Sony debuts A820, A720 and S710F series Walkman players in the States

Remember all that Walkman hotness that Sony hit Japan with last week? Well, as anyone might've guessed, it's headed Stateside soon for your earbud consumption. In addition to the new NWZ-A820 series flagship (pictured), Sony has the NWZ-A720 series, which cops the looks and specs, but loses the Bluetooth of the A820 players. Both players have roughly 10 hours of video battery life, and 36 hours for audio, with 2.4-inch QVGA screens and capacities ranging from 4GB to 16GB. Meanwhile, the new NWZ-S710F skimps on the sexy looks, and only sports a 1.8-inch QVGA screen, but adds built-in noise canceling. Codec support for all the players includes protected WMA, unprotected AAC, MP3 and H.264 video. The full model rundown is as follows, everything will be available in March:

• NWZ-A828K - 8GB, black, Bluetooth, DR-BT21G Bluetooth wireless headphones, $270
• NWZ-A829 - 16GB, black, Bluetooth, $320
• NWZ-A726 - 4GB, black and pink, $150
• NWZ-A728 - 8GB, black and pink, $200
• NWZ-A729 - 16GB, black, $300
• NWZ-S716F - 4GB, silver, red and black, $150
• NWZ-S718F - 8GB, black, $200

One more shot after the break.

[prateeko @ Feb 26th 2008 3:11AM]

Looks great, but I wish they had a 32GB option.

[cswallow01 @ Feb 26th 2008 3:38AM]

I will not be buying this...

My PSP maintains every feature I need and more in comparison and my handheld Walkman 2GB player is fine enough, when I'm exercising. I guess this is for people that like Sony Ericsson phones, since they do look alike. Namely the W580i.

Maybe for some people, but not for me...

Also, just curious but the picture above of the new Walkman, on the interface in the upper right corner the icon appears to be that Real Networks?
Am I missing something?

[Deluxe @ Feb 26th 2008 4:31AM]

I've got a W960i which is great with 8gb of internal memory. I WISH it was a good as a standalone mp3 player, but the processor is so slow and the Walkman UI is so clunky that it's a bitch to use at the Gym or running. If only the UI was either fully touch operational (I'm talking fingers here, not stylus) or it had a standard d-pad and softkeys it would be fine.

Meanwhile until they sort out these problems in a new model, I'm thinking these look like a nice buy.

[Amol @ Feb 26th 2008 3:42AM]

Finally, we're seeing some Bluetooth DAPs.

And no more SonicStage - god frikkin' finally. Whoever wrote it should drown in a vat of concentrated sulphuric acid.

[Carl Vitullo @ Feb 26th 2008 3:47AM]

Wow. i'm impressed by the NINE posts in a two minute span. especially at 3AM.

sony PMPs always seem to have a lot of extraneous labels on the buttons. is "home" really necessary? and "pwr off" could just be "off".
and while you're at it, at least make them more subtle.

[eddib @ Feb 26th 2008 4:18AM]

9 AM in Europe ;)

[eddib @ Feb 26th 2008 3:59AM]

Hey Sony, how about flac and ogg support? (for the PSP too please)
More sites now offering ogg or flac (e.g. bleep.com).

The quality definitely beats mp3, and i still think it's totally unacceptable that iTunes and other services charge that much money for compressed audio. Its like paying hard bucks for a photocopied book, glued together.

Adding more format support to the players could lead the way.

[bot @ Feb 26th 2008 6:06AM]

Might want to try the Cowon D2. Wide format support, massive battery life, and supposed great sound quality. I'm saving up for an 8GB one, especially since there is an effort started to get Rockbox on it too.

[Cunthor @ Feb 26th 2008 6:49AM]

Actually, I would much rather like to see the 5-star rating system and playlist on the go support then anything else. This is the only thing that annoys me about 810 series...

Oh and good luck with ogg support, ain't gonna happen. Ever.

[Baba Booey @ Feb 26th 2008 3:36PM]

I agree with bot.
I have a 4gb D2 with an 8gb sdhc card(35$ thanks to newegg.com) and .flac is GREAT. just make sure to invest in some good headphones though, and NOT Skullcandies.

[Jeff @ Feb 26th 2008 4:20AM]

wtf 7 sony articles in a row

[AoMoe @ Feb 26th 2008 4:57AM]

Nonetheless, The A820 series have a nice design. The Bluetooth is a nice touch, but at a cost of reduced battery life.

