The new Sony A-Series features three players: the 2GB NWZ-A815, the
4GB NWZ-A816 and the 8GB NWZ-A818. They include the same features with
differening memory capacities, so click over to find our full review of the A81x series.
Sony Walkman NWZ-A816 review
Verdict
A well-priced, high-performing and stylish audio player. Its simple operation and management will appeal to most people but a couple of key features are missing. Overall, this is an excellent contender from Sony
Good
- Sound quality
- Battery life
- Design
- No SonicStage required
- High-quality video support
- Easy to use
- Price
Bad
- No FM radio
- No gapless playback
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User reviews2
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Kevin David Steele 15 December 2011
Good: best easyist to use player ive ever had, ive had it 5 years and its never let me down
Bad: i dont have two
Comment: clear and easy to use reliable player, good for any age or skill level.
Ken Cayton 24 November 2007
Good: Everything!
Bad: No FM Radio.
Comment: This is my 3rd Walkman, and it blew me away. My previous experience has shown me that the build quality & ease of use of Walkmen has always been top notch, however the software has always let them down. Sonicstage has always been a bane, now being able to use Windows Media Player, or just drag and drop, to deliver media has made the whole process smooth and easy.
The device itself is easy to navigate, well built, provides excellent sound quality and a long battery life while supporting a wide selection of formats. The video support is also much better than I expected, as it plays most videos formatted to PSP standard, and as such most of the videos that can be freely downloaded from video.goole.com. If you have WMVs and the like, an easy to use converter, such as PSP Video 9, will convert most flavours of video format into MP4 for you. The screen itself is very good, a tad small for movies, but for short half hour bursts of Scrubs & South Park, it's easily watchable.
I initially thought the lack of support for Sony's own ATRAC format would be a problem, as I had around 500 ATRAC files sitting on my computer. The supplied software did a good job of hoovering up these ATRACs & converting them to MP3s, and the whole process took a very reasonable 30 minutes.
Up until this point, I never thought any Sony product would rival the iPod, due to the software, however the phrase "ipod killer" is brandished all too frequently, however I think the A816 provides an excellent alternative to the new (and fat) Nano. It matches it in price, capacity and ease of use, while exceeding it in sound quality and battery life. I know it will never beat the iPod in the popularity stakes, but if you'd like something a little different and (in my opinion) better built, go for Sony!
See all 2 user reviews