Hands-on With Sony Limited Edition “Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker” Wearable Walkman

As I venture into the world of exercise, I suddenly realize there is a monopoly afoot: the perception working out with a portable music player has been perceived as using a device (like an iPod) in your pocket or strapped to your arm and a pair of headphones. For those of you who are active, most have no qualms with this method and it generally works quite well (alternatives are quite odd, to say the least). When a product like the Walkman W Series comes along, and you actually use it, it becomes painfully obvious that the existing method, well, sucks. And before you roll your eyes and say this a post full of rabid fanboyism, there is the simple truth that presents a simple question: Why are we using corded devices when we work out?

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As you can see this product is quite different – it a lightweight portable music player with comfortable, quality earphones (13.5mm EX type) built in that ensures a secure fit. The NWZ-W252 also has 2GB of storage capacity which can hold plenty of songs for your short or long exercises. Loading music is as simple as can be through its Mini USB connection that is drag n’ drop and requires no additional software to transfer. You simply drag the mp3’s with your mouse on your computer from your hard drive onto the Walkman, which appears as a removable drive in Windows. The NWZ-W252 also has buttons for every aspect of music playback, including Prev Track (rewind), Play/Pause, Next Track (fast forward), Volume -/+, and a dedicated shuffle button. The design is smart enough to where the player connects with the other side via a magnetic connection when its not in use. Did I mention it only costs $59?

Here is a short video I created of the latest Sony W Series Walkman NWZ-W252 (Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker limited edition).

As you can see the “Metal Gear Solid Walkman Player” is a limited edition Walkman celebrating the release of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. This special NWZ-W252 has an exclusive camoflague design and shiny red Walkman logo. It looks really great in person, as evidenced by the pictures and video in this review. This limited edition model also includes six songs from the videogame soundtrack and a unique code that gives you access to hidden characters with special Walkman apparel in the game. This is a brilliant move by Sony that ties together two aspects of the company and we hope to see more of this in the future.

Let’s talk about the past, though.

Several years ago Sony debuted the NWZ-W202 W Series Walkman, which had a completely new design never used before by the Japanese company. It was smart for Sony to innovate in this product category since Apple has dominated it for several years. The only thing that will defeat the iPod is something truly different for various categories of use, and I believe Sony has the formula to conquer the active lifestyle segment. The original W Series was a moderately successful product that had a major flaw: it would malfunction when sweat or moisture got inside the player during a hard workout. It was an embarrassment for Sony, and it took them a while to admit that there was a problem in the first place. Thankfully, Sony corrected the situation after backlash and endless comments on the Internet from frustrated consumers.

Fortunately, the next Walkman W series generation (NWZ-W252) no longer suffers from the issue that plagued the original version – in fact, its water resistant – and can be “exposed to direct jet streams of water from any direction in the situation where that 12.5L/min of water is supplied for periods for more than 3 minutes from a distance of about 3m by using a nozzle with an inner diameter of 6.3mm.” While that sounds rather scientific, it means that this wearable Walkman can be used while jogging or walking in the rain, used during activities that produce sweat, and can even be washed with normal temperature fresh water or gently running tap water. Just make sure that the USB jack cover is securely closed, and don’t use the Walkman underwater.

Here is what it looks like when you actually wear the Sony NWZ-W252:

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I let my Army Ranger friend (who has served a tour in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan) borrow the NWZ-W252 Walkman and I told him to “try and break the thing by working out.” He’s a rather large fellow with an appetite to match and works out quite often. I knew he would be far better suited to truly test this player and see if Sony has corrected the problems that plagued the original. It was amusing to reveal the device to him in the first place, as he was quite intrigued by the design; he had never seen the W Series Walkman before and was surprised that there was a cohesive wearable option out there.

He complained to me that during his workouts it was troublesome to wear an iPod on his armband or keep it within his pocket, and that he sometimes had trouble with headphone cords. As I watched him put on the Walkman, I could see the smile which revealed a moment of zen that this product is capable of inspiring. He told me that “this would be so much simpler and better than having to deal with the iPod.”

I called him several days later and he did indeed give the Walkman a true test – 45 minutes of hard exercise targeting abdominal, arms, back and chest regions then several miles of running in the rain. This is enough to generally induce considerable sweat. The NWZ-W252 performed flawlessly, and kept securely fit to his ears the entire time with little need for adjustment. He also commented that the sound quality was quite good, and we agree – it will most certainly sound better out of the box than most portable music players out there.

Battery life is pretty epic for such a small device, and its really hassle free to get a full charge: 1 1/2 hours gets you a full charge that will last for 11 hours, while 3 minutes of charging gets you 90 minutes of playback. So for those of you who absentmindedly forget to charge their devices will find that this is perfect for the on-the-go situations. There is also a LED Battery Life Indicator that flashes Green, Orange, or Red depending on your battery’s status. Unfortunately the battery is not removable.

I don’t blame you if you think that wearable and other small music players all have the same problem: they aren’t easy to use. In the past, people have had to fumble with screenless players to find songs. If you have many tracks, your hand stays glued to the player as you hunt down the one you want. Designers have had a hard time ensuring usability, and many people often have to stare at a small screen to find their song. With Zappin technology, this process is easier by allowing you to easily navigate through your song collection by playing back main melodies. I’m not sure how often people will actually use Zappin, but it is useful for a device that has no screen. The lack of screen wasn’t really an issue with this device, because at 2GB of storage I’m pretty much only loading the essentials. There is also a jog dial to quickly browse through songs if zapping around is not your thing.

This product is heavily recommended for any use, and in active situations such as workouts this is probably the best option out there. We hope Sony will add GPS functionality with an accompanying workout statistic website portal for consumers to use (like Nike+) and larger capacities to future models. It would also be cool to see a one line LCD on one of the sides of the device. What do you think?