If you are surprised that Sony is still making the Walkman, you'll be even more surprised to learn that the new model is designed solely to play music and costs €1,149. That's €150 more than the most expensive iPhone 6 Plus.
The device runs on Andriod 4.2, a system that was debuted in November 2012. It has some standard Google apps - but it is very much intended to operate as a standalone music device.
It is only a few months since Apple quietly discontinued its music-only iPod Classic. What does Sony know that Apple doesn't?
The selling point is the audio quality and the build quality. It plays 24bit hi-res audio, and the battery lasts for 33 hours.
The player will support DSD, WAV, AIFF, FLAC, Apple Lossless and more common formats. It will also enhance the playback quality of regular MP3 files.
It has 128GB of built-in memory and a micro-SD slot for extra storage. The device pairs touchscreen with additional side-mounted playback controls, and has a retro-tinged gold headphone jack.
Booming sales in high-spec headphones and vinyl records suggest that there is a market for audio-conscious listeners.
Sony is calling the ZX2 “the fruit of continuous refinement in high audio quality technologies” - they will be hoping to find a niche market which will be willing to purchase it over smarter (cheaper) devices.
The Walkman brand was launched in July of 1979 - the original model sold for $150. Since then it has been in a constant state of evolution - the company only discontinued its portable cassette players in 2010.
At the height of its powers, Walkman product upgrades were a lot less complicated...
