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NEW Sony Walkman Z Series mini review!!!
Apr 21, 2012 at 3:54 PM Post #1,381 of 4,019
Anybody using Spotify? I love the new app but sadly I suffer from the Off Line bug so can't synchronise playlists 
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Apr 22, 2012 at 6:15 AM Post #1,386 of 4,019
I handled the Z today at my local Sony Store. My impressions, without listening to it: 
 
This thing is BIG. Longer and wider than my Droid X2. It's display seemed clearer or more resolute than my Droid X2's though it's display is about 480x800 to my Droid X2's 540x960. Strange.
 
It seemed very responsive to commands and the Android experience was familiar to me as an Android phone user, as it should be to any Android phone user, despite the design differences between the two. One significant difference was that the Walkman Z's back, home and menu buttons were all situated on what seemed like the same exterior panel as the screen. The result of this was that there was no 'clicking' sound as there is with the individual plastic buttons on the face of my Droid X2. This gave the Walkman a more refined feel.
 
The fit and finish of the device was generally good, as is expected of Sony. High quality materials are used for the screen, case and buttons.
 
What I didn't like was the absence of forward, play and reverse buttons on the side of the case. Yes, there's a "Walkman" button that summons the Walkman player controls on the touchscreen, but there weren't any physical music player control buttons. This means that you can't (easily) operate the music player without looking at the device. This is disappointing as even the A-Series Walkmans, which are also touchscreen devices, have such controls. It think the Walkman Z's designers thought that the Walkman button would give a more refined impression to consumers and while that may be the case, my opinion is that those physical player control buttons would've been useful to the end user.
 
There is a speaker on the back of the device but it seemed pretty weak and probably shouldn't have been there at all since it represented the player so poorly. Just think of how many consumers will judge the player by its speaker's sound. Ugh.
 
So why didn't I listen to it via earphones? Because the earphones plugged into it could've been in anybody else's ears. I suppose I could've asked for some headphones to use to audition it. Maybe next time I visit the store :).
 
Apr 22, 2012 at 7:18 AM Post #1,387 of 4,019
 
Quote:
suburbanite said:
I handled the Z today at my local Sony Store. My impressions, without listening to it: 
 
This thing is BIG. Longer and wider than my Droid X2. It's display seemed clearer or more resolute than my Droid X2's though it's display is about 480x800 to my Droid X2's 540x960. Strange.
 
It seemed very responsive to commands and the Android experience was familiar to me as an Android phone user, as it should be to any Android phone user, despite the design differences between the two. One significant difference was that the Walkman Z's back, home and menu buttons were all situated on what seemed like the same exterior panel as the screen. The result of this was that there was no 'clicking' sound as there is with the individual plastic buttons on the face of my Droid X2. This gave the Walkman a more refined feel.
 
The fit and finish of the device was generally good, as is expected of Sony. High quality materials are used for the screen, case and buttons.
 
What I didn't like was the absence of forward, play and reverse buttons on the side of the case. Yes, there's a "Walkman" button that summons the Walkman player controls on the touchscreen, but there weren't any physical music player control buttons. This means that you can't (easily) operate the music player without looking at the device. This is disappointing as even the A-Series Walkmans, which are also touchscreen devices, have such controls. It think the Walkman Z's designers thought that the Walkman button would give a more refined impression to consumers and while that may be the case, my opinion is that those physical player control buttons would've been useful to the end user.
 
There is a speaker on the back of the device but it seemed pretty weak and probably shouldn't have been there at all since it represented the player so poorly. Just think of how many consumers will judge the player by its speaker's sound. Ugh.
 
So why didn't I listen to it via earphones? Because the earphones plugged into it could've been in anybody else's ears. I suppose I could've asked for some headphones to use to audition it. Maybe next time I visit the store :).
Click to expand...

What struck me, is you not having any iem with you....:wink: . You should have it for a test.
 
 
 
Apr 22, 2012 at 7:31 AM Post #1,388 of 4,019
 
Quote:
suburbanite said:
I handled the Z today at my local Sony Store. My impressions, without listening to it: 
 
This thing is BIG. Longer and wider than my Droid X2. It's display seemed clearer or more resolute than my Droid X2's though it's display is about 480x800 to my Droid X2's 540x960. Strange.
 
