• Sony Walkman NWZ-A845

    Sony Walkman NWZ-A845

    Prasad Naik, Oct 05, 2010 1659 hrs IST

    Apart from its sleek looks there is nothing exceptional this player has to offer

    Slim, stylish design, great audio quality, good noise cancellation, well designed interface

    Bundled earphones lack clarity, display not big enough for watching videos or photos, no FLAC or DivX/Xvid support, no voice recorder, bit expensive

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Sony Walkman recently launched two new models but they were rehashed versions of their older two products. There hasn't been a completely new Walkman out for a while now but the A845 changes that. Not only is it a completely new Walkman, it is also the first in India to have an OLED display and the slimmest Walkman player Sony has ever made. It also has another trick up its sleeve and that's noise canceling earphones bundled with the player. But will that be enough to take on the competition? We find out.



Bundle

  • Sony NWZ-A845
  • Sony MDR-NC033 Noise Canceling Earphones with three pairs of eartips (S, M, L)
  • USB Data Cable
  • External input cable with airplane adaptor
  • Adaptor for sound docks

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Discussion Board
(24) Comments
Sandesh
,Kerala, on Jan 07, 2012 02:16 PM
What was in your mind when you were reviewing this one? this is one of the best sounding players in the market. Please don't listen to his verdict because he is talking nonsense.
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jay g mehta
,solapur, on May 17, 2011 04:32 PM
Well I do not see anywhere in the A845 product page SONY highlighting or making bold claims about the bundled EX being the best earphones in the world ?????? So instead of taking it positively that SONY has at least included a set of earphones way better than the competition, you are trying to project it as being a weak point. Why? And whether you care about what other people/websites think of the product doesn't matter either. If a product is good it will always get great reviews from almost every single reviewer. And if a product gets extremely positive reviews from almost every major tech website but you, that only means your approach towards the product is flawed, rather than the product being unimpressive. This review seems like your personal opinion about the product rather than a review that aims at helping people make their purchase decision. Techtree is a tech website and not a personal tech blog right? And if you really mean to be this critical in your reviews then let it be the case with every single review, rather than picking on products that you do not like personally. You are writing a review for the readers, the general audience so please keep that in mind while writing future reviews. And the J3 does have a touchscreen and the 845 does not. Now let me use your own "approach" to defend the A845. Just because you prefer touchscreens does not mean that every single person does. Those that do not like touchscreens would love the A845. Right? And don't give me the argument that everyone loves touchscreens and blah blah blah.
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RAHAMAT
,HOSPET, on Apr 16, 2011 02:29 PM
sonynwz845
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anup
,mumbai, on Dec 15, 2010 03:22 PM
sony india is a bunch of thieves . i was in usa they offer 16 gb walkmans at 5-6000 rupees , and here we find 4 gb ones at 11000 rs . why is that ? samsung is offering the same ones at the same price as in usa .... you guys are going down as your stuid phones and your accessories are too expensive .... i have stopped keeping your mobile phones in my shop
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vaibhav
,mumbai, on Nov 29, 2010 10:06 PM
Best sound quality..Fully satidfied and worth for single penny i spent..IPod ITOUCh is nothing to compare with this
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karan
,mumbai, on Nov 03, 2010 12:27 AM
don't agree with this review lets clear this out we are reviewing a PMP and not a phone ..using this walkman and the sound quality is awesomee ...shame ipod we dont need web browser camera and all that shit..if u want a excellent music player and video go for this is nice ...would be great if battery performance would be much bettter
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audiophile
,nagpur, on Oct 15, 2010 04:24 PM
What's going on in the mind of the reviewer? 1.Who cares about the ipod touch when it fails badly in the most important department i.e the sound quality. If you think that the ipod touch is great just because it can run apps ,has wi-fi , camera and whatever buy an iphone instead. Walkman is a device for the audio enthusiasists and coming to the bundled earphones, you're not going to get a Sennheiser IE8 or the Shure SE530 under 10k if you expect the bundled ones to perform the same. 2. Apple has changed the defination of a portable media player by introducing the ipod by making it hip and cheap. I still feel sorry for the people who buy the ipod just to enjoy the music even if they can get the better of it. ipod sucks in terms of outright sound quality but Steve Jobs is a genius!
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Aditya
,Pune, on Oct 15, 2010 06:45 PM
Hehehehehee Absolutely correct buddy :). Steve jobs is a genius indeed. The ipod touch, ipad are all pointless devices. And god bless the reviewer who seems to believe that the ipod touch is the gold standard of PMPs. Agreed it is arguably the most popular and most aspirational of em all but that doesn't mean its the best. It fails to deliver on the most basic aspect as u mentioned - sound quality :) No thanks but I do not need incomplete web experience, WIFI, camera, or apps when I have a phone for all of that. I want my PMP to sound good and have a good screen, not be a pocket pc!!!!! And really, what are people thinking? Are they so foolish that they think they need multiple devices just to browse the internet ????? A laptop and the phone would suffice. Why the hell do you want your PMP to be able to browse the internet and have a camera!!!!!! And yea if possible go trough the ipod touch review by the "expert" on this site. 4.5 stars out of 5 and justifying it by saying all the shortcomings are minor and can be overlooked. While the Sony A845 minor shortcomings just cannot be overlooked by the same "expert". :) I guess that says it all.
