Comparison: Sony NW-A100 and NW-A300

I decided to make a comparison post breaking down the differences and similarities between the new NW-A300 and NW-A100. Some details are not listed here, but most of those are carried over from the A100. At the end of the post I have a small comparison of the A300 and A100 PCBs. While not that detailed as I want it to be, it is the best until a full teardown appears online, or at least the FCC one.

	NW-A300	NW-A100
Dimensions/Weight
Height	98.4mm	98.9mm
Width	56.5mm	55.2mm
Depth	11.8mm	11mm
Weight	113 g	103 g
Capacity
16 GB	-	X
32 GB	X	X
64 GB	X	X
Android OS	12.0	9.0
Display	3.6 in HD (1280x720)
Touch Panel	Yes
WiFi	802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 2.4/5 GHz

The size has generally remained the same, likewise for the touchscreen, 3.6in HD (1280x720) resolution. I suspect Sony is using the same LCD to save on costs. In the engineer interview, Sony said they did not want to use OLED since on average the screen would use more power, especially when displaying white images. While this is true, an OLED would have looked so good here.

The Android version has been upgraded to 12, and there is no longer a 16GB option. The fact it took this many years for Sony to drop the 16GB version is shocking, especially with how cheap memory has become. 

	NW-A300	NW-A100
Supported Formats	MP3 (.mp3): 32 - 320kbps (VBR compatible) / 32, 44.1, 48kHz WMA (.wma): 32 - 192kbps (VBR compatible) / 44.1kHz FLAC (.flac): 16, 24bit / 8- 384kHz WAV (.wav): 16, 24, 32bit (Float/Integer) / 8-384kHz AAC (.mp4, .m4a, .3gp): 16-320kbps / 8-48kHz HE-AAC (.mp4, .m4a, .3gp): 32-144kbps / 8-48kHz Apple Lossless (.mp4, .m4a): 16, 24bit / 8-384kHz AIFF (.aif, .aiff, .afc, .aifc): 16, 24, 32bit/ 8-384kHz DSD (.dsf, .dff): 1bit / 2.8224, 5.6448, 11.2896MHz *2 APE (.ape): 8, 16, 24bit / 8-192kHz (Fast, Normal, High) MQA (.mqa.flac): Supported
Bluetooth	Version 5.0 SBC, AAC, LDAC, aptX, aptX HD
USB DAC function	Yes	No
NFC	No	Yes
Noise Cancellation	No	Yes
Digital Amplifier	S-Master HX
DSEE	DSEE Ultimate	DSEE HX DSEE Ultimate
Equalizer	20 Band	10 Band
USB Charging	~ 3.5 hours (100%) ~ 3 hours (~80%)	~ 5.5 hours (100%) ~ 4.0 hours (~80%)
USB Port	Type-C (USB3.2 Gen1)	Type-C (USB2.0)
microSD support	microSD microSDHC microSDXC

While the format support remains the same, the NW-A300 does charge 2 hours faster to 100% and is now equipped with a faster USB Type-C port. The equalizer now allows for more precise customization and the player can now be used as a USB DAC. But Sony did remove the noise cancellation function and NFC. With the WH-1000XM5 and WF-1000XM4, the absent noise cancellation will not be a big deal. but for some users, the lack of NFC will be a letdown. Sony has been removing NFC from their wireless headsets over the past few years, so even if the player had NFC, the WH-1000XM5 for example does not. But maybe other companies might still offer NFC on their headsets so this is where it would be useful.

The Bluetooth version may be the same, the connectivity time has increased by a fair good amount, most likely down to the improved Bluetooth chip (Qualcomm WCN3950) which is integrated into the main SoC (QCS2290).

	NW-A300	NW-A100
Battery Life	MP3 128kbps ~ 36 hours FLAC 96kHz/24bit ~ 32 hours FLAC 192kHz/24bit ~ 32 hours DSD 2.8224MHz/1bit ~ 28 hours DSD 5.6448MHz/1bit ~ 22 hours DSD 11.2896MHz/1bit ~ 14 hours	MP3 128kbps ~ 26 hours FLAC 96kHz/24bit ~ 21 hours FLAC 192kHz/24bit ~ 16 hours DSD 2.8224MHz/1bit ~ 11 hours
Bluetooth Streaming	SBC (connection priority) - MP3 128kbps ~ 21 hours LDAC (connection priority) ~ 11 hours FLAC 96kHz/ 24bit ~ 11 hours	SBC (connection priority) - MP3 128kbps ~ 10 hours LDAC (connection priority) ~ 8 hours FLAC 96kHz/ 24bit ~ 8 hours
Headphone practical maximum output (JEITA 16Ω/mW)	35mW + 35mW

If there were to be only one complaint for the NW-A100, it was poor/mediocre battery life. Well Sony has listened and delivered vastly improved battery life all around. Even with the higher price of the new model, just for the battery life, this is worth it. 

In addition the Bluetooth streaming battery life also got a big boost. Of course all of these numbers for ideal conditions, so we will have to wait for users providing their real world numbers once the player is released.

Turning to the inside of the players, we have some interior shots of the PCBs from Sony's website, so we can compare if there are any differences here. Generally speaking, there are some layout changes but similarities remain. For a more detailed breakdown of the NW-A100 PCB, check out my post from 2019. Note I am no an expert when it comes to electronics, I only play one on TV (j/k). But seriously, I am not an expert so I am only highlighting things I know for certain.

Click for larger size

Looking at the main chips, it appears as if they were flipped from one side to the other. The chips are not labelled, for that we will have to wait for a teardown, or more likely the FCC internal documents to see what is on the chips, if we are lucky. AV-Watch does have a photo of the PCB with the labelled chips, but the photo is too small to see any writing. 

I feel I have the major chips labelled correctly, buy there are some unknown parts, like the yellow, green and blue enclosed areas.

I am uncertain what these areas are, my hunch is the yellow area could be for power management but I am only guessing. Here is a close up of this area. The photo from the Sony website does not have the chip labelled, so if anyone knows what this part of the PCB is doing, please leave a comment below.

The green area I suspect might be related to the display. A lot of the traces from the components seem to end up at the connector for the display.

Finally the are at the top (blue rectangle), is near the wireless antenna so it might be components related to WiFi and Bluetooth. Although everything is under the metal cover, so no way in knowing what is present there.

If anyone knows what the yellow, green and blue regions do, please leave a comment below. Maybe I will make a video for to post and YouTube and see what people post there.

Turning to the back of the PCB, similar story, some differences and some similarities. 

Click for larger size

There is a mysterious copper foil piece on the back of the A300, I was not sure what this was, but on kakakumag.com, it says the following: 

低域のどっしり感を向上させるため、基板に銅はくを貼り付けてグランドを強化しているのもポイント

Google translate to the rescue! From what I could make out, it seems that this copper foil improves the low range frequencies, but it also strengthens the ground. I do not know if this means to make the board more stiff or it is referring to the ground in terms of power. I suspect it is the former, but I again ask my Japanese readers to help with this translation in the comments below.

That should be everything I wanted to go over. If anyone has seen any interesting article about the new A300 from Japan which have some new information, please leave the links in the comments. 

I will also have a comparison post for the NW-ZX700 which will also include a more in depth look.