CNET Editor's rating: 8.0 out of 10
Reviewed by
Donald Bell
Review date: 04/07/08
Release date: 03/28/08
The good: The Sony NWZ-A720 Walkman MP3 player series offers high-quality music, photo, and video playback, along with EX-style earphones and a phenomenal battery life.
The bad: The Sony NWZ-A720 series doesn't come cheap, and it lacks an FM radio, voice recording, memory expansion, and a standard USB connection.
The bottom line: The Sony NWZ-A720 is the best-sounding, best-looking Walkman series yet, and the inclusion of premium earphones adds real value.
The Sony NWZ-A720 Walkman series is a subtle evolution of the NWZ-A810 series we enjoyed in 2007. This year, Sony is treating us with a larger screen and a more assertive design, offered in 4GB ($149), 8GB ($199), and 16GB ($299).
Design
Given Sony's track record with curvy, rounded designs, the Sony NWZ-A720 is refreshingly square. Measuring 2 inches by 3.75 inches by 0.4 inch, it has a metallic body and a 2.4-inch screen. The NWZ-A720 is a little larger than its predecessor, but it maintains a slim, pocketable profile. The circular four-way navigation pad found on last year's Sony NWZ-A810 has turned into a more solid-feeling square on the A720, flanked by two small option and menu buttons. All other buttons are confined to the right side of the player, including a rocker switch for volume control and a hold switch. The bottom of the A720 Walkman features a headphone output and proprietary USB connection.
One little design detail that distinguishes the Sony NWZ-A720 from last year's model is the inclusion of a detachable kickstand for hands-free video playback.
Features
The Sony NWZ-A720 is stocked with features, including music, photo, and video playback. On the audio end of things, Sony is continuing its support for MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV, and DRM-protected subscription music files. In typical Sony style, the restrained design of the music playback screen betrays the awe-inspiring music enhancement technology working behind the scenes, such as a 5-band EQ, Clear Bass, Clear Stereo, DSEE high-frequency restoration, and dynamic normalization.
With its 2.4-inch QVGA LCD and excellent video battery life, the Sony NWZ-A720 is the most video-worthy Walkman we've seen. Sony offers limited video format compatibility, however, including MPEG-4 and H.264 sized at a strict 320x240 ratio. Fortunately, the popularity of the iPod and video podcasts has made the QVGA MPEG-4 file format one of the most abundant on the Web.
The Sony NWZ-A720 is a solid player with plenty to brag about, but the exclusion of features such as an FM radio, voice recording, and memory expansion is worth keeping in mind as you compare the Walkman with its competition. You should also know that Sony offers an identical-looking version of this player (the Sony NWZ-A820 series) which includes built-in Bluetooth audio streaming, at an increased price.
The Sony EX earphones included with the NWZ-A720 Walkman series put Apple's white iPod earbuds to shame.
Performance
Year after year, Sony's MP3 players demonstrate some of the highest standards for audio quality. Even at its factory setting, the Sony NWZ-A720 radiates with fidelity that just gets better as each one of its many sound-enhancement features activate. Listening through the excellent pair of included Sony EX in-ear headphones, the rattling saxophones of Moondog's "Dog Trot" were vibrant and easy to pick out in the stereo soundstage. Renowned for its buttery bass performance, the Clear Bass enhancement EQ feature perfectly sweetened the rolling dub synth notes of Squarepusher's "Port Rhombus" with no noticeable distortion.
Videos appeared bright, crisp, and colorful on the Sony NWZ-A720. The Walkman's screen is 0.4 inch larger than the screen found on the third-generation iPod Nano, and it shares a similarly impressive pixel density and sharp picture quality. Videos can be rotated between landscape and portrait view on the Sony NWZ-A720, and audio and video files are automatically bookmarked when the player is stopped or shut down.
Sony rates the NWZ-A720's battery life at an impressive 36 hours of audio playback and 10 hours of video. We'll update this review with our CNET Labs battery results once testing is complete.
Final thoughts
The Sony NWZ-A720 Walkman is an unquestionably great series of MP3 players, however, as a competitor to the iPod Nano it faces steep competition. Creative's Zen MP3 player, for instance, offers a larger screen, an FM radio, voice recording, and memory expansion, while Microsoft's Zune boasts coveted features such as integrated podcast management and built-in Wi-Fi. Sony is clearly king of the hill when it comes to sound quality, but users seeking a more well-rounded MP3 player have plenty to choose from.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Excellent Little MP3 Player
First thing you notice when you open this MP3 player is Sony's quality build. The player seems very durable, ...
