The Sony Walkman NWZ-A15 is the world’s smallest and lightest Hi-Res Audio digital music player. It was launched in Singapore in October 2014 and is currently retailing for S$299.

With the Sony Walkman NWZ-A15, Sony aims to reproduce music just as artists truly intended, by using Sony’s acoustic engineering technologies.

The Sony NWZ-A15 is equipped with three Sony audio technologies. The ClearAudio+, Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE HX) and S-Master HX digital amplifier. These three technologies allow you to hear every breath, every drum beat, and every note in detail.

  • ClearAudio+ is a Sony unique technology that helps to provide realistic sound stage in your headphones, booming bass lines and consistent volume across tracks.
  • The DSEE HX restores high range sound lost when files are compressed to MP3. With this audio enhancement, MP3 playback is richer and more natural-sounding.
  • The S-Master HX digital amplifier allows for superb accuracy, clear separation of signals, and balanced sound reproduction using a digital-to-digital process. This sharpens and enriches dialogues, music and ambient sound.

The Sony NWZ-A15 has a built-in storage capacity of 16GB and expandable via microSDXC memory card. It has built-in Bluetooth 2.1 to allow you to stream music to wireless speakers or headphones and Near Field Communication (NFC) to allow you to pair with those wireless speakers or headphones easily.

Specifications

  • Internal: 16GB
  • External Memory: microSD slot (not supplied)
  • Bluetooth: Bluetooth Ver 2.1+EDR1 A2DP / AVRCP / OPP
  • NFC Yes
  • FM Tuner: 76.0～108.0MHz
  • Display: 2.2″ QVGA (240 x 320 Pixels) TFT color display with white LCD-backlight
  • Power Source: Built-in Li-ion Rechargeable Battery / USB power through the USB connector of the player
  • Battery Life: MP3 – 50 hours (*MP3 128kbps, when Bluetooth OFF), Hi-Res Audio – 30 hours (*FLAC 192kHz/24bit, when Bluetooth OFF)
  • Recharge Time: 4 hours
  • Maximum Dimensions: 43.6 x 109 x 8.7mm (W x H x D)
  • Weight: 66g
  • Sound Effects: S-Master HX / DSEE HX / Clear Audio+ / Clear Bass / Equalizer / VPT(surround) / Dynamic Normalizer
  • Compatible Formats (Music): FLAC / Apple Lossless(ALAC) / MP3 / AAC / HE-AAC / WMA / Linear PCM(WAV)
  • Compatible Formats (AIFF Movie): MPEG-4 / AVC(H.264/AVC) / Windows Media Video 9

Uploading music to the Sony NWZ-A15 is just basically drag and drop using Windows Explorer on Windows or Finder on the Mac when it is connected to the computer.

One disadvantage of the Sony NWZ-A15 is the use of a proprietary port and that requires a proprietary cable to charge it. I wish they would stick to micro USB instead.

Sony NWZ-A15 - Box Front
Sony NWZ-A15 – Box Front
Sony NWZ-A15 - Box Back
Sony NWZ-A15 – Box Back
Sony NWZ-A15 - Box
Sony NWZ-A15 – Box
Sony NWZ-A15 - Box Contents
Sony NWZ-A15 – Box Contents
Sony NWZ-A15 - Proprietary Port
Sony NWZ-A15 – Proprietary Port
Sony NWZ-A15 - Proprietary Port
Sony NWZ-A15 – Proprietary Port
Sony NWZ-A15 - Front
Sony NWZ-A15 – Front
Sony NWZ-A15 - Back
Sony NWZ-A15 – Back
Sony NWZ-A15 - Right
Sony NWZ-A15 – Right
Sony NWZ-A15 - Left
Sony NWZ-A15 – Left
Sony NWZ-A15 - Bottom
Sony NWZ-A15 – Bottom
Sony NWZ-A15 - Top
Sony NWZ-A15 – Top
Sony NWZ-A15
Sony NWZ-A15
Sony NWZ-A15 - With Proprietary Cable
Sony NWZ-A15 – With Proprietary Cable
Sony NWZ-A15 - With Proprietary Cable
Sony NWZ-A15 – With Proprietary Cable
Sony NWZ-A15 - Holding
Sony NWZ-A15 – Holding
Sony NWZ-A15 - Switched On
Sony NWZ-A15 – Switched On
Sony NWZ-A15 - Playing
Sony NWZ-A15 – Playing

Disclaimer: I was given the Sony Walkman NWZ-A15.