Sony NW-ZX707: A new premium Walkman now available in the US

Despite all that smartphone OEMs have tried to do, dedicated digital audio players are still definitely a thing, often boasting more space and scope for parts geared toward music reproduction...which even often extends to audio jacks more and more often.

Sony touts the Walkman line as eternal front-runners in this category, of course, touting its latest NW-A306 and NW-ZX707 as "designed for listeners to enjoy music the way the artist intended". One might also do so for hours; up to 36 for the A306, in fact.

They carry their oldest-of-school name in forms that support USB type-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Android 12, not to mention "edge AI"-powered features to augment their "updated" DSEE digital audio processing algorithms, resulting in up to 16-bit 44.1kHz lossless audio support.

Then again, they are thicker than the average smartphone, thanks to internals that go up to the same high-polymer capacitors and "large 8mm coil" of the top-end Signature Walkman series in the new NW-ZX707.

Both it and the NW-A306 are available via Sony's website, or its authorized dealers (Amazon included), at recommended prices of US$349.99 and US$899.99 respectively.