the A10 series is very similar to the e585 (that I own and still enjoy from time to time). the A10 is kind of big in comparison, but oh so tiny compared to a zx2.
battery life behavior, you can expect all the same things from the A10 that you had on the e585 plus some pretense of highres, and this time it plays flac with a good handling of tags ^_^.
about volume cap, yes euro DAPs have one, I just can't understand why this comes up only with sony all the time. most stuff with an audio out sold in europe have that limit implemented, because as you might notice it's called a EU cap, and it's the law. it's not an sony fantasy. it has existed since the first ipods and you almost never saw anybody talking or complaining about it. but on sony DAPs hermagerd euro cap!!!! that's where you realize how people really notice only what they're told to notice.
it's a voltage limit, so the most unlikely need for a sensitive low impedance IEM, as most IEMs can reach 90db with less than 0.05v (and that's an actual fact).
no current limit is implemented so there is no reason for the DAP to behave any different unless of course the voltage limit implementation was done by a moron. in this instance the moron would have to be sony itself.
I'm not saying "go buy EU devices", I'm saying if you guys complain, complain right.
obviously if you buy a DAP outside of EU, it will not have the EU limit (captain obvious strikes again). so make sure singapore doesn't join europe in the next few days and you should be safe.