Sony Walkman A818
With its sleek metallic case and chrome rimmed edges, the Sony A81x series is sophisticated, compact and easy to use. Solid and rugged, this neat MP3 player is around the same convenient size as the iPod Nano, and retailing at £99 in electrical stores is a serious contender to upstage its rivals.
User Interface – The UI is well organised though the apps menu is not as easily accessible as the iPod Nano or the iPod Touch, nor is the A-series brimming with Apps. The absence of FM radio, games and wi-fi is noticeable in comparison to Apple’s robust devices, though unless you’re a media junky and want your MP3 to be all singing, all dancing, Sony’s A-Series should be satisfactory enough as it is fitted with the most important features consumers of MP3 players want, namely an extensive music library, video playback and an impressive battery life.
Display – The 2.0 inch display of the A816 and A818 is sufficient for photos and album art and as with the iPod Nano, video playback is watched horizontally. Though this just about suffices for films that are not overloaded with special effects, it is no match for the 3.5 inch display of the iPod Touch.
Sound – As expected of Sony, the sound quality of the A-series is top draw, with clear, punchy highs and prominent bass. Volume increments reach a maximum of 30 without distortion and the convenient controls are well positioned along the side. Not only does the A-series support MP3, WMA, WAV and ACC files, but Sony have also thrown in software converting existing ATRAC files into MP3. Sony’s sound quality is superior to Apple and the A-series also gets the nod with its versatile music library that can be sorted in year of release as well as the standard album, artist, song and genre options, meaning users can give their ad-hoc playlists a quirky nostalgic shuffle. If there is one grumble however, it is that tracks cannot be deleted once downloaded.
Video – Video format is much more simplified with 3×4 thumbnail grids and the transfer of video files from your PC library must be synced from Windows Media Player. Playback is smooth and the excellent picture quality is comparable with the iPod Nano. Though the video playback on the iPod Touch is superior to either of the aforementioned, the cheaper price tag of the Sony A-Series is by far a more attractive proposition to either of the Apple models.
Memory
- Sony NWZ-A816 4GB – 1000 songs, 15 hours video playback
- Sony NWZ-A818 8GB – 2000 songs, 32 hours video playback
- iPod Nano 8GB – 2000 songs, 8 hours video playback
- iPod Nano 16GB – 4000 songs, 16 hours video playback
- iPod Touch 8GB – 1750 songs, 10 hours video playback
- iPod Touch 32GB – 7000 songs, 40 hours video playback
- iPod Touch 64GB – 14000 songs, 30 hours playback
Battery Life
- Sony NWZ-A816 / A818 – 33 hours audio, 8 hours video
- iPod Nano – 24 hours audio, 5 hours video
- iPod Touch – 30 hours audio, 6 hours video
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