Sony came out with the Walkman series in 1980 and introduced us to "Japanese" electronics to the U.S. Portable listening devices have come a long way baby, spurred on by the iPod from Apple and continued improvements from Sony. With so many people carry around smartphones, that can hold thousands of songs, playlists, and many other features, the portable music device, is not near as popular as it once was. That, however, did not stop Sony from introducing two new lines of Walkmans that combine both the superb audio quality that Sony is famous for and the Android platform, and are in line for an October release.

Let us first look at the new NW-F880 series Walkman that comes in four colors – Black, White, an Aqua Blue, and Pink (although the 64GB model only comes in Black or White), as well as three different variations. The NW-F885 sports 16GB Storage at $274, the NW-F886 packs 32GB at $304, and the NW-F887 has 64GB of storage at $405. All of the devices boost a 24bit/193 kHz audio quality which puts it above that of CD-like sound and supports lossless audio formats such as FLAC and WAV. This series has on-screen controls, but also has hardware buttons on the side on the device, making it easy to use when not looking at the screen.


All of the devices sport a 4-inch 480 x 854 pixel resolution with Sony's Triluminous display technology. The NW-F880 series uses a 1.0GHz dual-core OMPA4 Cortex A9-chip running on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Sony does not mention what processor is in the ZX1's. They both support a variety of connections for pairing with wireless speakers, such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and NFC.

The NW-ZX1 model, with 128GB of storage is being marketed and priced as a high-end device at $760. It comes with the same specs as the lower-end Nw-F880 series, and actually does away with several of its features to improve the audio quality. For instance, the FM radio and even digital noise cancellation are removed to reduce the amount of possible audio interference. The bulge in the rear of the NW-ZX1 accommodates the larger headphone amplifier to offer you the best possible sound. That $760 does not buy you a pair of earphones, but instead recommends you buy a pair of Sony's Hi-Res audio headsets separately…that is so thoughtful of them!


Sony's new Walkmans will launch in Japan on October 19, with no international dates as of yet. What do you think of Sony's new Walkmans – something you would be interested in purchasing?