Sure, your phone plays music, but does it play music? Excellent? Those with audiophile tendencies may want to look at Sony’s latest portable music players, the Walkman NW-ZX707 (pictured above) and NW-A306. The product naming is rather vague and the feature set can be a bit esoteric. They feature FTCAP3 polymer capacitors, gold reflow solder, and other seemingly insignificant features that audio enthusiasts will salivate over. These Android music players aren’t cheap either, but it could be worse.
The Walkman NW-A306 (pictured below) is the cheaper of the two devices, but that’s a relative term. The NW-A306 still retails for $350, is really small by today’s standards, and features a 3.6-inch 720p LCD. Still, it manages a lot in a small package. It features a solid aluminum frame, gold solder, and high-quality sound resistors. Sony says the device features a new S-Master HX digital amplifier designed specifically for the Walkman, which produces “rich sound.” It can play high-resolution audio in almost any format you can think of, from FLAC to DSD.
The NW-ZX707 has the same S-Master HX digital amplifier technology as the cheaper Walkman, but it represents a step up from audiophile pretentiousness. This $900 music player features higher-quality FTCAP3 capacitors and oxygen-free copper milled blocks on top of the digital circuitry for better shielding. Sony claims the improved hardware gives the NW-ZX707 superior sound reproduction, which you can enjoy via a standard 3.5mm jack or a balanced 4.4mm jack. The device is slightly larger, with a 5-inch 720p LCD.
Both devices have the same blocky Walkman aesthetic, with a physical playback button on the side. They charge via USB-C, but battery life varies greatly depending on the types of files you play. The NW-A306 can run for more than 30 hours when playing MP3 and FLAC files, but top-quality DSD content wears out in just 14 hours. The NW-ZX707’s runtime isn’t great, with up to 24 or 25 hours of playback on most music, but it only takes 11 hours of super-quality DSD music playing through the balanced jack to drain the battery.
The devices run Android 12 along with all the usual Google apps and services. So if you don’t need the inherent quality boost of local playback, you can download a streaming music app (or any other app you want). Still, spending $900 on a dedicated music player to play Spotify seems like a waste. You can purchase the NW-ZX707 and NW-A306 devices (NW-ZX707, NW-A306) from the Sony online store or Amazon. However, the more expensive NW-ZX707 currently requires a wait of 1-2 months.