Sony X-Series Walkman (16GB)
Manufacturer: Sony Part number: NWZ-X1051
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- The X-Series is a superb choice for audiophiles who want a luxury device with an excellent touch-screen interface and plenty of other bells and whistles.
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CNET editors' review
Sony X-Series Walkman (16GB) price range: $254.86 - $383.99
- Reviewed by: Jasmine France
- Reviewed on: 07/07/2009
- Released on: 07/01/2009
The good: The Sony X-Series Walkman is a solid device with a sleek, utilitarian design and a unique, engaging interface; it's compatible with both Mac and Windows and supports podcasts from iTunes and videos from Amazon Unbox; it offers a plethora of features including an onboard Slacker app, integrated YouTube support, Wi-Fi, an FM tuner, and built-in noise canceling. The included earphones are nicer than average, the sound quality is excellent, and the rated battery life is superb.
The bad: The X-Series is expensive, and it's a fingerprint magnet. The included app does not transcode much video adequately.
The bottom line: The X-Series is a superb choice for audiophiles who want a luxury device with an excellent touch-screen interface and plenty of other bells and whistles.
Touch-screen MP3 players are all the rage, so it was only a matter of time before Sony hopped on the bandwagon. As it turns out, it was more time than we all anticipated. The company's X-Series Walkman was announced at CES 2009 and was expected to hit shelves in mid-June, but the player didn't go on sale until early July. The good news is that the final product is every bit as impressive as the preproduction model that CNET got to play with back in May. The X-Series Walkman offers a high-quality design with a gorgeous screen, a fun and innovative interface, and a plethora of cool features--just be prepared to pay for it accordingly. The player is priced the same as the iPod Touch, with the 16GB going for $299 and the 32GB listing for $100 more.
Design
Sony did not skimp on the construction of the X-Series Walkman, which is modeled after a geode with its glossy face and back plates wrapped in a glittering textured edge. The player is made of sturdy metal and has a weighty quality that makes it feel as expensive as the price tag insists. It's not as slim as the iPod Touch, measuring 3.8 inches by 2.1 inches by 0.4 inch, but it's still quite pocket-friendly, and the 3-inch OLED display is nothing to scoff at. Our one complaint is that the shiny surface is extremely smudge-prone and nearly impossible to keep clean given the touch screen interface.
Of course, the fingerprints are easy to ignore thanks to the fact that Sony went above and beyond with the interface, which is the best touch-screen utilization next to the iPod Touch. In fact, it's the only other touch screen we've come across that's actually fun to use. It has the "bounce back" effect when you are quickly scrolling through a long list, and a rather cool and unusual tilted scrolling effect for video and album art that's hard to explain in print--best to check out our First Look video for that. But perhaps best of all, you don't even need to use the touch screen for playback controls. The Walkman has tactile play/pause and track shuttle buttons on the top side, as well as a dedicated volume rocker on the right edge, meaning blind (in-pocket) navigation is a possibility with this player. That's truly a rarity in a touch-screen device. Another cool physical characteristic: the giant hold switch on the back.

In general, navigating the X-Series is a simple task. All of the main functions are laid out as icons on the top screen, where you are free to set any photo as wallpaper for personalization purposes. Delving into the music menu takes you to a list of songs, artists, albums, genres, or playlists, depending on where you left off. A soft key that appears at the bottom of all music screens allows you to choose between the various subnavs for music, including a folder browser option. Album art is always front and center, and you can choose to view by cover art only for a more visual experience.
Indeed, album art is the most prominent item displayed on the playback screen, which also features soft keys for playing, pausing, and skipping tracks. Or if the old-fashioned way of switching songs doesn't appeal to you, you can tap and hold on the album art and then use tilt-and-scroll to visually select another track. The playback screen also offers up track, artist, and album name; a battery meter and clock; and soft keys for pulling up a contextual menu, stepping back through menus, and connecting to the Web for song-related content (more on this later).
Even getting content onto the X-Series Walkman is an easy and enjoyable process, something that could not be said of Walkmans of years prior. Sony includes its excellent, superlight Content Transfer app. It allows for simple drag and drop of media files directly from your desktop or from within iTunes. You may also choose to use a jukebox such as Windows Media Player or Rhapsody. Although the X-Series will mount as a UMS device for use with a Mac or Linux machine, the app is made only for Windows.
