The 40th Anniversary Walkman Review
My 40th Anniversary Walkman turned up a few days earlier than anticipated.
It’s not yet available worldwide and it seems the UK customers are some of the first to receive it. Therefore I’ve moved things around to get this review completed as soon as possible. Being early with a review can be quite important, so this video will be going live on youtube on Friday. That’s a bit less patron-exclusive time than I like to give, but I trust you understand the reason for expediting this one.
That said, I have had it for six full days now, so this isn’t some half-hearted rushed ‘hands-on’ preview - I’ve used it long enough to form a proper opinion - and it’s not what I was expecting.
In other news - I’ve got some new tacky overpriced Christmas themed merchandise tat on Teespring - order now to ensure disappointment.
Comments (71)
With a giant corp like Sony I was expecting something with a bit of a wow factor :( The coolest part was the animated tape display but even that was spoilt by being wonky when the thing is in the holder.. aaaarrrgghhhh....
Excellent video as always Mat. I agree that it's very strange they didn't at least skin the Android operating system to have more of a Sony / cassette aesthetic, other than the playback screen - which I admit is clever. But does that justify the purchase? I also agree that they could have done a bit more to make this 40th anniversary product more special... like including some retro styled headphones. I'm surprised they didn't decide to slap a cellular antenna and camera in it and just sell it as a phone. Maybe they're waiting until the 45th year for that.
It probably wouldn’t be a bad little phone - there aren’t many small phones around any more.
Mat, you are incredibly good at what you do.
It’s very nice of you to say so. I’m not great with accepting compliments - but I’ll say thanks.
*orders 7 of each overpriced Techmoan merch*
I'm old enough to remember not only the original Walkman but the ever shrinking versions that ended with one that was barely bigger than the cassette tape it was playing. I like the comment about the orange earphones, and I think that Sony should have included the earbuds that support the mentioned feature. Anniversary time, why hold back?
A bit of a missed opportunity all round. We’ll have to wait until the 50th anniversary to see if they’ve taken any of the points onboard.
Your thumbnail image has a grammar error. "It's a App" -> "It's an App". Interesting concept though.
It originally said ‘It’s An App’ when I created the thumbnail but the pun/joke didn’t scan as well - being a play on “it’s a trap”. Also ‘An’ isn’t used much outside of British English - so would undoubtably cause consternation despite being more grammatically accurate. It’s the usual case of damned if I do, damned if I don’t.
It's in today's metro quote "The original player made a triumphant return to celebrate hitting the big 4-0. The result is a hi-res touchscreen player with an awesome nostalgic cassette user interface that displays track names to emulate the real thing. £400,"
Highlighting the difference between reprinting a press release issued by the Sony PR team and using the device for a week.
Watched it again now that it's public. Just realized how you juxtaposed your high-speed commentary describing the ... product while showing the tape animation slowly dimming. Bravo!
The fading away tape display seemed quite apt given the state of the Walkman in 2019.
I wish to complain. And another thing.
You’ll need to make an appointment, there are hundreds of people already in the queue.
I'm interested in hearing your opinions on the Sony earphones and headphones too. I managed to buy a 1000X headband set just before they released the new models but it is fantastic.
I plan on doing something about them.
Now that's disappointing - as well as expensive. Like you said, Sony: at least skin it, make it look like a dedicated music player. Probably brought by the same marketing team who came up with the Playstation Classic. Although that one is decent for expanding and emulation. These products only seem to be sold to make easy money (ab)using a name which meant something, instead of bringing something new and inspiring like the original products.
Well that was a pretty underwhelming product! So no orders from me for a Sony. I’ve ordered a Christmas moans mug instead. Looking at the DeliTape app you mentioned earlier, I came across another iPhone app called Nakano MK2 which makes your iPhone look like a Nagra SN, which is as about as close as I’ll get to owning one of those...
I’ll download that too- thanks. Those SNs are insanely priced now, and frankly a massive pain in the neck to use due to all the proprietary connectors (so I’ve been told).
I just checked how the video was doing on YouTube - and guess who popped up in the pre-roll advert ‘Alan Moore’ with his flippin dodgy Android phone. I thought we’d got past all that. It looks like my videos are attracting the lowest paying bottom feeder advertisers. Brill.