It seemed very responsive to commands and the Android experience was familiar to me as an Android phone user, as it should be to any Android phone user, despite the design differences between the two. One significant difference was that the Walkman Z's back, home and menu buttons were all situated on what seemed like the same exterior panel as the screen. The result of this was that there was no 'clicking' sound as there is with the individual plastic buttons on the face of my Droid X2. This gave the Walkman a more refined feel.
 
The fit and finish of the device was generally good, as is expected of Sony. High quality materials are used for the screen, case and buttons.
 
What I didn't like was the absence of forward, play and reverse buttons on the side of the case. Yes, there's a "Walkman" button that summons the Walkman player controls on the touchscreen, but there weren't any physical music player control buttons. This means that you can't (easily) operate the music player without looking at the device. This is disappointing as even the A-Series Walkmans, which are also touchscreen devices, have such controls. It think the Walkman Z's designers thought that the Walkman button would give a more refined impression to consumers and while that may be the case, my opinion is that those physical player control buttons would've been useful to the end user.
 
There is a speaker on the back of the device but it seemed pretty weak and probably shouldn't have been there at all since it represented the player so poorly. Just think of how many consumers will judge the player by its speaker's sound. Ugh.
 
So why didn't I listen to it via earphones? Because the earphones plugged into it could've been in anybody else's ears. I suppose I could've asked for some headphones to use to audition it. Maybe next time I visit the store :).
Click to expand...

 
Well, the walkman button at the side was inspired by the walkman phones, after all. 
 
Apr 22, 2012 at 7:51 AM Post #1,390 of 4,019
 
Quote:
suburbanite said:
I handled the Z today at my local Sony Store. My impressions, without listening to it: 
 
This thing is BIG. Longer and wider than my Droid X2. It's display seemed clearer or more resolute than my Droid X2's though it's display is about 480x800 to my Droid X2's 540x960. Strange.
 
There is a speaker on the back of the device but it seemed pretty weak and probably shouldn't have been there at all since it represented the player so poorly. Just think of how many consumers will judge the player by its speaker's sound. Ugh.
 
So why didn't I listen to it via earphones? Because the earphones plugged into it could've been in anybody else's ears. I suppose I could've asked for some headphones to use to audition it. Maybe next time I visit the store :).
Click to expand...

 
as Turocks said.... why bother looking at something without even testing it ?..... and if people are going to judge the WM-Z by the pathetic speaker at the back well I truly feel sorry for them as they are missing the point of this superb player..... as for it's size, personally I love it as my big ole hands can operate it easy and yes I agree its annoying that there are no physical buttons on the side but this is not a deal-breaker imo as the sound the WM-Z produces in only bettered by a couple of DAPS that cost twice the price.
 
You really should of listened to the WM-Z and if I may make a suggestion, invest in some alcohol-wipes that way you can clean 'the buds' before inserting them in your ears, saves on wasted trips..... most of us bought our WM-Z without listening to it, why not join the happy crew and buy one, you know you wanna.
 
Apr 22, 2012 at 8:19 AM Post #1,391 of 4,019
 
Quote:
ok-guy said:
 
 
as Turocks said.... why bother looking at something without even testing it ?..... and if people are going to judge the WM-Z by the pathetic speaker at the back well I truly feel sorry for them as they are missing the point of this superb player..... as for it's size, personally I love it as my big ole hands can operate it easy and yes I agree its annoying that there are no physical buttons on the side but this is not a deal-breaker imo as the sound the WM-Z produces in only bettered by a couple of DAPS that cost twice the price.
 
You really should of listened to the WM-Z and if I may make a suggestion, invest in some alcohol-wipes that way you can clean 'the buds' before inserting them in your ears, saves on wasted trips..... most of us bought our WM-Z without listening to it, why not join the happy crew and buy one, you know you wanna.
Click to expand...

 
True, the iPod Touch has a pathetic speaker at it's back, but do people judge the sound quality by it's speaker before buying it? Sure, most don't even bother, they just want to play angry birds on it. Which leads to the point here that only audiophiles like us will know that the true sound quality lies in the sound chip which needs to be output by a headphone and not the on-board speaker. I guess only players like the iBasso DX100 would be able to defeat the Sony, but then again, I don't think the sound quality would be worth 2x more.

And yes, I ordered the Z series without even listening to it, heck it's not even out in my country yet. And I think it's very hard to judge a player's sound quality at a shop, since you can't listen to your own songs. 
 
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