Features
Perhaps the most interesting feature offered by the X-Series Walkman is the onboard Slacker app, which lets you get all the free music you want on-the-fly. And unlike with the Apple iPod Touch, you won't need a constant Wi-Fi connection to have access to it. While the X-Series does include a wireless antenna for hopping on to hot spots, the Slacker app only needs access to the network when refreshing station content. Each time you refresh, music is cached to the Walkman so that you can listen to it wherever you are, regardless of Internet access. (In other words, it functions in exactly the same way as on the BlackBerry.)

The beauty here is threefold. First, the music is completely free, though you will have to tolerate a few audio ads and skip limits (you can do away with these by signing up for Slacker Radio Plus for $3.99 per month). Also, you don't have to spend countless hours creating custom playlists, and when you get sick of your library on shuffle, you can simply choose from the wide variety of genre- and decade-based stations in the Slacker rotation. Finally, you don't need to connect to a computer to get brand-new music on your MP3 player, although it is worth mentioning that you must hook up the Walkman initially in order to customize which stations you want to live on the device. Setting up the sync is a painless process, but it does require that you create an account and input a device ID. In addition to the Slacker content, the player supports transferred songs in MP3, WMA (subscription included), AAC, and WAV format.
Of course, the X-Series Walkman doesn't stop with music--the 3-inch, capacitive touch display lends itself well to photos and video. The player supports JPEG images, which you can navigate through with a swipe of your finger. For video, there's an integrated YouTube app that lets you can access free content anywhere you are connected to Wi-Fi. The player also supports purchased video from Amazon Video On Demand and any other online store that uses protected WMV. In addition, you get native playback of AVC (H.264/AVC), WMV, and MPEG-4. Plus, Sony has updated its superbly agile Content Transfer app, purportedly adding automatic transcode for videos, although we found in testing that AVI and MOV files would not run through the software and be transferred to the Walkman.
The X-Series Walkman also offers a few more Wi-Fi-related features worth noting. The first is an integrated Web browser, though it must be said that the iPod Touch has the Walkman beat here. It's nice that Sony thought to include one at all, but it's quite basic, and the virtual keypad is alphanumeric, which makes entering Web sites and search terms a bit tedious. I'm superkeen on the wireless podcast updating feature, though. You can even subscribe to podcasts on the go, and the Walkman offers excellent support of podcasts transferred directly from iTunes (with passive bookmarking and on-the-fly delete capability). Also, the player has a "Related Links" function on the music playback screen that takes you directly to a YouTube video search for the artist/song or a Yahoo general search.
As for the nitty-gritty features, the X-Series Walkman has them in spades. There's integrated noise canceling, which is built to work with the included MDR-NC020 EX headphones. Sony even includes a pass-through cable so that you may use the feature with in-flight audio systems (the package even includes a dual-pronged airplane adapter for use on older jets). The player also offers an onboard FM tuner with autoscan and more than 25 presets as well as a five-band EQ including two custom settings and DSNe sound enhancement.
Performance
There's no denying the Sony X-Series Walkman is a player with a premium price tag; luckily, the player serves up performance worthy of its luxury device standing. Foremost, audio quality is excellent, even through the packaged earbuds, which themselves are much higher in quality than those included with nearly any other MP3 player (the Touch among them). Still, we couldn't help but swap in our favorite pair of 'phones (the MDR-NC020EX are not the most comfortable). For the majority of testing, we used a pair of Klipsch S4 earphones, which offered significantly more powerful bass than the MDRs.
As mentioned, the X-Series offers a plethora of sound enhancement options for those who want to tweak audio to their liking, but we found that listening to the player with the flat EQ and no enhancements provided the best experience. Music sounds exceptionally rich and warm, with mellow mids that are complemented perfectly by the sparkling highs. Dredg's "I Don't Know" was particularly melodic, with a deep, underlying low-end offset by buttery male vocals and crisp hi-hats. On the whole, the clarity and definition is undeniably remarkable, and the Walkman's balanced response lends well to all types of music, making it an excellent choice for all types of listeners. Sound quality is at least comparable--if not slightly superior--to the S-Series Walkman, likely due to Sony's inclusion of the S-Master digital amplifier. Perhaps another side effect is that the X-Series can get exceptionally loud, which will likely please those who want to hook up the player to speakers and use it as their main music source.
