Sony has announced a brand new high-res personal audio player alongside its slew of smartphones, tablets, wearables and camera gear at the IFA tech show in Berlin.
The Walkman NWZ-A15 is designed for the audiophile with support for the ALAC, WAV, AIFF and FLAC formats as well as regular MP3 and AAC files.
Sony says the new NWZ-A15 also uses a POSCAP capacitor to improve the headphone amplifier, plus thicker internal power cabling and lead-free solder points.
With a 2.2-inch, 320 x 240 screen the new Walkman may emerge as a challenger to Neil Young’s Kickstarter-backed Pono Player which was backed by 18,000 people who donated around £3.7m to help it get made.
Users will be able to pack 64GB of music onto the internal memory and there’s also a microSD slot for plentiful expansion. It also packs decent wireless technology with the opportunity to use Bluetooth and NFC-based headphones.
Unlike the company’s new Xperia devices, there’s no sign of the Android operating system. Instead there’s a a basic user interface that’s very much focused on getting users to the music and not much beyond that.
The 8.7mm thick device will go on sale in the United States later this month priced at a rather hefty $299 (around £182). UK launch is expected to follow but a price is yet to be confirmed.
Would you be in the market for a high-quality audio player away from the distractions of email, social media and more? Let us know your thoughts below.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
