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Sony NW-A300 Walkman Revealed

Sony NW-A300 Walkman

In addition to the new NW-ZX700, Sony has also released the new A-Series. The new player is on the Sony website, labelled as Coming Soon, and will come in black and blue, with Japan also receiving a gray option.

In Japan the new A-Series will be available at the end of January on the 27th and will come in 32GB (A306) and 64GB (A307) capacities, with Europe only getting the 32GB model. The price in Japan is 46,000 Yen for the 32GB and 57,000 Yen for the 64GB, where as in Europe it will be 399 Euros or 349 Pounds.

The screen is a 3.6in with HD resolution (same as before), using the Android 12 OS, previously Android 9. The biggest improvement is the battery life, now rated up to 36 hours for MP3 (128kbps) and up to 32 hours for FLAC (96Khz/24bit). Compare this to the old model which had up to 23 hours for MP3 (128kbps) and up to 19 hours for FLAC (96Khz/24bit). This is a huge change and a welcome one.

The Bluetooth playback has also improved significantly, up to 22 hours for MP3 (128kbps) over SBC, and up to 11 hours for FLAC (96Khz/24bit). Previously it was up to 10 hours for MP3 and up to 8 hours for FLAC. 

Here is the full battery life for the other codecs:

MP3 (128kbps) - Approx. 36 hrs
FLAC (96kHz/24bit) - Approx. 32 hrs
FLAC (192kHz/24bit) - Approx. 32 hrs
DSD (2.8224MHz/1bit) - Approx. 28 hrs
DSD (5.6448MHz/1bit) - Approx. 22 hrs
DSD (11.2896MHz/1bit) - Approx. 14 hrs 

The Bluetooth version is 5.0 as I initially reported in the first post, and for those wondering about NFC, it is absent. Bluetooth codec support will include SBC, AAC, LDAC, aptX and aptX HD. Since we only have BT 5.0, there will be no LE Audio or LC3 codec support. Could Sony add it in the future? Unlikely as the Qualcomm QCS2290 is only certified for 5.0.

The USB port has been upgraded to version 3.2Gen1, up from USB 2.0 in the previous model, this should speed up transfers. It appears that the noise cancellation function has been removed. Not a big issue, since one can use the NC function in the WH-1000XM5 or WF-1000XM4.

Sony NW-A300 Walkman
The weight has gone up 10g to 113g, and the dimensions are 56.5mm x 98.4 mm x 11.8mm, with the previous model measuring 55.2 mm × 98.9 mm × 11.0 mm.

A full battery recharge will take around 3.5 hours, which is 2 hours faster than the A100. This is great, because waiting more than 5 hours for a full recharge is unacceptable and a pain.

Both the new A and ZX continue the tradition of using the S-Master HX, the CXD3778. This chip is a workhorse for Sony.

Sony NW-A300 Walkman S-Master HX

It is crazy to think, that over the many years and generations of Sony Walkmans and headphones, this S-Master HX probably has not changed much. I am sure there have been improvements in the algorithm and so on, but it looks like the size of the chip has not changed from the original.

Sony NW-A300 Walkman

Here are some tidibts from the Sony A300 Engineer interview. Check out the rest of the interview how Sony went about to improve the audio quality from the previous model, it is an interesting read.

According to the engineers, the new A-Series is "packed with Sony's power-saving miniaturization technology". I would guess would be components Sony makes themselves and not the new SoC.

Sony does mention there is a new SoC, but does not specify which one. We know it is the Qualcomm QCS2290 from the benchmarks. I do wonder if this is the same SoC in the new ZX700 as well or something else. 

Sony NW-A300 Walkman


Sony NW-A300 Walkman

Sony NW-A300 Walkman

Sony NW-A300 Walkman

Sony NW-A300 Walkman

Sony NW-A300 Walkman

Sony NW-A300 Walkman

Sony NW-A300 Walkman

So, looks like I was wrong, I was told we would see them in February, but it looks like Sony decided to roll out the new Walkmans early. Nice of them to do that, wonder what changed.

Anyways, sorry for the haphazard post, but Sony does not share their press releases early for me, so I have to make due with the product pages. 

I would love to pick up the new ZX700, but I cannot afford it, so if anyone from Sony is reading, I would love to review it (hint hint). If that is too much to ask, I could also review the new A-Series as well. Knowing my luck I will have to buy the new A-Series myself. As for everyone else, what are you thoughts for the new A? 

18 comments:

  1. Great device, the only problem I see is the price. EUR 399 is about the same as the Xperia 10 IV is at the moment, so the main advantages that remain are size, weight and probably the quality of the headphone jack (for those who didn't already switch to wireless connection).
    E_D___B_A_N_G_E_R

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  2. The only bummer for me right now is that the A300 probably isn't able to be used as USB DAC - at least I can't find it being mentioned anywhere...
    E_D___B_A_N_G_E_R

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    1. Ok I just checked Sony.jp, and USB DAC function is there as a feature.

      https://www.sony.jp/walkman/products/NW-A300_series/spec.html

      Guess not mentioned in the Euro Sony pages.

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    2. Great, so it looks like the A300 has anything a dedicated DAP needs. According to Sony, the battery life is also more or less on par with the last Linux-based A series players.
      E_D___B_A_N_G_E_R

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  3. Do you think that Sony will make any new additions to their headphones and ear phones this year? They’ve iterated in their Walkmans many times but not on their premium headphones

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    1. Yes there are new models coming, I wouldn't call the upcoming models premium, maybe the WH-CH720N. We should also get a new WF-1000XM5, but if you mean non-bluetooth models like the MDR-Z1R, then Sony rarely updates these that often.

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  4. No MicroSD. No LC3 codec. And the scammy MQA? Only Sony fans in SE Asia would buy this. All the improvements to eliminate noise is irrelevant. Any noise below 80dB is inaudible with program content. At -100dB SNR, all noise is gone and it is irrelevant how far it is below 100 dB. Even $100 Chinese DAPs achieve such a SNR. Hard Pass. ๐Ÿ™„

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    1. The microSD slot is at the bottom of the player, top photo in the post, the port is visible on the right side. The player supports microSD, microSDHC, and microSDXC cards. There is no LC3 since it is only Bluetooth 5.0, and LC3 isn't really geared towards sound quality. Most people will use LDAC if they want high quality wireless audio, otherwise the best method to listen to the player is wired.

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  5. can you tell me info about the new processor, I can't find info on Sony's site, the NW-A100 was so sluggish, I hope this one is much faster. ๐Ÿ™๐Ÿผ

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    1. It is in the article, Google Qualcomm QCS2290 for more details. :)

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  6. What i find unbelievable (as in ridiculous) is specs and battery consumption info, for mp3 files, is being considered for a 128k res file....
    I mean, who the hell spends 400 on a DAP and then puts crap quality 128k files on it??
    The bare minimum acceptable quality for an mp3 file in this day in age is 320k CBR, period!! That is the spec for battery consumption average that should be considered for mp3 files. It's not the early 2000's anymore for God's sake....

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    1. yes it should be 320, would imagine the battery would be similar to flac.

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    2. Fun fact, Walkman photos Hideo Kojima posted showed he's often using his Walkman to run music files in just 128kbps AAC, not mp3 though

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  7. Dumb spec move this product is now associated with horrible quality MP3

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  8. Nice article. Since you mentioned gray is not available in the other part of the world, I ordered a gray one today.

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  9. Unfortunately it appears Sony is not selling it in the US.

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    Replies
    1. For the time being, the previous models took about 3 months after their reveal to arrive in the US.

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  10. gray is not available in the other part of the world

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