The X-Series is also no slouch when it comes to photo and video quality, thanks largely to its gorgeous displays. Pictures are crystal clear with defined edges and no pixelation or blurring, and both photos and videos offer excellent color saturation. Videos are extremely sharp--you can even see the rippling of water and waving of grass leaves. The 3-inch screen is a bit too small to enjoy lengthy viewing, but the stellar quality certainly helps in terms of eye strain. For its part, the FM tuner offered good reception, though it wasn't the cleanest we've come across. The rated battery life of 33 hours for audio and 9 for video is fantastic, and we expect CNET Labs will at least come close to these numbers in testing (check back soon for those results).
In the final analysis, the Sony X-Series Walkman is an otherwise phenomenal device that is crippled somewhat by its high price tag. Although we'd like to see the price drop by about $50, we can't begrudge Sony for pricing the player to match the iPod Touch. After all, the latter doesn't include high-quality earbuds and built-in noise canceling, nor does it match the Walkman in terms of its Slacker capabilities. For audio fanatics who want a luxury device with all the bells and whistles, the X-Series is an excellent choice.
User reviews
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Go home Ipod.
by bengewarmer on July 4, 2009
Pros: Brilliant screen, amazing sound quality, awesome touch response, battery life is more than decent.
Cons: Funky browser.
Summary: I had been waiting for this player to come out since it was announced and I finally got my hands on one a few days ago. As soon as I ...
Summary: I had been waiting for this player to come out since it was announced and I finally got my hands on one a few days ago. As soon as I took it out of the packaging I knew Sony put some real effort into this. The touch screen and response was just as good, if not better than the ipod touch. Then I plugged in the included noise canceling headphones and was amazed, but not surprised by the sound quality. The OLED screen is sharp and plays videos beautifully. The file support could be better but hey, when is it ever all that we want? I only briefly played around with the browser and was not really impressed. It has wifi and a browser to go with it, which is definitely cool and useful sometimes, but it can be a little weird, especially since text input is via a numeric keypad. Then again, I went with the Sony X Series to get an mp3 player that stomped all over the ipod touch and that's exactly what it does. Sound quality and user interface are basically the most important aspects of any player to me and the Sony X Series goes above and beyond in these categories. High five to Sony. *flips apple the bird*
7 out of 9 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Sony got it right
by cjohnbrown on July 8, 2009
Pros: Great Screen, Build, User Interface, Slack & Caching, Podcast downloader on player, Tactile buttons on top, Wi-Fi, Top Sound Quality, Noise Canceling, BAttery Life
Cons: Internet Keyboard, No case or screen protector yet, Love the size of the player but wish the screen size was larger on it.
Summary: I do not need apps nor really want apps, so this is the best player for people that just love players that handle and deliever your content very well. A ...
Summary: I do not need apps nor really want apps, so this is the best player for people that just love players that handle and deliever your content very well. A clearly superior player. Only player that gives you free music with slacker
3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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You Get Some, You Give Some
by ShellyWorld on August 31, 2009
Pros: Great Sound
Beautiful Display
Superb Battery Life
Radio tunerCons: No Screensaver
Some Album Covers Fail To Display
No Expanded Memory
Touch Screen only finger compatible; can't use fingertip or a pointed device
Accessories are hard to findSummary: Overall I love this walkman. I like the way it scrolls throught the songs or albums. The radio option is cool too. The sound from the earphones is lovely! I'...
Summary: Overall I love this walkman. I like the way it scrolls throught the songs or albums. The radio option is cool too. The sound from the earphones is lovely! I've worn them to bed and didnt hear my alarm clock go off. I held out for Sony to come out with another mp3 player because I dont like using itunes and most of the other good mp3 players are not compatible with Media Player, which is what I use organize my music. I had to go on Ebay and purchase a case holder since I couldnt find one in any local store. I really wish Sony would have kept the screen saver feature. Sometimes I'll Iturn it off and forget to put the 'hold' button on and when I'm ready to use it, the battery is low. Besides, that I think it' s good player....still prefer it over the Ipod.
