While music will always remain to be one of the best sources of motivation for any means of sports, enjoying your favorite tunes with a wired media player can be quite a deal-breaker during your intense workout sessions. Let’s find out if the latest Sony NW-WS623 Walkman is the perfect companion for your fitness and sports sessions.
Design and Features
If there is one gadget on this planet that has been molded into different shapes and sizes, it’s certainly the dedicated music player. While many companies focused on releasing small and light players, Sony took a different route with the first W series Walkman in 2009. The uniquely heart-shaped Walkman was specifically tuned for gym addicts and runners who want to stay away from wires that can get in their way of free movement. Since then, Sony has been constantly adding more and more features while keeping the same design philosophy with minimalistic changes for each generation.
Weighing only 32 grams, the Walkman WS623 is very light when worn and doesn’t cause any sort of stress on the ears due to the weight. The player sits firmly around your neck and ears without slipping away while walking or running. The main ear modules feature a matte finish and the connected cord has a soft silica-like skin material. However, the curved surface that holds the earbuds did cause a bit of discomfort on my outer ears in my first few hours of usage.
Speaking of earbuds, the player features Sony’s in-ear EX-earbuds that fit comfortably and isolate noise from outside. While the earbuds come in different sizes, Sony has also included special waterproof earbuds that feature a thin film to prevent any water damage with the Walkman and allowing the user to hear music even when you’re under the pool.
Another major design feature of the Walkman WS623 is its ruggedness for extreme sports situations. It is salt waterproof up to 2m deep and can be submerged for 30 minutes, making it the perfect player for swimming and water sports. (IPX5/8 certification).
The Walkman WS623 also is stamped with the IP6X certification for dust resistance, making it suitable for beach based games and resistant to sand. The player can be beneficial for hikers and climbers because of its extreme temperature resistance from -5 degree Celsius up to 45 degrees’ heat.
The main parts of the Walkman WS623 include the power button, play/pause button, and the next/previous track selector on the right earpiece. The left earpiece holds the volume rockers, the mode selector for repeat/shuffle/normal playback and a silver button for activating the ambient noise. One thing that I’ve noticed on many wearable Walkman players is that the buttons are quite stiff to press and the WS623 also faces the same design. The buttons could have been softer and easier to press with a pleasing feedback like the ones found on the higher-end Walkman models. I’m not saying that it’s bad, but you will need to exert a bit of pressure with your fingers.
While this Walkman isn't a noise-cancelling device, the Ambient Noise mode lets you hear the outside world and talk to people while you're listening to your tracks. It’s a vital feature so you don’t take off the player while working out or running. However, you don’t get the different Ambient Noise profiles that are found on the Sony MDR-1000X. It would have been cool if Sony had included the hand gesture to activate the Ambient Noise.