The Sony Walkman is making a comeback in 2015, but it’s not going to be like the versions of old when you flipped up the top to throw in the cassette. At CES 2015, the new gadget was teased, but now the Sony Walkman ZX2 has been revealed and it’s going to cost you a pretty penny to get one.
According to The Verge , Sony states that the new Walkman ZX2 is “the fruit of continuous refinement in high audio quality technologies.”
. @SonyElectronics unveiled a new version of the #walkman at #CES2015 . Tomorrow they’ll be showcasing a new version of the 8 track player.
— sara taylor glass (@thepithydiva) January 6, 2015
The most recent Walkman A17 was priced at $300, but this new one is going to go up in price quite a bit. Actually, when the ZX2 launches in the spring, it’s going to come in at around $1,200 in price.
So far, it looks really sleek and great, but people may balk at the price when they hear it. As Gizmodo states, especially for an audio player that is running on a two-year-old version of Android.
Hi-res audio files will sound great on it, but they’re going to fill up 128GB quite quickly, and that won’t make buyers happy. The other thing you need to take into consideration is that you’ll also need a really great (expensive) pair of headphones to get top quality sound.
The Android system it is running is 4.2 Jelly Bean which arrived on the scene in November of 2012. Yes, you’ll be able to download and play apps via Google Play on the Walkman ZX2, but it’s not going to compete with the smartphones out today.
The focus of the Walkman ZX2 is sound, sound, sound, and optimal sound. It supports WAV, FLAC, Apple Lossless, DSD, AIFF, and Bluetooth for wireless streaming. It also supports NFC for one-touch connection to both headphones and speakers.
Sony seems to know what they are doing here, but many people are skeptical to the new Walkman.
Does Sony even want to make a comeback? Building a $1000 iPod probably won’t help. http://t.co/DfmKnkOS7q #walkman
— Jordan Geransky (@JordanGeransky) January 6, 2015
The Sony Walkman ZX2 is going to appeal to a certain group of people, and that’s those that want high-quality sound on the go. Yes, the price tag is going to drive some away, but they’re going through with it. The upgrade to the audio is bound to bring 2015 fans back in time to days of old, but without lugging around cassette tapes.
