Sony S-Series Walkman review (second generation, 8GB, red)

These deficiencies certainly mar the S-Series legacy, but the player still includes a fair amount of features for the price. You get support for MP3, secure WMA, AAC, and Linear PCM (Sony's version of WAV) audio as well as JPEG photo, but again a disappointment here: you can no longer set your own photos as wallpaper. There's also video playback for AVC, MPEG-4, and WMV, though this is crippled by the fact that the player is very particular about the size, frame rate, and container of video files. However, we do appreciate the support for videos purchased and rented from Amazon Video On Demand.

The S-Series Walkman also offers a built-in FM tuner with autoscanner and up to 30 preset slots as well as a recording feature. And there's a pinhole mic on the bottom of the unit for taking voice notes, for which you can choose from three quality settings. The external speakers afford a final bonus: you can use the Walkman as an alarm clock and wake up to the radio or a track of your choosing.

Performance to the rescue
Considering how much Sony managed to strip down the S-Series Walkman in its second iteration, it was with some trepidation that we approached the performance of the device. Luckily, it's going to take more than a severe price cut to infringe upon Sony's long history of stellar sound quality and long battery lives. The only area that isn't particularly stunning is the speaker playback, which is rather unsurprisingly tinny and anemic. It's clear and fairly loud, though, so it gets the job done, and the battery life of 17 hours for audio and 5 hours for video is more than decent.

Naturally, when you listen to the S-Series Walkman through a good set of headphones (the Klipsch Image S4, in our case), the sound quality enjoys a dramatic improvement. Music sounds rich, warm, and defined across genres, with sparkly highs and buttery mids. Bass is punchy and encompassing without being overpowering--it's just the amount of low-end oomph we crave. The best part is that the device provides excellent audio across a full gamut of genres, which means it would make a great "everyman's" MP3 player. (And there are plenty of EQ settings to toy with, though no SRS Wow settings here.) Plus, the rated battery life of 42 hours for audio and 6.5 hours for video is nothing to scoff at, and we expect to match or beat those numbers in our CNET Labs testing (check back soon for final scores on that).

Similarly, photos and videos look fantastic on the bright screen, with excellent color saturation, crisp edges, and little-to-no visible pixelation (depending on the original quality of the files). Viewing angles are also great, though you probably wouldn't want to share for long with such a tiny screen. Finally, FM reception is well above average, and our test voice recordings came through very clear with little hiss.

Final thoughts
The Sony S-Series Walkman offers excellent audio playback, a long battery life, a nice screen, a simple interface, and some decent extras for little money--it's obviously a great value. Indeed, it's easy to recommend this player to budget-minded people who are looking for an introduction to the Walkman line. But those who have experienced the previous generation S-Series will be very disappointed by the successor to the line. Although the new version is much cheaper, it represents a diluted version of its former self. In this case, newer definitely does not mean better.