The upcoming NW-A55L for Europe has finally appeared on Sony's European websites. It looks like only the 16GB version will be offered in black, gold, red, blue and green for most EU countries, and like I posted earlier, there is no FM tuner. Pricing is 180 GBP or 199 Euros.
The USB port remains USB 2.0 WM-port, no USB type-C. The specifications in the online guide specify there is no FM tuner.
Perhaps for some the removal of the radio might be a deal breaker, but personally I do not use the radio at all, so it would not matter. I suspect the radio has only been disabled and not physically removed from the player. While unlikely, I suspect, flashing firmware from another region, ie Asia Pacific, the radio should work. The radio does require headphones to work, since they act as the antenna.
The noise cancellation function remains but you will need the right headphones for it to work. You will need to purchase the IER-NW500NE, IER-NW500N, MDR-NW750N or MDR-NW750NE headphones. Neither is available on Amazon when you search for them, and Ebay is not cheap, easily $100-$150 for a pair.
If one needs to the Bluetooth receiver function, I would suggest buying the NW-A55, but if you do not, and only need for example the DAC function or the radio, the NW-A40 is the better and possibly cheaper option.
If anyone is still interested of pre-ordering, the links are below. So will anyone be grabbing the new model or are people more interested in the upcoming NW-A100?
Honestly I find these news mildly infuriating. In my opinion this is clearly a move to force customers to choose the new A1000 over this one: 16GB are ridiculous as mentioned, one could turn blind eye over the tuner, or even usb C (which is still inconceivable) but not even a usb 3.0 upgrade? In the end I also find the noice cancellation -which forces to use their earbuds- some kind of nonsense. I have more expensive and better quality in ear monitors yet still I have to buy sony's for enjoying noise cancelling? I really hope there'll be some good news in the future because as it seems, this is for all not un upgrade.
ReplyDeleteLooks interesting. This will be my first (mp3) Walkman.
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