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mindfreak
,delhi, on Oct 12, 2010 07:15 PM
i wanna ask the so called "expert": 1)are the headphones worse than ipod touch? So why are you so adamant on highlighting this feature ? 2)costly?..ipod touch costs 15,000 bucks wid crapy headphones n only 8 gb space....16gb one costs 20,000 bucks... plzz dont be biased so as to completely disregard the good audio of this walkman..3 star is a reflection of review not the product... PS:read it sumwhere dat these headphones alone cost close to 6,000 bucks..ur guess whos wrong :)
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on Oct 13, 2010 12:34 PM
1. Since when did the iPod earphones become the gold standard for every other earphone to be compared to? The iPod has one the worse earphones that come with any media player. Just because the A845's earphones are better than the ones on the iPod doesn't mean they are necessarily good. 2. You have to be out of your mind to compare the A845 with the iPod touch. The A845 doesn't do a third of what the iPod touch does. Even people at Sony would laugh if they heard their player was compared to the iPod touch. Get your facts straight before you choose to troll.
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biswadeep
,kolkata, on Oct 08, 2010 03:13 AM
An extremely biased review ......................its a great product rated highly worldwide......except by so called 'experts'.......who cant b satisfied..........its made 4 ppl who listen n love their music.....nt 2 satisfy experts.... Sony walkmans produce stellar audio..........n d definition of 'audiophile grade' varies from person 2 person. Do u want this device to cook meals 4 u ???????
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Aditya
,Pune, on Oct 07, 2010 01:20 PM
Well I do not see anywhere in the A845 product page SONY highlighting or making bold claims about the bundled EX being the best earphones in the world ?????? So instead of taking it positively that SONY has at least included a set of earphones way better than the competition, you are trying to project it as being a weak point. Why? And whether you care about what other people/websites think of the product doesn't matter either. If a product is good it will always get great reviews from almost every single reviewer. And if a product gets extremely positive reviews from almost every major tech website but you, that only means your approach towards the product is flawed, rather than the product being unimpressive. This review seems like your personal opinion about the product rather than a review that aims at helping people make their purchase decision. Techtree is a tech website and not a personal tech blog right? And if you really mean to be this critical in your reviews then let it be the case with every single review, rather than picking on products that you do not like personally. You are writing a review for the readers, the general audience so please keep that in mind while writing future reviews. And the J3 does have a touchscreen and the 845 does not. Now let me use your own "approach" to defend the A845. Just because you prefer touchscreens does not mean that every single person does. Those that do not like touchscreens would love the A845. Right? And don't give me the argument that everyone loves touchscreens and blah blah blah. Hoping for more honest and sensible reviews in the future :) And I am not trying to argue with you just because its a Sony product review, if the product was really bad i would have no problems at all. I know there are many SONY products that are sub par and I would personally even give them 3 or even 2 on 5.
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on Oct 07, 2010 08:17 PM
1. Perhaps not the best in the world, but Sony is clearly advertising the audio quality of the earphones that they are bundling. That much is evident if you visit their website. Other manufacturers don't do that often. My point is that if they are boasting about the audio quality of their earphones then they should also make sure it sounds damn good, especially if they are also part of another important feature, in this case the noise canceling, which makes them irreplaceable. 2. Of course these are my opinions. If I'm writing the review, why would it be anyone else's opinion? Having said, apart from the things I liked or disliked, I also mention things that others will notice, even if they personally do not matter to me, such as the voice recording feature. That is what makes a complete review. 3. I am not defending the touchscreen in J3. You were making price comparisons between the J3 and A845 without taking into consideration that the J3 has a touchscreen and the A845 does not, which is why I pointed it out to you. Personally I do not find any need for a touchscreen on a music player, unless it is going to offer me additional functionality, as in the case of the iPod touch.
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Aditya
,Pune, on Oct 06, 2010 08:29 PM
And yeah, if possible please compare the A845 EX bundled earphones with the ones that come with players of other brands and then decide if these EX earphones are really "not upto the mark", I own the Klipsch Image S4 earphones, and I have heard the EX earphones on the A845 and I was in no way dissapointed. And "no voice recorder" ???????? Is that really what you buy an Mp3 player for?????????? I have the S545 with Voice recorder and I have never ever used that feature!!! Common people, whoever reads my comment please leave a comment and tell me if you have EVER used the voice recorder feature in your mp3 player. The Cowon players don't offer voice recorder function either right? Why was it not pointed out in cowon reviews? I do agree with the screen not being perfect size for movies and lack of audio and video codec support. But do try to rectify the other "pointless" criticisms. Thanks
