CNET Editor's rating: 8.0 out of 10
Reviewed by
Donald Bell
Review date: 04/04/08
Release date: 03/28/08
The good: The Sony NWZ-A820 Walkman MP3 player series offers high-quality music, photo, and video playback, along with built-in Bluetooth audio streaming, EX-style earphones, and phenomenal battery life.
The bad: The Sony NWZ-A820 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-A820 is the best sounding, best-looking Walkman series yet, and the inclusion of Bluetooth audio makes it a top choice for cable-hating audio enthusiasts.
The Sony NWZ-A820 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, built-in Bluetooth, and a more assertive design, offered in 8GB ($270) and 16GB ($320).
Design
Given Sony's track record with curvy, rounded designs, the Sony NWZ-A820 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-A820 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 A820, 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, a Bluetooth activation button, and a hold switch. The bottom of the A820 Walkman features a headphone output and proprietary USB connection.
One little design detail that distinguishes the Sony NWZ-A820 from last year's model is the inclusion of a detachable kickstand for hands-free video playback.
Features
The Sony NWZ-A820 is stocked with features, including music, photo, and video playback, and built-in Bluetooth audio streaming. 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-A820 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-A820 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.
Bluetooth
Sony makes the whole Bluetooth pairing process exceptionally elegant on the NWZ-A820, both functionally and aesthetically. A push of a button sends the Sony NWZ-A820 into Bluetooth discovery mode and activates a blinking blue light on the top-right edge of the player. Once the Sony NWZ-A820 has been successfully paired with a Bluetooth device (headphones, stereo) the indicator light changes from a frantic flash to a slow pulse. During our informal testing, we were able to get a useful range of about 30 unobstructed feet between the NWZ-A820 and our Logitech Freepulse Bluetooth headphones. Access keys for previously paired devices are conveniently stored in the Sony NWZ-A820's memory, allowing you to pair your various Bluetooth accessories with a minimum of fuss. If you're just dipping your toe into the world of wireless Bluetooth audio, the 8GB version of the NWZ-A820 (the NWZ-A828K) comes bundled with pair of Sony Bluetooth headphones.
If you could care less about Bluetooth, the Sony NWZ-A720 series offers all of the features found in the NWZ-A820 series, with the exception of Bluetooth, at a reduced price.
The Sony EX earphones included with the NWZ-A820 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-A820 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-A820. 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-A820, and audio and video files are automatically bookmarked when the player is stopped or shut down.
Sony rates the NWZ-A820'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.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great audio quality, good value
Great player for music, bundled headphones put the ipods and most other competitors bundled units to shame. interface is simple ...
Great player for music, bundled headphones put the ipods and most other competitors bundled units to shame. interface is simple and easy to use, buttons are responsive and conveniently placed, hold button and volume controls on the side can be controlled without having to look at the thing. Battery life is excellent, video quality is good with great battery life. it can be hard to figure out how to encode the videos at first since it doesn't come with software. Jodix free ipod video converter will transcode into mpeg4 and is about simple as it gets. handbrake and media coder will give you more control and encoding speed. Handbrake is free and will transcode dvds. Media coder also transcodes videos of many formats and is free. h264 support is more tricky. it requires that level=13:bframes=0:cabac=0 be placed in the advanced tab of handbrake. similar settings required in media coder. after you figure that out the videos turn out quite well and are very watchable and smooth on the screen. the h.264 lets you get away with quite low bitrates and still retain a very crisp and smooth video. using at least 128kbps audio and you get perfect audio from the included headphones, you even get a surprising amount of bass which is nice if you've encoded a film. no audio quality sacrifice needed when it comes to video on this unit.
and unlike some other players..the eq and other sound settings actually are quite effective.
the only downside, no podcast directory. So even if you separate with a directory structure within music, you cannot shuffle music very well if you are carrying audiobooks/podcasts. it also suffers from a lack of on the fly playlisting or ability to manage files on the go...delete etc.
i've found that it is cheap and easy to protect this player using a do it yourself transparent screen protector from bestskinsever which is the same material as the invisible shield stuff, and a cheap silicon skin to protect the rest. after that its pretty rugged and easy to take care of.
and the drag and drop capability is nice. if you want you can use winamp, wmp11, MediaMonkey, or J.River Media Jukebox instead to manage your content.
its a good practical player with top notch sound quality that beats more of the competition out there. even very expensive headphones are justified for use with this unit. and the headphones that come with it are far above average and will make most people quite happy. i know many players use touch screen or touch controls. after you get past the gee wiz factor those are a chore to use in real life. tactile controls you can manipulate within a pocket without looking make this player a winner.
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by TrevorK (see profile) -
June 13, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Stylish superb sounding WALKMAN
I have tried this new walkman and I was very much pleased by the sound. Dont get me wrong, the ...