[c1906w @ Feb 26th 2008 5:18AM]

these look pretty cool, and the specs seem pretty decent and the range of format support is always a good thing.
however $320 for a 16gb player, this is Sonys error you can get an 80gb ipod for $249 or an 8/16gb ipod touch for either a little less or a bit more.
As with most recent sony products, IMO, pricing could be their downfall.

[mark lee @ Feb 26th 2008 6:43AM]

I agree. I don't see how SONY can push these MP3 players with their inflated prices. Hopefully their actual street prices will be noticeably lower.

[Mark @ Feb 27th 2008 2:48AM]

This does so much more than an iPod though.

[b33eazy @ Feb 26th 2008 5:39AM]

A waste in time why would Sony make this so expensive? it's more expensive than a ipod/nano and it's almost the same price as a iTouch 16gb what a waste in time for them this won't sell.

[Carl @ Mar 3rd 2008 10:12PM]

Why only 16GB? Make it 60 and I'd buy one in a snap!

[Prashant @ Feb 26th 2008 6:45AM]

I would rather buy a higher capacity(80 Gig or more) ipod touch, Sony need to develop better GUIs like Apple. The buttons look quite dumb compared to Touchscreen technology.

[richard @ Feb 26th 2008 3:28PM]

Ogg+Flac and 80 gig and I'm sold. Sony walkman's have quite nice sound quality.

[Geonerd @ Feb 27th 2008 7:42AM]

Im in trouble, I need the A2DP but also need 30G or more. shit

[Linh @ Feb 26th 2008 8:31AM]

When did you come up with that 80Gb or more iTouch crap?

[Prashant @ Feb 26th 2008 5:28PM]

Oops sorry... not an 80 Gig I-touch but a 32 Gig I-touch

[Matthew Knudson @ Feb 26th 2008 8:51AM]

Looks great... now they just need to up the storage... Still waiting for someone to make something that can replace my old NW-HD5, but I guess Ill have to wait a bit longer

[bobbygab @ Feb 26th 2008 9:55AM]

I just love the walkmans that Sony develops, they are ultra cool looking devices.

[Ollie @ Feb 26th 2008 10:33AM]

Of all the artists they could have picked from, why Tony Bennett?

[Bob @ Feb 26th 2008 10:36AM]

SonyStyle is already taking pre-orders for the new players and they're expected to ship the last day in March.

Here's a link to the 8 and 16gb flavors. I'll be picking up the 16gb Bluetooth version.

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&categoryId=3690

The 8gb version also comes in pink. :)

[Tim @ Feb 26th 2008 10:38AM]

Looks like I may be upgrading from my VGFAP1L - Why couldn't they make it a 40+ GB?? However memory is prob much better than the VGFAP1L - freezes and HD overheats frq.

[Greg @ Feb 26th 2008 11:18AM]

Sony Walkman NWZ-A815 pwns all hand down, a must buy for anyone but WMP sux's

[wootman @ Feb 26th 2008 1:03PM]

do i spy the rhapsody logo in the top right of the first picture?
that would be awesome.

[nathan.wong @ Feb 26th 2008 4:13PM]

Yay! Tactile buttons to use without looking at the unit.

[Gregory Christopher @ Feb 27th 2008 11:25AM]

Tactile pwns that click wheel crap, just because its old doesnt mean it isnt superior

[saleh @ Mar 9th 2008 5:13PM]

سامیولییییییکم!!!!

[chris @ Mar 29th 2008 12:30AM]

you guys are comparing flash hard drive players(touch,nano,this) vs hard drive players(classic). Big difference in cost and size. If they came out with an IPOD nano 16gb I would be all over that, it the form factor wasn't so uncomfortable. Im looking to get the 16gb if the street price is less than 250 for the a829. I wonder if they will make a 16gb flash zune.

[Oz @ May 8th 2008 5:33AM]

I am suprised to see people comparing Sony to Ipods.

Personally I buy these devices to listen to the music at its best, and the best SQ is what you get with Sony. In terms of sound quality if sony is a Ferrari Ipod is a Saturn. Needless to mention you get premium headphones with Sony, great sound right out of the box.

Give it couple months or so, or until others join 16 GB flash league for the price to drop.

I on the other hand, already got one of these ear tearing monsters and put gave my lame ipod to my trendy sister.