Sony Walkman NWZW273 4 GB Waterproof Sports MP3 Player (Black) (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I'm a runner in Portland, Oregon. As you probably know, this makes me a runner in the rain. I'm out before dawn; thus it is cold, dark and wet in the winter. My plan was to update my method for listening to music on my runs. My prior method was with a pair of long-in-the-tooth "Oakley Thump" glasses w/mp3 combo player. These are not waterproof, so I have forgone the music in the rain for the past 7 years or so. Now that the battery doesn't hold a charge, I was in need of a replacement.The issues I faced were many and varied, as I checked out pouches for my Galaxy phone and a wireless headset. My thinking was that I already had a "music player" built into my phone, so maybe I should take advantage of it:> Ear buds fall out of my ears, thus the need for a wireless headset.> Wireless headphones are expensive, and not 100% waterproof.> I find wires and shoulder pouches to be annoying.> The waterproof pouches I perused are especially cumbersome.> Is it worth the risk to destroy my phone due to water damage?> Do I even need a phone on my runs, or should I consider this to be "me" time? (Yes!)My research concluded with the decision NOT to risk losing my phone to a leaky or defective "waterproof" pouch, and semi-waterproof headphones to an Oregon gale. And all this was very expensive any way I looked at it.The solution: Sony's NWZW273 Waterproof Walkman. This product exceeds all of my expectations--and there was even a bonus.Finding the right fit among the four choices of ear buds was easy. I have a fat head (size 8+ hat size) and, contrary to some reviews, I have no problem with the Walkman fitting perfectly and comfortably. Note that I do not have a massive neck, though, and I believe that is where the fitting problem comes into play for some. The reason is, the band actually fits around the back of your neck, and not your actual head. So, consider neck size to be an issue if you've got a big one.Dragging and dropping songs and/or folders is simple, and it beats the hassle of iTunes in the Windows world. I much prefer the simplicity of DAD in lieu of synchronizing with iTunes. Just a personal preference.The sound is better than I expected for these mini-headphones. There is no EQ control, but that seems unimportant, as the bass response is decent, and treble is fine, considering the form factor.As mentioned, the Walkman headphones are very comfortable. I'm out for at least an hour on each run, and I feel no ear fatigue after four days of wearing them.The added bonus? These are smaller than the picture makes them look. I hadn't considered that my warming skull cap--quite necessary in the cold and wet--might not fit over my ears with the Walkman in place. No worries! The product fits easily under the hat, which still covers my ears. And yet, the controls are still accessible, as they face downward on the device. I couldn't have asked for a more sterling silver lining.The Sony Waterproof Walkman Sports MP3 Player is a solid winner.REVIEW UPDATE 2/8/15:I've had my Sony waterproof Walkman MP3 headphones for almost a year and have had zero issues with the product. I use my Walkman roughly every other day for runs from 3 to 15 miles in Oregon's famous, ever-changing weather: Sun, rain, snow and heavy winds. I also swam with the product in lake Tahoe in July and August of summer 2014. I'm almost tempted to buy the newest version just to see if the sound has been improved, but, hey, these sound great, so what's the purpose?If I have one complaint, it's minor: there is no fast forward or rewind during a song. For those of you listening to books, imagine not being able to back-track a minute or two in a chapter. maybe Sony has this worked out in the newer product...?REVIEW UPDATE 5/5/16:My Sony Waterproof Walkman still works great after over two years of regular use. About six months ago, it didn't appear to be charging properly, and I also needed to hit the reset button a few times (this does not cause you to lose any of your recordings). Turns out, after so many washings and uses in Portland's inclement weather, the four charging electrodes were dirty. I simply cleaned them with a cotton swab and alcohol, and the problem was solved.As mentioned earlier, my ONLY complaint is not having a fast forward or rewind option. You can skip forward and back past songs, but you can't rewind or fast forward passages within a song.

I don't like to write negative reviews, but save yourself a lot of misery and buy the Pyle water proof. They are1/2 the money, and they work. We usually love SONY products, and we purchased three of these to make our daily swims better. All three failed in less then three months. The Square trade insurance didn't help, it's really a joke now. One arrived with no sound, and was immediately returned. We got only one refund and it was 12. less for a "restocking fee". (WTF?)Tried talked to amazon, to no avail. Buyer beware. No more extended insurance for us. You don't get the product replaced, you don't get enough money back (if you get it back) to replace it. My daughters, which was barely uses (like 5 times) failed, and they aren't even honoring the insurance. Such a disappointment.

