Hip and trendy are two words to describe this new Walkman. Available in 4 colors (black, pink, lime green and white), this compact and lightweight device easily fits to your ear in what Sony calls 'wearable style', doing away with the hassle of headphone cords. Different size ear tips are provided so that it fits snug. Magnets on each part bring them together to form a heart shape. Mount it on the supplied stand to charge or transfer music and it looks more like a showpiece.

A nice touch is the quick charge; with about 10 minutes of charging, it can play music for about an hour and a half. With a 30 min charge, sony claims a 10 Old Meets New hour playback, which is extremely great especially if you plan to travel.



Performance wise, it gives you above average audio output; clear, undistorted mids and highs. Since there is no display, it is equipped with a jog wheel and the 'Zappin' feature which helps you to quickly navigate through all tracks by playing a snippet of the chorus of each song. You can choose between long (10 seconds) and short (4 seconds) settings for this mode, and if you come across a song you want to hear, a quick press of the jog button will start it from the beginning. Swiping the dial forward or backward serves to cycle through tracks. Otherwise it plays in alphanumeric order by default, or you can activate the shuffle by pressing the awkwardly placed switch on the inside of the right ear piece. At the same price, you can get a 4GB iPod Shuffle or even a mobiBlu DHH200 with 8GB memory, 1.8-inch color display, FM with recording, voice recording, direct MP3 encoding and alarm function.