CNET Editor's rating: 8.3 out of 10
Reviewed by
Donald Bell
Review date: 04/11/08
Release date: 03/28/08
The good: The unassuming Sony NWZ-S710F Walkman series of MP3 player delivers a perfect storm of on-the-go features, including music, photo, and video playback; FM radio; subscription music support; remarkable battery life; heavenly sound quality; and a feat only Sony could pull off: active noise-canceling in-ear headphones.
The bad: The NWZ-S710F lacks memory expansion, voice recording, or integrated podcast management, and if you lose the bundled headphones, you'll lose the Walkman's noise-cancellation capability as well. Sony's proprietary USB cable can be a headache to replace if lost.
The bottom line: The sum of the NWZ-S710F's audio enhancement and noise-canceling features adds up to one of the most pleasant and private music experiences you can have for less than $200.
By combining an excellent MP3 player and active noise-canceling earphones in an affordable one-two punch, Sony's latest NWZ-S710F Walkman MP3 player series takes a new approach to creating an ideal portable listening experience. Offered in 4GB ($149) and 8GB ($199) capacities, the Sony NWZ-S710F series is a phenomenal value for those looking to carve out a quiet moment in their daily life for experiencing great music.
Design
The Sony NWZ-S710F has a lightweight all-plastic body with a rounded feel that's comfortable in the hand and pocket. Although its 0.5-inch depth feels chunky compared with the iPod Nano, the Walkman's 1.7-inch width, 3-inch height, and 1.8-inch color screen are clearly designed to give Apple a run for its money. The Sony NWZ-S710F's navigation pad offers intuitive and responsive four-way control, with a raised metallic play/pause button at its center and two rice-grain-size Back and Option keys in the upper corners. On the top of the Sony NWZ-S710F you'll find a 3.5mm headphone jack and a slider switch that activates a built-in noise-cancellation feature. There's not much to see on the sides of the Sony NWZ-S710F except a small button hold switch on the top left edge, a volume rocker switch on the top right, and a proprietary USB 2.0 port on the bottom.
The high-quality earphones bundled with the NWZ-S710F series come with three pairs of silicone sleeves in different sizes to ensure a comfortable fit. Whether intentional or not, the additional noise-cancellation technology packed into Sony's headphones creates a thicker cable that we found less prone to tangles than Sony's typically delicate offerings.
The earphones included with the Sony NWZ-S710F Walkman are integral to its active noise-cancellation feature.
Features
The headline feature on the NWZ-S710F is its active noise-cancellation. Like its ATRAC-era predecessor, the NW-S700F series, the NWZ-S710F's noise-cancellation feature is broken into two parts--the player, which handles all the signal processing; and the earphones, which have small microphones built into the outside of each earpiece to monitor external noise. While the two-part design delivers great results (Sony has not published specific decibel reduction levels), the Achilles heel of the NWZ-S710F is the possibility of losing or damaging the proprietary earphones. Any standard set of headphones can be used with the NWZ-S710F, but its active noise-canceling feature will work only with the supplied earphones.
After getting comfortable with the operation of the NWZ-S710F's noise-canceling technology, the rest of the NWZ-S710F's features are identical to those found on last year's NWZ-A610 Walkman. The Walkman includes a well-organized music player which supports MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC, and the protected WMA format used by subscription music services such as Napster or Rhapsody. The NWZ-S710F's video player includes an automatic bookmarking feature and is compatible with MPEG-4 and H.264 video formats sized at a strict 320x240 resolution. The FM radio and JPEG photo viewer found on the NWZ-S710F are nothing special, but both are easy to use and add value to the device.
Performance
Paired with its excellent in-ear headphones, the Sony NWZ-S710F cranked out wonderful sound quality right out of the box. Activating the noise-reduction feature does introduce some white noise into the signal, but this is common with all active noise-canceling headphones and a welcome trade-off for the relative quiet it provides. If you plan on using the noise-cancellation feature outdoors, it's worth noting that the microphones embedded in the Sony NWZ-S710F's earphones are prone to picking up wind noise.
Compared with the iPod Nano (right), the Sony NWZ-S710F Walkman series is taller and bulkier, with a screen that measures 0.2 inch smaller. When it comes to audio quality and battery life, however, Sony leaves Apple in the dust.
Feature-tweakers and sonic malcontents will revel in the amount of sound-enhancement options available on the NWZ-S710F, including a user-definable five-band EQ, Clear Bass boost, Clear Stereo processing, DSEE high-frequency restoration, virtual surround, and dynamic normalization. Using the Sony NWZ-S710F in our office, the noise-cancellation feature silenced the drone of nearby computers and air conditioners and provided a pristine backdrop for Nick Drake's "Which Will," allowing details such as the squeak of fingers against the guitar's fretboard to jump out of the mix. On the subway, the Sony NWZ-S710F admirably defended our ears, reducing outside noise at least as much as our Shure SE310 sound-isolating earphones and restoring the rich bass frequencies we usually surrender during the commute.
