Techie
9:47 AM | Saturday | 06 February 2020

As far as exercise-centric gadgets go, nothing else comes close to this headphone player from Sony. From the sporty design to the straightforward functionality, there is nothing to hate, we kid you not. Well OK, maybe the neon paintjob...

From the moment you take it out of the box, the NWZ-W202 impresses. Its new take on an old idea (integrating the player into the headphones) pleased both the artist and the geek within us. The ultra-modern styling coupled with the clean neon finish is unlike any MP3 player we've ever seen.

Connecting to a PC

The player connects to a Mac or PC via an included mount/stand. It also uses a generic mini USB port so you can use any cable you might have lying around.

Loading songs is child's play. You drag and drop music files or sync it with Windows Media Player. You can also use the included Content Transfer software, but it's really nothing more than a specialized interface for doing what the device already does out of the box.

As you transfer songs, the W202 also sucks in juice (no AC charger included). The center light glows softly to indicate that it's charging and it takes anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half to fully top up the battery.

Poppin' player

The earpieces separate with a satisfying 'snap' courtesy of the built-in magnets. Once in headphone form, the player automatically turns on and is ready for use. The noise isolating earpieces are perfect especially if you want to drown out the sound of the outside world.

Operation is intuitive - all of the control buttons are located on the right earpiece. A dial operates both normal music playback and Zappin' playback - which samples four-second chunks of tracks in succession.

Sound quality is not the best, but it's still great given the limitations of the in-ear form factor. Bass is lacking, but vocals come out clear as a bell. If you're overly-picky, keep in mind that since the ‘phones are built-in, there's no turning back once you buy this player.

A final note, despite the NWZ-W202's sweat-proof build keep in mind that it's not waterproof like the swiMP3. Take it with you while you're at the gym, on the track, but not in the pool - you've been warned.