• Sony Walkman NWZ-W252

    Sony Walkman NWZ-W252

    Prasad Naik, Aug 02, 2010 1625 hrs IST

    Water resistant music player

    Attractive design, water resistant, good audio quality, simple operation

    Uncomfortable for extended durations

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The previous Sony MP3 player we reviewed was the NWZ-W202, which had a unique design that allowed you to wear it around your head like a pair of behind the neck headphones. With the latest version, the W252, Sony has made the player waterproof.



At first glance the design looks nearly identical, but on closer inspection you will notice minor aesthetic changes. I think it looks better than before. It comes in multiple colors as before, but the choice is now limited to three colors (Black, White and Pink) compared to five on the previous model. Some of the images on Sony's website also show a green colored model, but for some reason it is not mentioned in the list of available colors.

To make the W252 water resistant, Sony had to make some design changes to the previous mode. The USB port is now no longer open and is concealed under a plastic flap. The sliding Shuffle mode switch is now a push button on the bottom edge. The older model had a jog dial for switching between tracks and play/pause the music. The new model replaces it with a toggle switch, which in my opinion is far better.

Apart from this there aren't any other major changes to the design. The size of the player is roughly the same and just like before it cannot be customized. Unfortunately, I still found them bit uncomfortable to wear after a few minutes of usage.





Sony claims the new W252 is water resistant. Although we did not test this claim the website shows pictures of the player being worn by people in rain and even held under running tap water. Considering the fact that the speakers are still not completely covered (they would be when you wear the player), I wonder how one could hold the player under a tap without the danger of the water going into the speakers.




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Sony Walkman NWZ-W252 Sony MP3 player music player portable music player NWZ-W202



Discussion Board
(5) Comments
av singh
,delhi, on Oct 30, 2011 07:40 PM
one year and it has been twice to the service center. Both times malfunctioned while adding songs on pc.
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rajeev kumar
,jehanabad(bihar), on Oct 15, 2010 12:40 PM
plese send prise list Sony Walkman NWZ-W252
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Gadgets and Giz
,lake city, on Oct 22, 2010 10:07 AM
This one-piece MP3 player is part of the W series, which means it’s water-resistant. However, this is the first MP3 player in that series (the rest are headphones). In other words, you have absolutely no excuse not to do five miles in the rain unless you consider laziness to be a valid excuse. Aside from technology, Walkman design has also really evolved. The NWZ-W252 features a wrap-around neck design not just for the headphones, but for the entire device. The whole thing wraps around your head!
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FZR
,Bangalore, on Oct 11, 2010 11:30 PM
I had buy the newz 252 its a gr8 product... the design is good but its not comfortable for long time. it has great sound quality, design, water proof,
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Nitin Nair
,chennai, on Sep 16, 2010 05:31 PM
Well, i used to have the W 202... and it was a perfectly good player when it used to work.. and that unfortunately didnt happen much... the pros: excellent design and looks, losing the wires is a dream for runners and gymmers, music quality supreme, drag music into the software instead of i tuning it(biggest plus point), The Cons: Well, to be honest i tried really hard to ignore the discomfort in my ears while running but the truth is it is not meant for usage of more than half hour. Your ears start hurting. Also the worst thing about the player and also the reason why its in the repair centre... It is NOT SWEAT RESISTANT.. very odd considering it is targetted at runners/gymmers who work out and sweat.. a lot.... Maybe Sonys idea of working out was moving from one cubicle to another.. I have given the piece and since then realized that this particular model has faced problems all over the world. So if you own this model and have a problem with this piece, you can get it replaced at a sony center for the 252 water resistant model...
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