkman phones, where there were no touch screens and songs were shared through Bluetooth? Well, Sony decided to bring back those delicate memories, applying the same features to the NW-ZX100.
Apart from the vintage-styled features and design, the NW-ZX100 is rated to run 45 hours on Hi-Res audio and 70 hours on normal MP3 audio formats. There was never a time that the device had to go for a charge even through days of playing it regularly.
Sony clearly wants more options for their listeners to experience music at the highest and most convenient level. By including the Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, high quality Bluetooth streaming, LDAC and an extra MicroSD card Slot, listening to music has become a whole lot broader in terms of options and convenience.
A luxury portable music player with flawless audio quality.
Spec
AVAILABLE COLOUR: SilverINTERNAL MEMORY: 128GBEXTERNAL MEMORY: microSD, microSDHC, microSDXCDISPLAY SIZE/ RESOLUTION: 3.0 inch, TFT color LCD, QVGA (400×240)INTERFACE: Hi-Speed USB(USB 2.0 compliant), Stereo Mini Jack, WM-PORT (multiple connecting terminal) 22 pinsCOMPATIBLE FORMATS: FLAC, Apple Lossless (ALAC), MP3, AAC5, HE-AAC, WMA6, Linear PCM (WAV), AIFF, DSD7WEIGHT: 145g.