Sony is nostalgically trying to revive the popularity which the Walkman once possessed with the announcement of the ZX2 High-Resolution Walkman at CES 2015.What makes the new Sony Walkman unique is the ‘High-Res Audio’ sticker it boasts which means that music sounds just as it should… And if it doesn’t, there are plenty of settings the user can toggle with, so favourite tracks sound outstanding.
Considering this is a premium media device, the design is nothing special. There is a large bezel at the top and bottom; plus the device is very thick - probably due to the 128GB internal storage which has been packed inside. The iconic gold ring around the headphone jack consequently makes an ugly bump at the bottom of the device and as for the rear of the device, it is leather and uneven. The design isn’t all bad though, if you hold the Walkman with your left hand, the playback and volume controls are perfectly placed so you can operate them easily.
Although the ZX2 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, this device wasn’t built to compete with high-end smartphones… It built primarily for listening to music and maybe watching movies – but nothing else.
So, for an ugly, uneven body on a device which only has one purpose, you wouldn’t expect to need to fork out much? Wrong. The Sony ZX2 High-Resolution Walkman will set you back £949. With a price tag that high, the Walkman seems to be exclusively for premium clarity audio fanatics and nobody else.