Product Reviews

The iPod may dominate the MP3 player market, but it pays to shop around. Sony's latest Walkman is every bit as stylish, admittedly in a more hi-fi component way, and has comparably solid build quality. The scratch resistant screen and brushed metal case are cluttered by relatively few buttons, a single four-way switch with a central Play/Pause button controlling most of the options. User interface is where Apple's rivals often fall down, but Sony's menu system gives quick and easy access. Our only criticism was that podcasts were treated as normal music tracks, which can make finding files a chore.

Unlike with an iPod, media files can just be dragged and dropped onto the player

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when it's connected to your PC via USB. Sony has sensibly ditched its Sonic Stage software, which used to serve this purpose, but you can use Windows Media Player as a simple music management tool.

Perhaps the most unusual feature of this player is Bluetooth, which is used to connect the supplied wireless headphones (you get a wired pair too). Despite their convenience, Bluetooth headphones can often be disappointing, and we weren't particularly impressed with these. The earpieces looped uncomfortably over our ears and didn't form a tight seal, so we had to turn the volume up loud enough to annoy colleagues. Partly because of this, audio quality wasn't as good as with other sets we've heard. You can use other Bluetooth sets, but they're pricey. The wired headphones were far better, with oddly shaped buds that formed a good seal in the ear and could pump great sound - with strong, clear bass - without discomfort.

So the Walkman's coolest feature was the one we used the least. But the player's overall quality impressed us enough to forgive this, and with both headphones the Sony is still cheaper than an iPod nano. It's the obvious choice if you want to be free from headphone cables, and worth considering even if the Bluetooth feature doesn't appeal.