First thing you notice when you open this MP3 player is Sony's quality build. The player seems very durable, the screen seems to be very scratch resistant. All the buttons are laid out accordingly, there are dedicated volume buttons on the right hand side of the player, meanwhile you use a square shaped pad to navigate threw the menus. The ?option? button controls the power on/off and there is a hold switch at the right hand side as well. In the box you receive nice premium headphones with different ear piece sizes, along with a little kick stand for watching video's, you also receive a software CD with WMP 11 + Sony's Media Manager, a proprietary USB cable, an insert for Sony's dock, and last but not least the actual player itself. The player features a very simple and easy to use menu system. It is extremely easy to browse through all of your videos and music. It also features a neat shuffle mode which is titled ?Time Machine Shuffle? and it sorts your songs randomly by the year they were released. The screen of the MP3 player is very crisp when it comes to watching video, viewing photos and browsing through the menus. Sony has also managed to provide very long battery life, the rated battery life is 35 Hours for music and 10 Hours when watching videos. This rating is at the preset settings, so the screen is at a fairly decent brightness. I've been using this MP3 for a week now, using only a single charge, listening to about 2 hours of music a day and the battery is still at half. The sound quality of this player is also amazing, the headphones that are bundled with the player are excellent quality. Sony has an adjustable equalizer which allows you to set various sound options yourself. The player puts out amazing sound with the bundled headphones, with very nice bass and crystal clear sound. I also tested it out with a pair of Sennheiser CX300 headphones which also sounded extremely nice. Overall its an amazing iPod alternative with an excellent value when it comes to the premium headphones and the quality build of the MP3 player. It is also extremely nice that Sony no longer makes you use Sonic Stage....you can simply drag and drop using WMP11. I would recommend this player to anyone who is looking for a 4GB ? 16 GB Music/Video player. This is definitely one of the nicest MP3 players I have used. Hope this review was useful to anyone looking into buying a new flash MP3 player.
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by PLmike (see profile) -
May 5, 2008
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Best MP3 player I've ever used
I love this player! I've owned it for one week now, and I'm very pleased with my purchase. ...
I love this player! I've owned it for one week now, and I'm very pleased with my purchase. My number one issue with getting a new MP3 player (I've had an iRiver and a Nano) was sound quality. An EQ was a must have for me because I really like to customize my sound. This player has an outstanding EQ built in, plus Clear Bass which really brings out the bass in music without causing distortion.
My second requirement was a cataloging system that does not require ID3 tags in order to sort/play songs. My iRiver did this, using the windows folder/file name structure, but the Nano did not. I have hundreds of MP3s that do not have embedded ID3 tags, and my Nano would not list them properly because of this. A serious annoyance to me. This player is perfect, because you can browse by artist/song/year using ID3 tags, or you can browse by windows folder/filename. Plus, it's a simple drag and drop in windows with no 3rd party software requirement. Gotta love that feature!
I didn't buy this player for the video feature, but it's outstanding and I think I'll be getting a lot of use out of it. The 2.4" LCD is bright, colorful and detailed. The only drawback to the video feature is that it only plays 320x240 MP4 videos. However, there are freeware utilities available that will convert most common video files (.avi, .mpg., .wmv) to MP4 videos for playing on this player.
I haven't had it long enough to really test the battery life, but so far I've played several hours between charges and it's still got plenty of juice. The bundled headphones are comfortable and sound great (and put the iPod headphones to shame!).
I have found it syncs files quite a bit slower than my iPod did, even with USB 2.0. Takes about 45 seconds to sync a 100MB album (I think my Nano takes about 25 seconds). So filling the player up from scratch or syncing a large movie file can take several minutes.
Anyone looking for outstanding sound quality, easy navigation, plus video capabilities should seriously consider this player.
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by rattlhed (see profile) -
April 9, 2008
10 out of 10 - Perfect Excellent,,10 out of 10, or some might say 8 or 9 for those perfect people considering every detail.
Hmmmm well the sound is great im useing shure 210's don't have a review up about that yet ...
Hmmmm well the sound is great im useing shure 210's don't have a review up about that yet but I needed some headphones so I got them. Anyhow I thought the navigation you know how well you can go from menu to menu, was going to suck. on a scale from 1 to 10 its like a 9 once you get used to it its ok. It's not like the ipod spin-whell on the sansa view, or fuze wheel, but its easy to use has plenty of options. I must admit im curious the two best mp3 players is this one an the Samsung P2 I wonder.........Which ones better anyhow I recommend this to save battery life folks. Just use the standard setting for Eq sounds more balanced anyhow, uh Set screensaver to blank, 15 secs, most options should be on no. Oh yeh battery life is awesome they sayed 35 hours to be honest I got more then 40! is it a lie am I excagerating however you spell it (Its late like 245 am) anyhow nope I got excellent battery life. Let me share my views on all sony products ive had. Feature wise for mp3 players,or cd players sony gets a 8.5 out of ten really a 9. Sound gets a 10 out of 10 to tell you the truth the way I see sony products is this. (Sony) itself is a well above average manufacturer they focus on quality not features,looks,cool thing-a-ma-jig-as just pure quality. Sound an battery life is what this player has going for it. The earbuds equipped are awesome not beating my shures or any shures for that matter but still a 8 out of 10. Hope this review is helpful so do I recommend this YES! spend your money on this or the 16 oh one more thing these come with an without the bluetooth so its the same one just missing the what? thats right the bluetooth. Lol anyhow see ya.....oh headphones wise company wise hehe Bose, an shures, go with no other you pay for quality, shures or bose, forget V-moda, Jays, SONYS. I promise you SHURES, is my fav its even better then Bose to me. Am I for real Yes I am Peace.