I have tried this new walkman and I was very much pleased by the sound. Dont get me wrong, the thing sounds like nothing else I heard before, only that I was pleased to see that sony kept in track with their usual amazing sounding walkman legacy. It also has fantastic battery life, I didnt' get to waste it of course (I have a life) but it appears that it gives 10 hours of video and 36 of music. The user interface was for my amazement very easy to use as far as to say that it was faster to find things as compared to my ipod-touch. I would really buy this if i DIDNT have a touch only because of the sound. It also looks pretty good but it cant touch my Ipod-Touch in that department and also in the internet ability. If sony could make something that competes with itunes in ease of use they would get back some of the music chunk they used to have. I mean, the thin is very very portable and pretty and not so expensive and its arround 1-2 in best sounding mp3 players ever the first being another walkman. Is only that is boring having to drag music from folder to folder it doestn feel like 2008. If sony gets that right i SEE many people buying that even myself. The video I forgot to mention was very crisp and the layout of the GUI was very well placed.
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by lil-yankee (see profile) -
April 2, 2008
10 out of 10 - Perfect Excellent Audio Video player
The NWZ 820 series is Sony's best sounding walkman, two thumbs up for Sony!! Its predecessor NWZ-818 had almost ...
The NWZ 820 series is Sony's best sounding walkman, two thumbs up for Sony!! Its predecessor NWZ-818 had almost same functions except the inclusion of Bluetooth connectivity which is done quite well in 829 along with a little bigger screen. The player looks elegant, classy and slim but the sound enhancement technologies working behind the screen are much more complicated. No matter what kind of music you like, you can always customize (equalizers, DSSE, Clear Bass & Clear stereo) it according to your listening preference.
User friendly menu, sharp video display, sleek design, cool bluetooth feature, great sound are among the top features of this player. I previously owned 818 (amazing player, rated as CNET's editor choice) but traded it with 829 due to added bluetooth feature and bigger screen size. If you are really looking for a good sounding MP3 player, 829 is for you!
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by aherowillrise (see profile) -
June 2, 2008
10 out of 10 - Perfect A fantastic music player
Some years ago I bought the Sony NW-3000 because all reviews told that sound quality was fantastic. In my oppinion ...
Some years ago I bought the Sony NW-3000 because all reviews told that sound quality was fantastic. In my oppinion it was not, it was muddy and not very detailed, even trying all tricks with the equalizer. In addition max. volume level was set very low, so when going by airplane, I could hardly hear the music. For that reason I was very sceptic when reviews claimed that this new NWZ-A729 has got a fantastic sound, but I took my chance because I could see some new sound enhancing features had been included. And I am so glad that I did. The sound is really just fantastic (and here I am also comparing to my old Cowon U2 player and my Archos 404 - both of them also good sounding), even with the included headphones
The included headphones will replace my old, long-trusted Sennheiser MX-500 and probably even my full size Sony's. The included headphones has got crisp and detailed sound. I suddenly found details in every song that I did not hear before and I really enjoy listening. The earbuds sits nearly perfect in my ears. Only thing is that I find bass level slightly too much (but it is never distorted) even with the equalizer settings at min and bass-boost at 0.
In comparison to the NW-3000 player the NWZ-A829 has got an hold-button which i really missed in the old player and volume can go more than high enough (that was also a problem in the NW-3000).
The form-factor is also perfect; it is easy to keep it a shirt pocket. At the moment i keep about 1200 songs mostly in 320 kb/s MP3 format and it only takes half its memory. For me that is more than enough.
I am not really concerned about its picture/video cababilities though I will keep a foto or two of my family inside. Also I am not very concerned about the sync. features (or lack of same) - for me it is fine to drag and drop via IE.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular nice sony!!!
this is a great pcs of mp3 player sony makes...easy to use n load files like music,pics and ...
this is a great pcs of mp3 player sony makes...easy to use n load files like music,pics and videos...great pair for the moto s9 sterio bluetooth as well....happy havin no wires in me...good deep bass sound usin the s9...
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by ehmms (see profile) -
April 23, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular great sound, excellent video
If you're looking for a MP3 player that hits a home run with sound this is your player. The ...
If you're looking for a MP3 player that hits a home run with sound this is your player. The WALKMAN series from SONY far surpasses players of similar price. I could not believe the options SONY gives you in dialing in your own personal tastes for sound. Loading songs from MediaPlayer and Real Audio is a breeze. The drag and drop option is handy too. I convert my videos to MP4's and the SONY player recreates the videos with a sharp, crisp image. The screen icons are simple and easy to manuever through. The hold switch is located on the side of the unit. The separate volume switch is easy to get to also. There may be other mp3 players that look cooler but not many will sound better.
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by zahmbee (see profile) -
April 7, 2008
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