Well, I was about to buy the 40th anniversary Walkman, until me and my team found out that Sony were culling baby seals to make the cover. After that, me and my team decided to cull our own seals, and we've never looked back! -Alan Moore
Excellent review, Mat, I would always trust your opinions. I will not be ordering one. (Phil Collins: I'm the "other person" who had a Stowaway.) :-)
Looks like the affiliate sales revenue on this one is going to be a bit slim. One less satsuma in the Christmas stocking this year.
That was a bit of a cynical move by Sony. And what about the Walkman's predecessor, the Stowaway, is that not celebrated anywhere?
The Stowaway and Soundabout were just names Sony used in some countries outside Japan until they unified everything as a Walkman. The Walkman came first in 1979 in Japan. But don’t mention that stereobelt thingy (although someone always does in every Walkman video’s comments - as though they’re the sole holder of this sacred knowledge).
I bought bought a Sony Walkman ZX300 earlier this year. It doesn't have android. It can't connect to the internet and it's not compatible with any streaming service. I love it. It plays the files I want it to play very well and that's it. I feel that Sony would've done better to do something like that with this device. Most anyone into a 40th anniversary Walkman isn't going to care about streaming music, in my opinion. They should've just made it a good player for local files and that's it.
Was quite excited when you mentioned this in an earlier video, but ... err ... I'll stick with my ipod classic.
Thanks, i stick to my Pontis SP 600. I haven't clocked it, but at least 20h loud music on one AA battery sounds reasonable enough for me. If you ever want to review this 2001 mp3 Player that is entirely "Made in Germany", then i could lend it to you. Sadly i don't have the box anymore, so its player only. :)
Love the Crimbo merch! Well done, sir. Well done. Oh, and order is in!
Good news - I liked the way the picture came out. I’ve got a mug myself as well as the only jumper anyone has ordered. I should remember that you “Never get high on your own supply’.
Not meaning to be dismissive, but ... this device proves again the adage that there's one born every minute. I'm all about value for money, and Sony's faux Walkman strikes me as falling somewhere between a spoof and a scam.
I have the Sony NW-A45, and one thing it does, is beep violently at me and drastically reduce the volume if it deems it too loud... but totally randomly, even if I haven't altered the volume at all. And it's never too loud, anyway. There seems no way of turning this function off. I wonder if this model of yours does the same?
Nice to see some Techmoan merchandise. I just bought the 'VU Meter' T shirt for a friend, who appreciates unique T's, and he's a fan of the show. Also - the T Shirt looks like boobies, so that's a bonus.
Wow, Sony really phoned it in with this one! Ironic considering it is a phone but with the phone removed. And only double the price of an iPod Touch. I'd recommend returning it for a refund.
This video has honestly made me rethink plans to buy a separate music player in general. The amount that some of these go for is almost the same as a phone to begin with. It'll probably cost somewhere between $550 and $700 australian dollars here, and it makes you think "is it really worth it?". I was also considering the activo, but I feel I only wanted it because of the Sega Saturn branding.
If you’re not 100% sure you need a DAP - then definitely don’t buy one. You’ll get by just fine without and something far more worthy of your money is sure to turn up
Have to admit having bought one at such high cost in a moment of nostalgic madness am rather disappointed to find it's not much more than an app (yet to try mine). I suppose it's weird that in a way it would have been nicer if it had the Android OS hidden but then of course be a less functional device. Have you found if it has a line out mode?
I don’t believe it has an option for line-out.
I was looking forward to this although I was kind of expecting it to be pretty much as shown. I was curious because I've owned iPod Touches in the past and quite like the idea of a phoneless smart phone but this is too limited for that. If it were a third of the price it would be worth considering.
It would be cool to have an MP3 player that's the size & shape of an old cassette tape. Replace the paper label and spools for a screen that was skinned so it showed the same tape display as this Sony device.
Very strange. My first thought was, "sure the interface is clunky, but #TheKidsToday are used to that" ... and then I realized that #TheKidsToday aren't going to be buying them ... it would be us ... and we don't want to see a phone interface (Android or Apple!) on our Walkman. Weird.
...and on top of that our ears just aren’t good enough any more to appreciate any audio improvements it might offer over a bog standard smartphone.
Great review, I won’t be getting one.
High price for a few stickers, they should have included those earbuds. I love the tape simulation, but it's a shame that they did not implement the progress indicator. For fun, I have just tried this app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hornwerk.compactcassetteplayer Here at least the progress indicator works correctly even with fast for- or backward, but you can't turn off the ads. Is the device already in the box on a shelf, or are you still using it?