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mady
,pune, on Oct 06, 2010 11:17 PM
Rightly pointed Aditya. I own it and it's the best sounding MP3 player amongst Samsung P2, Sansa Clip 2, Creative Zen, iRiver E10 I owned. A845's bundled headphone requires burn-in of 2/3 days to sound the way it should. To judge sound-quality try custom besides presets equalizers.
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on Oct 07, 2010 11:17 AM
Now coming to the part about the earphones, the earphones on other players are ordinary and the manufacturers don't make any claims about their quality. So even if they don't sound great it isn't a big deal. Having said that we have always mentioned this fact in every review, no matter which company manufactured the player. In case of the A845, Sony has made bold claims about the audio quality of the earphones. I did not find them impressive. My personal EX57 earphones from Sony, which by the way are much cheaper, sound better in comparison. But what's worse about the A845's earphones is that you cannot replace them without losing the main feature of the player and that is the noise canceling. This is not the case with other music players where you can toss the earphones out without thinking twice about them. Which is why it was more important to point out this fact in the review. If someone buys the A845 and does not like the earphones he has no choice but to stick with them or get another pair and lose the noise canceling feature. As for the voice recorder, I have clearly mentioned in the review that few people use this functionality but for those who do, the A845 will not be an option as it does not record audio. These days every player has voice recording. Which makes you wonder why Sony would choose to leave it out.
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on Oct 07, 2010 11:32 AM
As for Cowon players, almost all of them have voice recording capability. Just because you don't use a particular feature does not make it pointless. Someone else might find it useful, which is why it needs to pointed out.
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Aditya
,Pune, on Oct 06, 2010 08:04 PM
This is the first review on this device where the reviewer does not seem very impressed with it. Almost all other reviews on the A840 family have been very positive. I dont want to mention the name of the website but I guess everybody must be knowing about it (its another popular Indian tech site) gave it 4.5 stars out of 5. Anyways the major criticism that you pointed out regarding the A845 is very surprising. The earphones bundled with this player are way better than what ANY other player offers regardless of price ( Eg Ipod touch, Cowon S9,J3) Apple, Cowon, Samsung and everybody else offers much worse quality earphones and I am surprised you never pointed that out so strongly in those reviews. Every single review on this site has highlighted the fact that the bundled earphones are much better than the competition and they make it unnecessary to upgrade to more expensive earphones. So please, do not let your own preference/ liking to other brands or hatred towards one come in the way of your reviews. :) I absolutely love SONY, I would choose SONY always BUT does not mean that I be biased towards others. The A845 certainly deserves more than the 3 stars you have given. And no I am not a blind fanboy :) The J3 at this price point is a fantastic option (I might be a fanboy but I do acknowledge the existence of as good or better options) BUT the A845 is certainly worth the price you pay for it. It gives you 16gb of storage, whereas a J3 with 16gb costs around 18k. The screen is smaller but no less gorgeous. The sound quality is close (I would say J3 has a very slight edge) And best of all the bundled earphones are much better than you get with anything else. So please Techtree, Do not post biased reviews and unfounded "criticisms"
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on Oct 07, 2010 11:09 AM
First of all, I don't really care what other websites have to say about a particular product that we reviewed. Even if they gave it full marks I'll still give it 50% if I think it is not worthy of anything more than that. We don't base our verdict on what others think of a particular product and have our own opinions. I'll answer your query about the earphones in a reply to your other comment. As for comparisons with Cowon J3, do keep in mind that J3 has a touchscreen display, something that the A845 does not. You say you love Sony. So do I. But I will not let that come in the way when I'm writing a review. If it's not good enough, we will say that, regardless of the brand it is from.
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dude
,kochi, on Oct 06, 2010 01:19 PM
A very honest and a straight forward review, Prasad. Most reviewers would simply praise Sony's sound quality and blindly recommend it. You have analyzed even the bundled earphones properly- NICE!
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Prasad Naik
,Mumbai, on Oct 06, 2010 05:44 PM
Thank you.
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Anonymous
,mumbai, on Oct 06, 2010 12:55 PM
Well If the display is not really big enough to enjoy videos or images than there is no point in buying.
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Vikash Kr
,Mumbai, on Oct 06, 2010 12:24 AM
go for Cowon D2 + blindly...nothing comes close to it in quality of sound & its 16 gig is avaiable for 8,999/-
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prince
,mumbai, on Oct 05, 2010 06:18 PM
well...i wnt to have a music player but i dont know which player to buy.... so guys please help me .. i can spare till 10,000 bucks
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