Sony NWZ-W202 Walkman MP3 Player

With regards to range of functions, admittedly the Sony W202 isn’t an iPod with playlists, podcast functions, etc. However its main fuctions are as easy to us as it is to wear, here are the main technical features:
2GB storage holds up to 500 tracks
13.5mm EX Series headphones for clear and powerful sound, extreme comfort and high quality audio performance
Battery life of up to 12 hours as well as 90 minutes playback time from a 3 minute quick charge
Supported audio formats include mp3, AAC and WMA (DRM)
Music Searching Methods
ZAPPIN™ technology for quick song searches: Listen to the first few seconds of the chorus to find your favourite tracks
Repeat or Shuffle and Repeat

As mentioned above, the controls are all on the right hand earpiece, with a multifunction jog dial and a volume controller. The inside edge sees a shuffle slider too, which you can engage for overall random music play. The jog dial handles everything you’ll want to do. A simple click acts as both play and pause, a sweep forward skips forward, a sweep back goes back. Overall, the W202’s functions and controls are extremely easy and simple to learn.

Some of you may be wondering what ZAPPIN is, Sony has created this piece of software and equipped it into the jog dial of the W202. In a way ZAPPIN counters the disadvantage of the W202’s lack of display. When ZAPPIN is activated with a long press of the jog dial. When activated, it acts as a way of quickly finding tunes you’ve put into the W202’s 2GB flash memory. Once activated, it will play you a short snippet of the song, if you want to listen to that, then a quick press resumes play. Its possible to change the length of clip between 4 and 15 seconds, depending on your preference. What’s more, if you turn off the player in ZAPPIN mode, it will startup in ZAPPIN mode too, so go straight into track skipping.

While its true, there is only one playback mode, we don’t believe there have been any compromise in soud quality. Music is played at a range of satisfactory volumes, which should be adequate for running outdoors and gym users indoors. The W202’s built in earphones in our view were quite capable of playing music with moderate bass, in fact, its music play is slightly “bassy”. Whilst this may not be an adjustable function, it should not affect you too much if you’re an e-book listening. Overall, the W202 deals great crisp, clarity to music play with an automatic added touch of bass and should generally suit whatever it is that you’re playing while you’re on the treadmill!

Practicality

Though many of the features and design of the Sony NWZ-W202 have been completed in a practial way that would most suit active and sporty users, we could not come to an agreement whether the W202 would be practical and suitable for “regular” users who enjoy listening to abit of music while visiting the shops as it would appear quite awkward.

Sony boasts that using mini-USB (through the cable stand included) a 3 minute charge will give you 90 minutes of listening and a full charge will give you about 12 hours listening, again this further reinforces the convenience that the W202 has been designed to provide. Yes, the W202 certainly does have an advantage over the iPods for example, it is much less bulkier, lighter in weight and even if compared to the new iPod Shuffle, the W202 does not have earphone lines that act as the only source for music control, which would tangle about. Perhaps it would be best concluded that the W202 certainly has obvious advantages over current market portable music / MP3 player designs but it is not without its own shortcomings.

Pros

Sophisticated, practical sporty design
Lightweight and extremely comfortable for an all-in-one music player
Package includes different sizes of earbuds for best fit
We enjoyed the thought that Sony had put into even the smallest details such as the on/off mechanism of the music player itself
Sufficient music player functions as an entertainment source primarily focussed for sporting
Excellent battery features, perfect for instant on the go
Generally speaking, if you don’t mind its design and are looking for an iPod alternative with better sound quality, the W202 would be a good candidate

Cons

Fixed non-upgradable flash memory of 2GB will cost £59.00 (Product Page)
Cannot be used as an alternative pair of headphones (lack of bluetooth for example) for other devices despite its great comfort
Controls located on the right earpiece may be too small for those with large hands