Sony - Walkman NWZ-S616F Review

The first word that came out of my mouth when I listened to a track on this MP3 / Video player was WOW! The sound quality that this tiny little device generates is just amazing. When it comes to MP3 players, I'm VERY picky. I look for a device that gives me rich, crystal clear, high quality sound... with BASS! And this Walkman delivers it. That's not to say that other brands don't deliver high-quality crystal clear sound, but at the same time, not all brands deliver it with outstanding bass and balance. At least, not for this price range.

The equalizer on this Sony Walkman is just perfect, as far as I'm concerned. When you crank up the bass level, you get exactly that - thick, solid bass, without distorting the earphones or affecting the treble. You can either select the presents that are pre-loaded in this device, or customize the frequency levels until you reach your desired sound.

At 4GB, this Walkman can hold approximately 900 songs if they are at 128 kbps in MP3 format. But personally, I would highly recommend you rip your MP3s from your CDs to 192 kbps, which would pretty much give you CD quality. The downfall is that you won't be able to load 900 songs. Since 192 kbps files are a little larger than 128 kbps, you'll be looking at something like 600 songs or so (assuming they are the standard 3 to 4 minute songs), which is still a lot. As for the video player, I was quite impressed with both the picture and, of course, sound quality. The videos don't freeze up or skip or anything like that, they play just as smoothly as what you see on your television screen at home.

Importing audio, video, and images onto this device is pretty easy. Simply connect one end of the USB cable (which comes included) to your Sony Walkman, and the other end of the cable to your computer. Then, on your computer, go to Start, My Computer, look for the "Sony Walkman" drive, double click on it and then drag / drop your files in the appropriate folders. The other option is to use Windows Media Player 11 (which you can download for free on the Internet) to synchronize your files to your Sony Walkman. This is probably the better option if you want everything neatly organized. It may take a little bit of practice for some, but it's fairly easy to do once you get the hang of it.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This review is written specifically for the NWZ-A815 model, not the NWZ-E436F series (BIG DIFFERENCE!). Sony screwed up royally with the MWZ-E436F series as the sound quality is nowhere near as good. Heck, I had a SanDisk Sansa that actually sounded better than the MWZ-E436F series. The problem is that the MWZ-E436F walkmans come with cheap, very standard earphones and have very limited sound enhancement options. I know this from personal experience as I purchased an E436 series thinking it's the same as the A815 series. I was VERY disappointed. Since the NWZ-A815 looks like it's discontinued, I would recommend you invest in the Sony NWZ-A726 instead to get that superior sound quality.

Summary for the NWZ-A815 Sony Walkman:

Pros:
Amazing sound quality
Excellent Equalizer
Ridiculously long lasting battery
Ultra slim design (less than half an inch thick)
Has FM Radio
Great bass!

Cons:
Memory not expandable
No voice recorder

This is an excellent product. I highly recommend it.