I bought these because I have already destroyed 2 Rocketfish blue tooth headsets kayaking (I know, kayaking usually isn't underwater, but I am not very talented). Ironically I haven't tested their water proof claims. However, I have found that these are the most comfortable earphones I have ever had, and I have had a lot. The band looks flimsy, but the unique band/tensioner arrangement provides the perfect balance between tight and loose. I have walked for hours with no discomfort and no need to adjust the fit. Most earbuds I have had, even my Bose Quite Comforts, are uncomfortable because you have to jam the buds in your ear for them to stay put, and even then they eventually start to work loose if you don't sit still. These do not come loose and they do not hurt my ears. The fit is so good that they are a match or better than my Bose Quiet Comfort earbuds at noise reduction. I can ride around on the metro or walk on windy days with almost no outside noise interference. The players are tiny and lightweight, so you hardly notice them. There are also no wires to get caught in something and tear the buds off your ears or get tangled in your pocket. There is no Bluetooth creating drop-outs and distracting interference. Of course that also means no phone calls or other distractions -- these are headphones for music, not for voice or calls. I have had Bluetooth Motorola and Rocketfish earphones -- the Bluetooth on both created annoying interruptions and the Motorola made me feel like my head was caught in a vise. The controls are tiny, but intuitive once you figure out which side controls volume and which controls playlists/fast forward and pause.The sound itself is also very good, especially for an earbud, with good highs/vocals and a solid bass. These phones are just plain superior.CONS: If these could pull the playlists from iTunes I would have given them a 5, but instead you have to use the Windows Media Player or Sony's own software, which means creating ANOTHER copy of your music library and building new playlists. If you have a huge music collection like me, you get tired of having to rebuild playlists and manage your music in different, slightly odd software. Sony should just buy the iSyncr app and use that for the interface -- it makes all your iTunes playlists and music easily available for download to a device. Sony, face the fact that the millions of us invested in iTunes for buying and organizing music are just not going to switch without some amazing benefit in return.Now here is my suggestion to Sony for creating that amazing benefit and turning these into iPod and iTune killers: Jump the storage from 4 GB (don't worry, that does hold a lot of .aac or mp3 files) to 16 GB or larger and connect with Neil Young and PonoMusic to allow these to play loss-less music files. Sorry Neil, but the Pono player looks like a heavily modded Toblerone bar that still relies on earbuds with wires -- playing music from Pono on these earbuds would be much better. I would buy all the songs and albums I bought from iTunes again (the ones I still like) and rip my CDs one more time if I had a player that could play top quality music files. Sony, you could sell your whole music catalog to consumers one more time if you just put together this combination! I am tired of low-fi .mp3 and .aac files for anything other than the lowliest garage rock -- so give me an alternative.

Swimming laps is no longer boring.I bought these because I like to swim for exercise but get bored. These work great.There are a couple things you need to know.1) You have to put them on before you get in the water, once water gets in your ears it's hard to hear so even on max volume it will be quiet. If you put them in first the sound is as loud as you could ever want it.2) Make sure to adjust the back loop for a snug fit so they don't come off while swimmingThey have good sound quality. I make about 5 playlist and load those onto the mp3 player. You just press and hold the next song button to jump to another playlist. It has a kind of shuffle feature but personally I just like to create and use playlist for these type devices.Been swimming with them for weeks and so far they seem 100% water approved.

I had a few issues with the Walkman at first but it was mostly me being not gadget savvy. I've had this unit a little over one week and it seems to work fine. it comes with four sizes of ear buds so it should work for almost everyone.I use this primarily for swimming. I do one hour length swimming. What I've learned is once there is water in the ear buds or your ears are wet, its almost impossible for a good fit and the sound is muffled. I fit the buds before I start swimming and as long as they don't get bumped or removed for any reason, they work awesome. I try not to mess around with the buttons after I've begun swimming to avoid losing the seal.For any other sport I think they would be fantastic. For swimming, I'm just happy to have some music! It's easy to install music thru the computer, just remember to get rid of the crappy songs Sony installed.So far, it plays for ar least 7 hours, maybe longer but I'm sure that will go down in time.All in all I'm happy with the Sony waterproof Walkman.

Its a must have for the people who like to run listening to music and who like to listen to musing while working out at gym. I love the product so much that I cant hit the gym without it now. Go for it.

Now one year old, no change in performance. Battery still holds a 6hr charge, Bass is still great.

Disappointed.

music is very good......look is awsome!!! Battery life superb.......if you want to buy a good mp3 player and you are doing gym and biking....this is best mp3 player ever!!!!