Sony Walkman NW-WS413 Review

The Sony NW-WS413 is a 4GB MP3 player that comes with a pair of IP67/68 waterproof and sand headphones. There was as well the NW-WS414, which is similar but has an additional 8Gb of internal storage. The Sony Walkman NW-WS410 series includes both versions.

This is all there is to it. But there’s more to it than meets the eye. Charging and battery usage, for example, are important considerations. This series of submersible MP3 players have longer battery life and faster-charging features than previous models.

Price

These two variants are available, one with 4GB of storage (the NW-WS413 on tested here, £80-100$) and the other with 8Gb of memory (the NW-WS414, £90-120$), since both are available in black, blue, green, or ivory finishes. However, because the price difference between these two is so tiny, there’s no excuse not to choose the bigger size if it’s obtainable.

Design and Features

The Sony Walkman NW-WS413 earbuds are extremely comfy and have a great fit. Although they could appear to be thicker than standard in-ears, they are not. They’re light and well-fitting, so they stay exactly in line even if you’re jogging or diving.

The sort of waterproofing used is also a consideration. This version has been updated to be not only waterproof but also saltwater resistant for up to 2m over 30 min, as well as sand- and dust-proof. As a result, the Sony Walkman NW-WS413s must be able to stay in your ears almost anyplace.

Earplugs of various sizes and varieties are included with the headphones. Some of these are open-ended for hearing on land, while others have a thin polycarbonate seal covering on the end to prevent water from entering the headphones when swimming.

Though they may a bit dampen the sound, they maintain clarity underwater. When transitioning from swimming to running, a change in earphone type will aid with clarity. You’ll have to decide if you’re going to carry spare buds around for multi-discipline workouts.

The fit of the NW-WS413s was superb during diving, with gentle pressure even through tumble turns, rear crawl, and breaststroke. Only one difficulty I experienced was while pushing off from the pool’s edge — pushing too hard caused at least one of its earphones to break off, requiring me to re-attach the headset. As a consequence, I had to recall to push off gently, which became second nature after a few rounds and forced me to think about my form.

The earphones also have an Ambient Sound mode, that makes it easier to hear what’s going on around you by pressing a button. There is a change, but it’s so minor that it’s not worth the expense in terms of battery life — 7 hours with it on, twelve hours without – so I didn’t use it much.

Perfomance

All of the keys are easily accessible once the headphones are in place. I started the song by tapping Play, then went to Mode to choose shuffle play, however you may also play tracks depending on folders or albums. The sound was really clear like any other athletic headphones I’d tasted, and it stayed that way even when I dipped my head submerged.

When swimming, this was true for both breaststroke and front crawl. Fluid might have found its way through my ears because the in-and-out popping stopped and the sound became much more stable. The audio was leveled off by the Dynamic Normaliser.

I chose to run back to the house after the swimming and put the NW-WS413s over their paces along the way. Before starting out, I quickly switched out my earphones, which resulted in much better sound during the run. The earbuds rested snugly in place, without any of the popping that can occur when earphones seal and unseal a vacuum in your ear.

When listening to musicians like R&B and Rock, the bass levels are acceptable, which is wonderful both underwater and above; it isn’t as powerful and smooth when wet, but it’s still good enough to keep you entertained and pleasant respite from the activity of the water park.

When it comes to music transmission, the Sony Walkman NW-WS413 is really all about simplicity: it’s just a question of adding and removing tracks.

The headphones may be hooked into a Windows PC or Mac using the included high-speed USB 2.0 cradle, where they will charge and appear as a disk. You may then drag and drop those files into the directory for playback – either in sequence, scrambled, or on repeat – assuming you’ve downloaded music and don’t use music services.

Most individuals should be covered because the player supports MP3, AAC, WMA, and Linear PCM formats. If it fails, there is plenty of converting software available.

Battery Life

A 12-hour battery is new to this iteration, which is twice as long as the previous one. However, as I previously stated, the Ambient Sound mode – which lets the user hear their surroundings more clearly – will cut this time in half, to 7 – 8 hours, based on the file format and Ambient Sound level set.

With the Quick Charge feature, of which I’m a big supporter. With a three-minute charge in their unique port, you can get an hour of use out of these headphones. The port is compact and light, and it has a USB connector on the end, so you’ll be capable of charging it with most USB outlets, as well as portable chargers and computers. If you neglect to charge between sessions, that brief three-minute charge makes a tremendous impact.