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent music player
by PS28 on June 26, 2009
Pros: Great sound quality, pictures, video, wifi internet browsing, feels great in the hand, beautiful OLED screen.
Cons: Slightly expensive.
Summary: I don't own this walkman, but I did get to try it out when I was in Japan. Like many reviews of MP3 players, I will compare it to ...
Summary: I don't own this walkman, but I did get to try it out when I was in Japan. Like many reviews of MP3 players, I will compare it to the ipod touch. The screen is much better, the sound quality is better, pictures and video are about the same, I like how the Walkman has an integrated youtube app with comments (similar to the ipod touch's), it has no apps so i suppose that is the major difference between the two.
2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Great Sound Quality
by Lmptk on July 13, 2009
Pros: These little earbuds sound great. More bass than I expected. Slacker readio and noise cancelling sealed the deal. WiFi didn't hurt either.
Cons: Still not sure if I can RSS on anything but podcast.com to go. I may be missing something here but it seems a little limiting.
Summary: If you are nuts about your sound like me then the includuded headphones are worth the extra dough. I have spent this much on earbuds alone and while they may ...
Summary: If you are nuts about your sound like me then the includuded headphones are worth the extra dough. I have spent this much on earbuds alone and while they may sound a little better than these stock sony's, they did not come with such a solid player.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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One of the best
by BiggBass216 on July 3, 2009
Pros: Fast wi-fi, unmatched sound quality, slacker radio, easy navigation, and a beautiful OLED screen(wonderful colors!)
Cons: Not many: Not the best browser and internet features (simple & not ultra compatable)
Summary: If you are looking for a high end music and video player then give it go! Music and vides are the mp3 players superior features and it will probably be ...
Summary: If you are looking for a high end music and video player then give it go! Music and vides are the mp3 players superior features and it will probably be the best one you?ve hear or see thus far. Battery life is substantial and the include headphones are great! The noise cancelling feature can also be used independently without music or even connected to another 3mm headphone slot. In my opinion if you try it you won?t go for a jog or a long train ride without it.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Simply the best sounding MP3 on the market
by PianoMan8 on July 6, 2009
Pros: Sound Quality, Features (WiFi, Noise Cancelling), Stunning OLED Screen
Cons: Noise Cancelling only works with supplied headphones
Summary: Audio players are for your ear first and foremost and Sony has delivered something truly brilliant in this respect. Even if this doesn't please you there are enough non-audio ...
Summary: Audio players are for your ear first and foremost and Sony has delivered something truly brilliant in this respect. Even if this doesn't please you there are enough non-audio based features to keep you entertained for hours on end.
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Got the 16gb last Thursday. Unbelievable sound.
by antdogg33 on July 2, 2009
Pros: Excellent interface and video quality. The sound is awesome. Great range on the lows and a solid booming bass. The headphones are quality and should satisfy most users. The youtube and slacker apps are really enjoyable.
Cons: The web browser is a pain. A qwerty keyboard would be nice but its not a huge detriment. Also the video format limitation requires conversion of certain files.
Summary: Well worth the money. I used to own the P2 and this is bar a stronger and better player. Sound quality absolutely blasts Ipod into the stone age. Wish there ...
Summary: Well worth the money. I used to own the P2 and this is bar a stronger and better player. Sound quality absolutely blasts Ipod into the stone age. Wish there were more programs but an excellent start for this item.
1 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
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Excellent Music and Video Player!
by akvasu on August 25, 2009
Pros: Music sounds really great, the noise cancellations is stellar. - Dont use it while driving!!!
Videos are really clear and sharp and the viewing angle is amazing.Cons: Compared with ipod touch or the zune HD - no app's and the Browser really needs to improve. Couldn't believe i found the Access browser from sony ericsson mobiles on a high end player!
Summary: As a personal media device this product stands way ahead of the competition of Ipod/Samsung P2/Cowon. Audio/Video are excellent. Video's are really clear.
