Review: Sony Walkman X1000 series
Sony tries its hand at touchscreen players and mostly succeeds. (July 19th, 2009)
The Good
- Smart ergonomics; good hardware controls.
- Beautiful OLED display.
- Good interfaces for music, photos and video.
- On-device podcast subscriptions.
- