Sunday 2 October 2022

New Sony A and ZX Walkmans Coming (Update 5)

Sony YY1301 YY1302 A-series ZX-Series NW-ZX707 NW-A306 NW-ZX700 NW-A300

Finally some good news for Walkman fans, Sony has 2 new models lined up, an A-Series and a ZX-Series. The two Walkmans just appeared on the FCC, YY1301B1 (A) and YY1302B2 (ZX).

Details are limited, but both players will run Android and feature 2.4/5.0Ghz Wifi and Bluetooth. I cannot find any mention of LE Audio in the filing, so either this is coming later or it has been excluded from the filing. We need to wait for the Bluetooth SIG certification to see if LE audio support is included.

Update 5:

Both the A300 and ZX700 passed through Malaysia's E-ComM certification site last week.

Sony YY1301 YY1302 A-series ZX-Series NW-ZX707 NW-A306 NW-ZX700 NW-A300

For comparison, the new WM1 mark 2 models (YY1298B and YY1299B), passed through E-ComM on November 29 2021. Those WM1 press reveal was on February 8th, so 71 days from appearance to announcement. If we add 71 days to the December 22 date, we get March 3 2023 as a possible press reveal date. Short term confidentiality ends on March 27 2023, so Sony announcing these in early March is very possible.

Update 4: 

Quick update again, Sony removed the original label drawings which I have used in this post and replaced them with some generic looking label drawings, dated 20221014.

Moving on, I was looking at the NW-A300 and NW-ZX700 listing again, and I noticed one small detail I missed earlier. There appears to be wireless adapter information in the listing, the WCN3950.

Sony YY1301 YY1302 A-series ZX-Series NW-ZX707 NW-A306 NW-ZX700 NW-A300

This page has the chipsets which seem to use this adapter. We can see the QCS2290 that will be used in the NW-A300, but there is no SDA660 which I thought could be used in the ZX700. So perhaps this is not the chipset being used. So perhaps Sony will use the QCM4290 or QCS4290 chipset, it is an octa core and up to 2.0Ghz. Sony could easily have 4 cores at 1.8 and the rest at 2.0Ghz. The SM4250 only goes up to 1.8Ghz, so I doubt it is this one. Another option is the QCS6125/QCM6125, which are the Snapdragon 600 line. The other 2 options are the Snapdragon 662 (SM6115) or the Snapdragon 680 (SM6225). I compared the chipsets on Geekbench to the ZX700, and it looks like the SM6115 or Snapdragon 662 matches the benchmarks. But that does not confirm it will be these chips.

Finally, both the A and ZX seem to have had their designs finalized in March of this year according to the FCC filing, as both devices had their "Schematic diagram and Block" finalized on March 14th.

Finally both appeared on Geekbench again 2 days ago, A300, ZX700

Update 3:

The ZX700 has appeared on Korea's FCC. Place of production is China.

Sony NW-ZX707 YY1302B NW-ZX700

 Update 2:

The new A-Series has finally shown up on Bluetooth SIG.

Sony YY1301 A-series -NW-A306 NW-A300
The new model has been certified with Bluetooth 5.0, and not 5.2, so unless it is re-certified, there will be no LE Audio support by the looks of it. The certification also confirms the Qualcomm SoC, while not specifically the QCS2290, it is in the list. Anyways, an interesting note is the Design Description, "Bluetooth technology platform for YY130x series". Hmm while I doubt that the ZX uses the same chip since the benchmarks are higher, it begs the question, why does it say YY130x series? Anyways, I hope the ZX will show up on Bluetooth SIG soon, it would help with identifying the SoC used.

Update:

Both the new A-series and ZX-Series have been found listed on Geekbench (thanks anonymous). Recall the previous A100 and ZX500 both used the same processor, the i.MX 8M Mini Quad. Well it appears Sony has decided to move to Qualcomm SoCs for this generation. The NW-A300 uses a 4 core chip, rated at 2.00 Ghz and with 4GB of ram, and the ZX700 uses an 8 core chip (4x1.8 Ghz, 4x2.0 Ghz) also with 4GB of ram. Both are running Android 12, special Sony edition (see below). I did mention in the original post of Qualcomm software being used for testing, I assumed it may have been just a Qualcomm Chip embedded into an SoC, but it seems Sony opted for full Qualcomm SoCs now, which means aptX should be onboard.

The A-series appeared on Geekbench as far back as early March of this year, so Sony has been developing the new model for a while now. The other entries are May 5th, June 6th, July 29th, and October 25th and 28th. The Geekbench entry does not reveal the actual chip, apart from the cores, ram and frequencies (see above), but we have a gfxbench entry which reveals a lot more details.

Sony NW-A300 NW-A305 YY1301 ICX1301
The entry is from late October, so recent; it reveals the screen resolution, 1280x720, and the size, 3.6". The chip is a 4 core, 2 Ghz/core and the GPU is the Qualcomm Adreno 702. This is not part of the Snapdragon lineup, instead using one of Qualcomm's Application processors, the QCS2290. The SoC is built on a 11nm process which is superior to the i.MX 8M Mini Quad in the A100, which was on 28nm process from what I can find online. This should bring much improved battery life for the new A300. 

One issue I can see is the Bluetooth connectivity, the Qualcomm website only shows version 5.0, so I do not see LE Audio working on the new model, since it requires version 5.2. Hopefully this can be fixed in the future with firmware. Although to get the best sound quality, I would think users would opt for a wired connection than wireless.
 
To see the A300 Geekbench scores, click here. For a quick comparison with the A100, click here.

Moving onto the NW-ZX707, we have only the Geekbench information for now, 8 core, with 4 cores at 2.0 Ghz, and 4 cores at 1.8 Ghz. Similar appearance in the benchmarks like the A300, early March, then May, June, late July and finally late October. The results can be found here. The scores are significantly better than the A300, with almost 2x the score in single-core and 2.5x in multi-core. My guess is the SoC being used in the ZX-series could be the Qualcomm SDA660, mostly because it is an 8 core SoC, with 4 cores up to 2.2 Ghz and 4 cores up to 1.8 Ghz. If this is the case, the GPU is slightly slower than the 702 in the A300 but the SoC is faster, due to the custom Qualcomm Kryo cores. There is a chance Sony might use the QCS8250 and just keep the core frequencies lower to save on battery. Once we get a gfxbench score, we will now for certain.

Also bot the new A-Series and new ZX-Series appeared on the Canadian certification sites a few weeks back.

A-Series

Beginning with the A-series (YY1301B), the design seems to be similar to the older A100 Series, but with perhaps some design updates like the rear ribbed panel. But looking internally and comparing to the older model, it appears there are more changes under the hood. I have no idea what the yellow pieces are on the bottom in the photos, perhaps just some tape for protection. The model name is NW-A306 according to the PDF document. So, does this mean a NW-A305 and NW-A307 are also going to be made?

New Sony A-Series Walkman YY1301B NW-A306 NW-A300

New Sony A-Series Walkman YY1301B NW-A306 NW-A300

New Sony A-Series Walkman YY1301B NW-A306 NW-A300

Notice there is no NFC logo on the rear cover (see below) like in the current model, so perhaps there is no more NFC. This makes sense as Sony has removed NFC from all of their new wireless headsets.
 

New Sony A-Series Walkman YY1301B NW-A306 NW-A300
Comparing to the current NW-A105 inside. There are definitely changes happening underneath the hood.

Sony NW-A105 teardown
Source: https://postrepair.net/repair-results/nw-a105_water-damage_200930/

An interesting detail from the filing is that Pegatron is mentioned a few times, so perhaps they are building it for Sony. The box shows the player is Made in China.

Specifications are not fully revealed by here is what is known:

  • Battery capacity 1500mAh 3.7V
  • Android OS (version not specified)
  • 32GB capacity ~ 18GB available for use
  • 2.4 Ghz 802.11b/g/n
  • 5.0 Ghz 802.11b/g/n/ac
  • Bluetooth BDR +EDR; BLE
  • Supported formats 
    • MP3
    • LDAC
    • aptX HD
    • WMA
    • AAC
    • FLAC
    • WAV
    • HE-AAC
    • Apple Lossless
    • AIFF
    • DSD
    • MQA
    • APE 
  • Packaging has no plastic in it, like all new Sony Audio products

There is mention of "Qualcomm® Radio Control Toolkit v4.0" for Bluetooth testing, so if this new model is using a Qualcomm chip is unknown but the previous Sony Walkmans used a Murata 1PJ, which employed a Qualcomm chip in it, so we may have a similar situation here.

ZX-Series

Finally onto the ZX-Series (YY1302B). The model name is revealed, NW-ZX707. There appears to be only one model with 64GB capacity. Perhaps Europe or more likely Asia will get maybe a higher capacity version and more colours.

Here is a photo of the box art from the filing. Rather shocked it was there, oops. Wonder if this will be removed once I post this up. Sony did remove the WH-C520 photo from that filing. Hello, Sony, if you wish to send me a NW-ZX707 for testing, more than obliged to test it before release :D.

Sony NW-ZX707 YY1302B NW-ZX700
 
Here is a comparison with the current ZX507, the angles are not 100% identical but the differences in design are very obvious. The design is less rounded now, the engraved balanced logo from the top is now gone, but perhaps will be there on the production model. Likewise the Walkman logo has disappeared from the front. The design looks more premium but will it be comfortable to hold with the sharper and straight edges?
Sony NW-ZX707 YY1302B NW-ZX700

Just like the new A-Series, the new ZX will also use Android for the OS and have the same 1500mAh 3.7V internal battery. WiFi and Bluetooth specifications are identical, meaning the main wireless chip is shared between the 2 models like previously.  The ZX filing does mention Bluetooth v4.0, but I suspect the new models will both have at least version 5.0, if not 5.2 for LE Audio support. It would be rather silly of Sony not to support LE Audio here.

Now for some photos, they are not great but do give some idea of the design.

Sony NW-ZX707 YY1302B NW-ZX700

Sony NW-ZX707 YY1302B NW-ZX700

Sony NW-ZX707 YY1302B NW-ZX700

There is no NFC pad on the back metal plate like in the NW-ZX507, so like the new A-Series, I do not expect any NFC here either.  Below is a comparison of the back plate on the current ZX507.

Sony NW-ZX707 YY1302B NW-ZX700

In the second photo earlier, we know the device will have the internal ram supplied by Micron, rated at 32Gb, which is 4GB, the same as in the current ZX507. The internal memory storage is supplied by Samsung, 64GB. Previously Sony used SK Hynix for the memory

The battery capacity has not changed from the ZX507, both have the same 1500mAh 3.7V battery. Hopefully battery life is improved with the use of more power efficient components. The usable storage is approximately 47GB. The codec support is identical to the new A-Series.

Both models have their short term confidentiality ending on March 27th 2023, and their certification valid from March 31, 2023. So whether this means that both can only go on sale after this date, then we would be looking at an announcement in early 2023. But I hope this is not the case.

The current models were released in September 2019, so a good 3 years ago, but if we have to wait until early 2023 for the new models, this would suck. But the previous models showed up on the FCC about 1 month before their debut, so perhaps a similar situation here. Fingers crossed

Regardless, these two new models are coming, so for those eagerly waiting, you need to wait a bit more. I suspect colours options for the new A-Series will be similar to the current model, and the ZX maybe coming in black, with silver for Asia. Personally I would love to see the new A and ZX adopt the colours from the new headsets, black and platinum. Pricing while unknown, I feel will be higher due to the higher price of components currently.

Anyways, I am happy to see Sony is still keeping their A and ZX line, would love to see a lower/mid level model, S-Series, but I doubt it.

41 comments:

  1. YES this is fantastic news, my ZX507 battery isn't what it used to be, so great to see a new player. love the new design.

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  2. I just hope these actually last longer than 5-10 hours, judging from what owners have said it seems like the WM1A/Z M2s are the only Walkmans that come close to their advertised playtimes. Here's to hoping Sony listened to complaints over the A100/ZX500s, I really wanna upgrade from my A55!

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    Replies
    1. I owned an ZX507 and i could reach roughly 17h of playback time which is close to the advertised 20h

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  3. Is anyone else disappointed with ergonomics of the ZX707 compared to the 507?

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  4. Yes, Finally!! Is great that Sony doesn't give up with Walkman. A phone is a phone, not a music player, camera, gps, etc. I suppose that price in € will be higher than in $

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  5. Would be strange if these weren't out before Christmas as I could use that as an excuse to buy one for myself.

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  6. The battery capacity seems low, if I'm not mistaken it's the same capacity as ZX500/A100, while WM1M2 has a larger battery.

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, I agree. But battery life should be high on Sony's priorities list

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  7. the price thought is not gonna be budget friendly anymore with A series

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  8. Fingers crossed they are better for battery life than my current nwa105. A great little dap except for the rubbish battery and I think pointless android. Just need WiFi and bluetooth.

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    Replies
    1. A105: 1285mAh (basically 1300)
      These new models: 1500 mAh

      So it shouldn't be that big of a deal, though a welcomed addition.

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    2. Battery replacement is my biggest gripe with Sony. What happens when the battery fails and the Walkman is out of warranty--is the only recourse to play the battery lottery on AliExpress or eBay? It's insane.

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    3. My issue with the battery is the connection. The WH-1000XM5 and previous models, use a battery cable connection rather than having the leads soldered to the board. The walkmans use a soldered connection making a swap more difficult.

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    4. Considering the ZX series retails for over $800, the lack of straightforward battery replaceability seems positively criminal.

      Ascariss, perhaps you'd consider an writing an article with tips and tricks about the replacement of soldered Walkman batteries?