Content transfer is ...Summary: As a personal media device this product stands way ahead of the competition of Ipod/Samsung P2/Cowon. Audio/Video are excellent. Video's are really clear.
Content transfer is so easy with the widget. Of course loading videos was a little difficult but the Media Manager works well if u get the paid version and there are lot of freewares that work well also. I think most players face issues in loading movies and videos because of the screen sizes.
Youtube is pretty fast when the connection is present. Cant comment on Slacker since it does not work outside USA.
Browser really needs to be improved. But you can get used to it and it works for basic needs -
deserves a better rating than cnet gave it
by porky247 on July 27, 2009
Pros: good audio, nice screen, plenty of others
Cons: fingerprints, no real apps, internet browser isnt the greatest
Summary: it is not expensive it costs just as much as 16gb ipod touch and the ipod is also a fingerprint magnet but i dont see that in the cons of ...
Summary: it is not expensive it costs just as much as 16gb ipod touch and the ipod is also a fingerprint magnet but i dont see that in the cons of the ipod like it is for this
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Sony
- Part number: NWZ-X1051
- Description: Rediscover music with the X series Walkman video MP3 player. Boasting a stunning 3.0-inch OLED touch-screen display, digital noise cancellation and wireless connectivity, the X series takes portability to the next level. Equipped with built-in Wi-Fi, you can connect to the Internet and access your favorite websites including Yahoo!, YouTube and Slacker personal radio. You can also subscribe to your favorite podcasting sites and receive podcasts straight to the MP3 player via a Wi-Fi connection.
General
- Product type Portable network audio player / digital player / radio
- PC interface(s) supported USB, Wi-Fi
- Flash memory installed 16 GB Integrated
- Software type Microsoft Windows Media Player 11
- Color Black
- Depth 0.4 in
- Height 3.9 in
- Width 2.1 in
- Weight 3.5 oz
- Included accessories Earbud headphones, USB cable, Audio input cable, Plug adapter
Audio Features
- Digital storage None
- Sound effects Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE)
- Sound output mode Surround Sound
- Amplifier response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz
- Additional features Hybrid operation, Internet connectivity, Digital noise canceling, Digital clear audio technologies
Digital Player / Recorder
- Supported digital audio standards AAC, MP3, WMA, LPCM
- Playback modes Repeat shuffle, One track repeat, Random play / shuffle
- Response bandwidth 20 - 20000 Hz
Built-in Display
- Audio system built-in display OLED
- Diagonal size 3 in
- Resolution 432 x 240
- Display menu language French, German, Korean, English, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional)
Video Playback Features
- Video playback support H.264, MPEG-4, WMV
- Still image format JPEG
CD System
- CD system type None
- Playback modes Normal, Repeat, Shuffle, Shuffle and Repeat, Repeat 1 song
- Digital audio standards supported MP3, WMA, AAC, L-PCM
Cassette System
- Cassette system type None
Equalizer
- Equalizer type Built-in
- Equalizer factory presets Pop, Jazz, Heavy, Custom, Unique
- Equalizer band qty 5 bands
Radio
- Tuner type Digital Radio tuner
- Tuner bands FM
- Antenna form factor Headphone cord FM
- Tuner frequency range FM: 87.5 - 108 MHz
MD System
- MD system type None
Remote Control
- Remote control None
Headphones
- Headphones type Binaural In-ear ear-bud
- Sound output mode Stereo
- Connectivity technology Wired
Connectivity
- Cable(s) included 1 x USB cable - External
- Connector type 1 x Headphones, 1 x USB
Battery / Power
- Battery Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated
- Mfr estimated battery life 33 hour(s), 9 hour(s)
- Recharge time 3 hour(s)
System Requirements
- Peripheral / Interface devices USB port
- Operating system Microsoft Windows Vista Business SP1, Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate SP1, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic SP1, Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium SP1, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2 or later, Microsoft Windows XP Professional SP2 or later
Product series
Manufacturer info
- Sony
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Sony products on Shopper.com
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- Website: http://www.sonystyle.com
- Address:
16765 W. Bernardo Dr., San Diego, CA 92127 - Phone: 1-877-865-SONY
- Email: contact@sel.sony.com
- Fax: 941-768-7790