It will come in handy as a device for running the occasional Android app. I didn’t have a phone-sized Android device before this.
I don't think a product announcement has ever made my heart leap and then sink so quickly as this "walkman"- why even bother releasing a walkman for the 40th anniversary if it doesn't even do the thing the walkman was famous for, i.e. play cassettes? I think I would have preferred if Sony came out with a new cassette tape instead of a player - even if it was just a type 1, a special 40th anniversary cassette tape would have been a nice gesture to cassette heads, even if it wasn't the best formulation ever.
Thanks for another thorough and considered review Mat. This appears to be a terrible case of milking brand heritage until it’s dead. The case looks good but in all other respects this is £400 (£400!!!) to be spent on something else - saved my wallet again😊.
I do wonder what happens when the case gets worn out (which is likely to happen well before the device) - I suspect they won’t be available separately.
interesting review but it seems Sony are just pushing the 40th anniversary thing as sure it didn't even require much effort put into it at all. Think an old ipod touch would offer you an identical features and be cheaper seems half hearted at best and the battery life on that thing is awful.
Their nicer players (zx300 up) do have a proper music player focused os (Not Android based from what I can tell). They don't even have a clock to distract you from the music. Also no wifi.
Yes there’s a full range - I really wanted to feature this model though. To me it was significant.
There's probably already an app for the iPhone etc, that displays a cassette simulation while playing music. Wait, 2 days of non-usage will deplete the battery? I'll stick to my new-old-stock iPod. It's only 160GB but it last a whole lot longer than that per charge and I can easily manage it with Itunes; this unit probably has to be manually managed. I sent back my FIIO for the same reasons.
There is - the app is called DeliTape
Seems like an overpriced toy, just because it says "Sony" on it... I'm curious if it will sell at all, I guess not...
The Walkman has ALWAYS been an overpriced toy ... for 40 years!
"However" "However" "However"... You watch a lot of 8-bit guy videos, don't you? :-)
400 dollars for a Walkman case and nifty app that makes your lock screen look like a tape playing. The field of apps is the most most ubiquitous image for smartphones, your point about skinning as a standalone music player is totally understood. As I see it there is absolutely no reason at all to buy this. That Astor and Kern DAP is beautiful and able to create a real "pride of ownership" as well as giving the person using it a feeling of using a totally new device.
Very nice review! One small addition: You mentioned that when using wired earphones you will have to use the buttons on the walkman, but since it's android based I think there's a pretty good chance the 3.5mm jack is a TRRS and a wire remote like this will probably work: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01E2BUMHS/
I've just double checked and it's a standard TRS - my headphones with an inline play/pause and volume control have no control over it.
I agree with your final assessment. This is totally redundant to what everyone already has in their pocket. I can't see how they expect to sell this.
Was cassette store day on 12th oct , yes that is a thing
I bought a couple.
Great video. Wonder how this compares to hi Res audio player to justify the cost. Would love a video on your earbuds been thinking about buying similar ones
As far as I'm concerned, I think it's entirely appropriate to release this early. After all, I'm supporting you because I want your channel to succeed! :) But time-exclusivity on Patreon is not something I really care about in general. Either way, can't wait to watch it!
It is interesting that when people try to revive analog media, the anniversary model is just a digital media player that uses android and some existing software. Most people would be less inclined to bring a 2nd similar Android device with them, and such devices usually don't age well. It would be entirely possible to combine an actual cassette-based device and a digital media player in one device that would allow transferring music between different formats. In essence, it would be possible to include noise reduction technology that wasn't that common but existed in MC age. It would be just as useable as a digital media player/novelty item for fans of the brand, but it would offer other options. This device would get outdated very quickly. Anything with actual tape in it would be different. A "top of the line" anniversary device would have the potential to be among the best modern device for fans of analog audio and the MC format for several years. It would last till the next anniversary. So to me, this "phoneless mid-range phone that won't age well" is both a disappointment and a huge missed opportunity.
Sony wouldn’t be able to make a decent tape player now even if they wanted to - the production lines were shut down or repurposed over a decade ago and the supply lines of components they required are long since gone.
So, it's a bit crap really. As you quite rightly commented, it's a hobbled mobile phone, and not a great one at that. Not impressed. It would have been more interesting if it was actually a really good tape player.
So it doesn't even play cassette tapes? sigh.
Yet to watch and very interested. I got mine but haven't had time to try it yet.