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    5. I use Tidal & PlexAmp primarily on my 105, so I would rather they stuck with Android, will welcome the 32Gb internal storage on the new A series for sure, bring on some better battery optimisation also

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  9. Sad to hear that Sony gave up on its own OS in the A line. I have A-55 and it's still going strong so not going to bother replacing it with some outdated Android. Hope that Sony OS will still resurrect sometime later.

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  10. Battery will be issue again in these new Walkman's , Sony OS better than Android any day every day

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  11. The main no-buy reason is the fact that they will have the eu volume cap...

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  12. The main no-buy reason for me is the fact that it will surely have the eu volume cap, which is a wrong interpretation from sony of the european declaration of conformity...

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  13. I just wish they'd make another Walkman OS based player, an nw-a65 or whatever. I need to replace my old nwz-a15 but I'm really reluctant to replace it with an Android machine.

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  14. the price is ridiculous especially A100 series, that series intended to replace A55 but out of budget price

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  15. I also felt like Sony was waiting for the September release of the Snapdragon 4 Gen1. I hope this SoC is loaded in this.

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    1. Yeah, they need to upgrade their game when it comes to SoC and ram memory. I wouldn't hold my breath, though.

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  16. I'd like to purchase a new ZX to replace my 5-year old ZX2 as a travel companion. However, it'd better have a good battery life. ZX2's battery still performs very impressively.

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  17. i dont like android based players, there is always an issue with apps compatability and outdated android versions. they need to stick with the original walkman os which is great to use.

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  18. I hope they bring back USB DAC support. As the Android 11 Signature series support this feature it's not unlikely I would say.

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    Replies
    1. I agree. It'd be a very good addition. WM1 works great as a USB DAC.

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    2. agree, I skip the A100 because it lack a USB DAC support.

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  19. If found Geekbench entries for both A300 & ZX700. Both players run on Android 12, have 4GB RAM and use Qualcomm SoCs. ZX700 is much faster though as it uses a 8 core design (possibly Snapdragon 450 or 460) instead of a 4 core design (possibly Snapdragon 429)
    https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/18292819
    https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/18292873
    A100 is only slightly slower than A300:
    https://browser.geekbench.com/v5/cpu/17563959

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    1. cheers for that, I was searching for NW-A300 and NW-ZX700, but not NW-A300series, no wonder I was not getting any results.

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    2. Great info!! The Walkman line, especially if it's Android based, does need to step up its game in terms of SoC.

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    3. The A300 will deliver only a small performance upgrade but its lower power consumption combined with the slightly bigger battery and USB DAC function will hopefully finally make the older Linux players obsolete and we can finally say Goodbye to the WM-Port. ZX700 is for people with bat ears aka audiophiles only anyway.
      E_D___B_A_N_G_E_R

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    4. Bat Ears? The biggest difference between the ZX100 and the ZX500 is, by far, the bass. I doubt that bats will profit from that.

      The A300 will most ikely use the same microsopic small POSCAP as the A100 does and so will sound identical.

      The ZX700 on the other hand will very surely use the new FTCAP3 and so get an upgrade in sound over the ZX500

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    5. Interesting that different equalizer presets are so important for you.
      E_D___B_A_N_G_E_R

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  20. that different equalizer looks interesting;)

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  21. How is the audiobook playback on a Sony NW-Axx device? Support for m4b files, book chapters, faster/slower playback speeds, memorizing last position, bookmarks, etc.
    I guess with Android based devices one can install an app and do all these things. But how about the older devices?
    Maybe you could write a post about this.

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    1. Hi, the the non-android walkmans have no support for audiobooks using the m4b format. you can convert them to mp3, aac or other supported format but you lose the functions you mentioned.

      Check this page for details how to convert
      https://www.audkit.com/audible/audible-on-sony-walkman.html

      or here
      https://www.ondesoft.com/audiobook_converter/play-audible-audiobook-on-sony-walkman.html

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  22. https://kakakumag.com/av-kaden/?id=19131

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  23. Our 'friends' over at Sumaho Digest used your findings on the ZX700 SoC, calling the source 'information on the internet' :D https://sumahodigest-com.translate.goog/?p=15888&_x_tr_sl=ja&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en
    E_D___B_A_N_G_E_R

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    1. That site is sketch, some of their benchmarks they post are very questionable, since they can't be found on geekbench as they claim. They love to use reddit as a source, yet none of the stuff they quote is ever on reddit, nor do they provide a link to said source.

      Delete
  24. Great to see a device dedicated to playing music. And the fact Sony is keeping the walkman name alive. Wish I could afford one though

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