The following is a new feature of FitHacks.com where I review certain fitness gadgets and gizmos that may benefit the fit-minded reader. Should this be a regular feature on the site? Let me know what you think.
Also, I have some big news! Beginning next week, I will start the FitHacks.com Subscriber Contest! All I can say at this time is that I have an extra Sony W-Series Walkman (unopened) and I want to give it to one of my faithful readers. More details on this Monday. Now to the review:
Disclaimer: This device was a test unit sent to me free of charge for review on the site. The following article is an unbiased and honest review of a product. I do not review products that do not align with my personal convictions nor do I accept money for reviewing products.
For the last few days I have been testing a new water resistant MP3 player from Sony known as the W-Series Walkman. The W-Series is a very sporty player that was designed with the athlete in mind and has been very fun to play with over the course of the past week. It’s a little different from an average MP3 player as the storage, controls, battery and headphones are all housed within the same casing. This makes for an interesting device free of all but the smallest of cords and cables. Sony has made a lot of interesting design choices which they hope will aid digital audio lovers while on the go, at the track or in the gym.
Form Factor: The MP3 player has a very unique construction. In fact, I have never used a device quite like this one. With this unit, the headphones are actually built into the main body of the player. The device looks exactly like two separate Blutooth headsets joined together with a small cable that runs behind your head. They fit over the ear pretty comfortably and the earbuds (which come with different rubber casings for different sized ears) actually felt pretty good when in use. The player is lightweight and doesn’t distract while walking or even jogging.
The controls for the device are located on the underside of the ear pieces. The right unit has the play/pause and volume controls; the left unit has the shuffle button and the USB port.
Another interesting thing about the physical design of this player is that there is a magnet built into the player that is intended to hold the two separate units together while not in use. This is great for securing the player from damage and for a compact storing solution.
User Interface: The control interface for this player is also pretty unique. As the designers purposed that all functionality must be controlled from the bottom of the player with the user’s thumbs, they attempted to make the buttons as intuitive as possible. I’d say that on the whole, they were successful. The right unit contains a “joystick-like” control. Pushing the button in controls the “Play/Pause” functionality. Pushing the button to the front/back controls the skip track functionality. Also among the player controls is the “Volume Up/Down” buttons and the “Shuffle” button for randomizing the song order. After five minutes with learning the navigation controls, I was a pro.
Sound quality: Honestly, this was the most surprising part of using this player. Having headphones built into the unit didn’t give me high hopes for a quality sound. However, I was very satisfied with the audio quality that I heard. Considering that I’ve gone through many, many pairs of in ear headphones, I can say that these sounded just as good as the high price stand alone units that you will find in Best Buy.
Battery Life: Actually, as I’ve only been testing the unit for the last week, I haven’t used up the whole battery yet. The little player is still running on the initial charge. Officially, the player should give you approximately 11 hours of playtime before needing to be recharged.
Storage: The memory capabilities of the W-Series is only 2GB. This is seemingly pretty low when compared to other MP3 players on the market but not when you consider the purpose for this device. This is meant to be a player that you can use while you work out – not for a road trip across the country. With that in mind, 2GB seems like an adequate (though not abundant) amount of media storage.
Overall Impressions: Overall, I was impressed with the player’s ability to remain on my ears even while jumping and jogging. I have had problems with in ear headphones in the past when I work out. I tend to sweat a lot and have a hard time keeping traditional headphones in my ears. These are secure and won’t fall out no matter how sweaty my ears get.
The lightweight units are comfortable and easy to control. I was able to scan the device for songs quickly and effectively without interrupting my workout.
The storage capabilities are smaller than most players today, but if you use this device solely for working out it shouldn’t be a problem.
The only thing that I could really consider as a point against this player is the appearance. Sony definitely was trying to be different in their design here, and I appreciate not having to carry around any headphones with the device. However, it looks exactly like I have two Blutooth cell phone headsets strapped to my head at the same time. This may seem a bit odd to people who see me on the road or in the gym but it is only a small complaint. On the whole, I definitely see myself using this device whenever I want to workout with some music.