We experienced no problems getting the included headphones to fit comfortably, but if you're going to bite the bullet on the NWZ-S710F Walkman, we recommend buying from a retailer that will let you return the player if the earphones feel awkward. Finding a comfortable pair of headphones can be difficult for many of us, and unfortunately, if the noise-canceling headphones bundled with the NWZ-S710F don't jive with your ears, you'll be missing out on one of the product's most valuable features.
Sony rates the battery life of the NWZ-S710F Walkman at 33 hours of audio playback and 8 hours of video, presumably with the noise-cancellation feature switched off. We'll update this review with our CNET Labs battery results once testing is complete.
Sony makes no claims of Mac compatibility with the NWZ-S710F series, but we're happy to report the player had no problem receiving files from our in-house MacBook. Ejecting the Walkman from a Mac isn't easy (it reconnects instantly), however, the player can be safely removed after shutting the computer down.
Final Thoughts
These days, MP3 players come loaded with features such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, stopwatches, datebooks, video games, movie players, and even GPS navigation. On most days, however, our MP3 player's first feature is still its best, providing us a musical break from the stress or mundaneness of our lives. By integrating active noise-canceling headphones with the NWZ-S710F, Sony has not only created one of the best values in portable audio, the company has also shown a way to evolve the MP3 player concept without turning it into a smartphone.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Best MP3 player for the money
I bought the 8GB for me and the 4GB for my wife. I and I must say.....WOW! This player ...
I bought the 8GB for me and the 4GB for my wife. I and I must say.....WOW! This player is everything both of us were looking for. After doing a little homework, and reading CNET's review I decided to go with the Sony. I had heard good and bad things about other players and what I was looking for was a player that had great sound and was a good alternative to the Ipod Nano. Sony more than delivers with this player in my opinion.
Both my wife and I are picky consumers and she wasn't happy with her Ipod, and my Creative had just died. I was more than happy when she said that this player was awesome, and I agreed with her. The sound quality blew me away, especially coming from the packaged ear buds that came with the player. They are very comfortable and the nice part is that they come with different size rubber ear pieces which was a great relief to my wife since she needed the smaller size. As far as we both can tell the noise canceling is another nice feature and has worked great walking outside (We have yet to try it running).
Both of us were more than pleased with the players ease of use and interface. Nothing is confusing and everything in my opinion is nicely organized, and not over done. We both liked how all the buttons were placed on the player, versus other players. The video and picture quality is very crisp..another definite plus.
To sum it up this player more than exceeds my expectations. I had heard detailed sounds that I had never heard on some of my songs before, and it was a joy to just sit back and listen to music the way music was intended to be heard..clear, crisp and powerful. When we loaded some of our music on our players (which is very easy) and started listening, we both looked at each other and smiled.
Sony delivers with both excellent sound and player functionality, and I would more than recommend this player as an alternative to the Ipod Nano, or any compact player for that matter.
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by jmmgis (see profile) -
April 28, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular New ? : What Can be the Walkman Killer?
Sony has re-invented the Walkman with great precision and innovation. To say that they have put everything into this player ...
Sony has re-invented the Walkman with great precision and innovation. To say that they have put everything into this player is farfetched but they have put everything that matters. The sound quality is truly amazing and if these ipod zombie users eardrums were not so damaged by the ipod crap that they listen to, and would just listen up, they can probably enjoy music for once instead of on the iBandwagon. Not just speaking about the sound, all the other features work great too. finally a Sony has given us FM tuner and noise cancellation built-in. Best Blueray in the PS3 and now the best MP3 player. Sony what can't you do?
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by Brownieexl (see profile) -
April 28, 2008
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Best deal going!
Let's see....for the same price as an IPod Nano, you get a better sounding MP3 player that.. 1. ...
Let's see....for the same price as an IPod Nano, you get a better sounding MP3 player that.. 1. is roughly the same size (it is friggin TINY!) 2. comes with NOISE CANCELING headphones 3. does not require any software to load songs 4. and did I mention that it is NOT AN IPOD.
Every single person that I have shown this player to has agreed that after seeing this player in action there is no reason to buy an IPod. Unless, of course, you have been suckered into purchasing one previously and you have unfortunately bought into the ITunes format. The best thing about this player is that I can walk up to any normal person's computer (a PC, not a MAC), plug it in and pull their music, without having to convert files to ITunes, or use some form of software designed for this particular brand.
