Sony Walkman NW-A306 review: A modern-day avatar of the legend
If the word Walkman doesn't mean anything to you, it either means you are born on this side of the millennium or lived under a rock on the other side or simply over 75 years old. For the rest, the word was synonymous with a portable music player in the '80s and '90s. Toward the end of the last century, it shifted from being a cassette player to a portable CD player or a Diskman as it was commonly known. Then came the Apple iPod and other 'MP3 players' and things started to change drastically. While the Walkman lost its popularity over the past couple of decades, it continued to exist in different forms and shapes. With smartphones taking over the bulk of the audio playback duties, most music players have lost their relevance. A few weeks back, out of the blue, a new Walkman surfaced again in India making me super curious. On our request, Sony India was kind enough to let us experience it for a week or so, and today we would like to share our experience with you. Here's everything you need to know about the new Sony Walkman NW-A306.
Compact, well built, but nothing nostalgic about it
The Sony Walkman NW-A306 is a compact device that feels great in hand. The build quality is excellent with the use of some high-quality materials and yet weighs just 113 grams. Frankly, nothing about it reminded me of the Walkman of yore, except for the iconic logo at the back. The device has a 3.6-inch LCD touchscreen display with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels that serves its purpose well. The bottom edge of the device has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB-C charging port, and a microSD card slot that's protected with a flap. There are six physical buttons along the right edge that let you control all the playback functions along with a power button to turn the screen as well as the device on and off. The keypress is spot on and requires just the right amount of pressure. We cannot remember any accidental keypresses during the course of the testing, but if that's something you are worried about when you keep the device in your pocket, you also get a hold slider to lock the keys. Things are generally well thought out here.
Seems like an old Android phone but there's more
While this device doesn't look anything like an old Walkman, it certainly reminds one of an early-generation Android phone. In fact, it does run Android, but a fairly recent version 12. If you have used an Android phone or tablet, there is no new learning curve for this device with a standard interface and an app drawer. You also get a couple of Sony apps like Walkman media player and Headphone that lets you alter the sound profile with audio presets and a multiband equalizer. Further, it has 32GB of internal storage, of which a little over half is available for your usage. You also get support for 360 Reality Audio for an immersive experience in compatible content and DSEE Ultimate to upscale compressed digital audio. It boasts S-Master HX digital amplifier and other high-end components for superior audio output. Sound quality is where the key focus of this device lies. It can reproduce audio at 24-bit/96kHz and beyond. It is also compliant with near-lossless digital formats like DSD audio and FLAC. You can download popular streaming apps like Spotify or Amazon Music from the Google Play Store and stream the audio over Wi-Fi. This Walkman supports dual-band Wi-Fi and is also compliant with Bluetooth 5.0. The codec support is excellent with the Walkman NW-A306 offering compliance with LDAC and aptX HD standards for certified Hi-Res Wireless audio, in addition to support for popular codecs like AAC and SBC. As we mentioned earlier, you also get a 3.5mm jack to plug in wired earphones or headphones.
Excellent sound quality with the right content and audio gear
Before we head to the sound quality, there are a few things we would like to clarify. Unlike its predecessors, the NW-A306 is not a Walkman for one and all. Let me explain. For starters, this is not exactly an affordable device, nor is it an average media player. This is meant for consuming high-bitrate audio, and not the standard 128 to 192-bit MP3 files or streams. If you have a collection of high-end FLAC files, this is a great device to do justice to their potential. Speaking of the potential of this player, the highest bit-rate stream on Spotify is just about par for the course here. You also need to have real high-quality earphones or headphones to get the best out of this Walkman. If you plan to use wireless earphones or headphones with it, make sure they are compliant with either aptX HD or LDAC codecs. Luckily we had the Sony WF-1000XM4 buds at hand and the experience with this Walkman was truly remarkable. We tried using a few lossless FLAC files as well as Spotify Premium to test this player out and the results were excellent. While the FLAC files brought the best out of this device, we can certify that even Spotify sounded noticeably better on this player as compared to certain high-end Android phones. The resolved detail in the audio was excellent. The specialized components used in this player do deliver superior sound quality. As for battery life, it is hard to put one figure for that. Sony claims that this Walkman can deliver up to 36 hours of audio playback, but when playing 128-bit MP3 files using wired earphones. The number starts to drop when the bitrate goes up and can drop to less than half when using wireless earphones. We got over 16 hours of playtime using LDAC codec which is decent, including watching half an hour of YouTube videos.
Should you buy the new Sony Walkman NW-A306?
The Sony Walkman NW-A306 is priced at Rs. 25,990 in India with a one-year warranty. That doesn't exactly make it affordable, nor is it meant to be a product for all. It is supposed to serve a specific purpose, and that is to playback high-end audio content close to its full glory. Though it can easily handle it, it is not meant for your old 128-bit MP3 collection or even for streaming non-Hi-Res audio with a bit rate lower than 256-bits. You also need to have the right earphones/headphones to utilize this player's full potential. And that's an additional cost if you don't have the right pair already. If all those boxes aren't ticked, you would probably be better off listening to music on your smartphone or tablet. Unlike the older Walkmans, this one is a niche product, and one needs to be fully aware of what they are buying before investing in this. Else, you will simply end up carrying an additional Android device that might soon get redundant for you for no fault of its own.