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by Dsddad (see profile) -
May 19, 2008
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular SUPERB! It has absolutely great sound quality.
I have replaced my Ipod nano 8 Gb with this one. I made a great decision. APPLE's warranty and ...
I have replaced my Ipod nano 8 Gb with this one. I made a great decision. APPLE's warranty and durability are questionable.The Sony device's Headphones and sound are excellent while the Ipod's are a real shame. Botton line, the Sony walkman is adorable inside and out. I just love it.It fits my needs.
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by cvinasco (see profile) -
June 29, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Excellent Player but...
I had originally gone to Best Buy for the previous-generation Sony Walkman, but when I played with the new 728, ...
I had originally gone to Best Buy for the previous-generation Sony Walkman, but when I played with the new 728, I was hooked. The controls felt very solid (like on my Sony digital camera), and the sound quality was nothing short of amazing. Who knew those earbuds had such deep bass response?!? I do kind of miss the FM tuner I had originally intended getting, but with 500+ songs on this thing, the FM tuner is kind of unnecessary. Plus, Windows Media Player makes syncing songs a snap. (The included Sony Media Manager is a bit lame compared to WMP.)
The few accessories available haven't yet trickled onto the market anywhere except online (at Sony and a few other places), and they are all Sony brand, so prices run high. With almost everybody making accessories for iPod and Zune but none for other players, I am already tired of looking for a better case than the leather one I ordered from Sony. Nice case, but a little clunky.
By the way, I have gone as far as 20 hours and still had apparently 1/4 battery life left (according to the battery indicator). I haven't run it all the way out...yet. The PDF manual gives times advice on how to prolong battery life.
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by pastorgadget (see profile) -
June 1, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular perfection
This player is outstanding! the sound quality is far superior than any ipod and it comes with execellent headphones that ...
This player is outstanding! the sound quality is far superior than any ipod and it comes with execellent headphones that are NOT noise cancelling, but do block out outside noise due to their design(so basically they are noise cancelling). the bluetooth is excellent and allows you to have several more options with your player. Also, the battery life is amazing, it can really hold a charge. And unlike apple, theres no wheel to eat up battery. I recommend making the switch from apple to sony! it was hard for me to give up itunes due to already knowing how to use it so well not to mention how easy it is to download songs and sync them, but WMP is actually really good and rather user friendly after getting to know how to use it.
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by jeff44 (see profile) -
May 29, 2008
10 out of 10 - Perfect Sony has finally
Very nice player, well worth the money paid. People complain about not being able to convert videos to it, but ...
Very nice player, well worth the money paid. People complain about not being able to convert videos to it, but it you a program called ANY VIDEO CONVERTER, then it converts it to mp4 just fine, its free and it works. Blows ipod out of the water! I compared my brothers ipod to my sony, no comparison... Sony > Ipod
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by Brian71489 (see profile) -
May 16, 2008
6 out of 10 - Good Wonderful Sound, Limited features
If you are buying a MP3 player just for your tunes, BUY THIS PLAYER NOW, it is by far the ...
If you are buying a MP3 player just for your tunes, BUY THIS PLAYER NOW, it is by far the best sounding player I have heard. However if you also like to listen to books on tape, and download videos you may want to go elsewhere. I found it just about impossible to listen to a book, unless you have the time to listen to an entire section at a time, usually about an hour , because there is no bookmark function. FF and RW are also lacking be cause it is single speed, and trying to advance by 15 minutes or review sections is just about impossible. I also found my fingers would slip off of the ff key because it is so small. As for video, I was unable to download videos from my usual source, I got an error message saying the player did not support video??? I haven't found very much info on the video function of this machine. I am trying to upgrade from a 4GB Zen which leaves this player in its dust when it comes to features, and it sounds almost as good, (but I have had huge problems with Creatives support). By the way headset that comes with this player is the best!! It is the first time I have been able to use ear buds without them falling out of my ears all the time because they don't fit right. I feel bad that I am going to have to return this player, because I really like it, but it just does not fit all of my needs.
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by jimsstuff (see profile) -
May 29, 2008
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