The only things wrong with this player are that the volume buttons are a little on the small side (can still be used even in the arm band), and the "screen saver" doesn't stay on. It comes up for a second and then the screen goes black. I'm never staring at my player long enough to truly care about that though. The only other gripe I can make is that the USB cable is a proprietary connection. Would manufacturers stop being so stupid and just use ONE USB CABLE FORMAT! It's getting ridiculous with all the cables I have laying around my computer for each little gadget and widget I buy.
In case you were wondering how effective the noise cancelling feature works, it does a fantastic job. I am a helicopter pilot and I am around jet engines all day. These headphones truly erase much of the drone that I have become accustomed to hearing day in and day out. Also, the headphones create some fantastic sound. Not Shure quality, but better than most I have listened to.
So overall, the best deal going for MP3 players in my opinion. Why tote around 60 gigs of music you can't listen to? (How often are you away from your computer for extended periods anyway)....Why pay the same price for a Nano that doesn't come with noise canceling headphones?....Why use any player that requires you to use specific software to load music?....If you take all these things into consideration, there is no other choice but to buy this or its sister products.
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by trakatak (see profile) -
May 27, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 out of 10 - Perfect The Ultimate
i was looking for an affordable quality mp3 jammer and did some research. my main concern was audio quality. it ...
i was looking for an affordable quality mp3 jammer and did some research. my main concern was audio quality. it came down to this and the 3rd generation ipod nano. yes, the nano looks cooler and has a bigger screen (of the same resolution,) but what got me sold for the Sony is the fantastic, peerless sound quality with the included earphones. the lower, mid and upper range blend beautifully to produce one of the most engulfing sonic experiences you can possibly imagine. the Sony trashes pretty much every other mp3 player in terms of sound quality - including the nano. video quality is also great and the screen is a beauty.
bottom line: if you want something that looks cool and has a friendly user interface, get an ipod. if you want the ultimate in sound reproduction, get this little baby.
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by cyberjack1991 (see profile) -
May 23, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Very good player
I really loved this player since my last one was a cruddy Sansa. I really love the display, it's ...
I really loved this player since my last one was a cruddy Sansa. I really love the display, it's bright, crisp and sharp. It displays a lot of info. It plays nice videos and pictures but I really don't use my player for that stuff. It sounds great, easy to navigate and I think it's good quality. I like that it has can receive FM radio. I should have gotten a bigger capacity. I recommend it for anyone who is looking for a mid-range player with excellent sound but who are not looking for all the bells and whistles of higher priced players.
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by txdomino (see profile) -
May 20, 2008
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 out of 10 - Poor poor customer support
On upgrading the firmware my walkman from the sony support website my walkman stopped working and when I asked customer ...
On upgrading the firmware my walkman from the sony support website my walkman stopped working and when I asked customer support they asked me to pay the repair cost which was more than my walkmand. i dont recommend using any sony mp3 walkmans after this experience. if the firmware doesnt work they should take the responsibility of fising the walkman or not post the firmware to the website
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by leofox (see profile) -
April 26, 2008
8 out of 10 - Excellent good player
i was looking for an affordable quality mp3 jammer and did some research. my main concern was audio quality.
i was looking for an affordable quality mp3 jammer and did some research. my main concern was audio quality.
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by ravi_cnet (see profile) -
July 14, 2008
3 out of 10 - Poor It's the same as NWZ-S610F series just add with noise cancellation. Nothing more interest about it.
Honestly, I'm just bought my Sony NWZ-S618F last week. I think the NWZ-S610F series is great. Superb quality of ...
Honestly, I'm just bought my Sony NWZ-S618F last week. I think the NWZ-S610F series is great. Superb quality of sound. I'm not regretted on buying it, even after seeing this NWZ-S718. I think NWZ-S718 is exactly the same as the NWZ-S610F series, nothing more to be interested except the Noise Cancellation earpieces. If you lost the earpieces, you will lose this feature. If you are looking for a Sony Walkman mp3 player, I will rather suggest the NWZ-S610F series than the NWZ-S718 (if you really don't care what so special about the Noise Cancellation earpieces.)
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by desmo7 (see profile) -
April 19, 2008
3 out of 10 - Poor Yet Another iPod Killer
Why does Sony keep trying to even compete in this market? You would think they would just give it up ...
Why does Sony keep trying to even compete in this market? You would think they would just give it up and concentrate on the PS3, Blu-Ray and LCD Bravia TVs. Their offerings continually fall short of the iPod in both looks and performance.
While this unit has a nice battery life it has half the video resolution of the iPod Nano, it is bigger than a cinder block and Sony is notorious for software that borders on unusable.
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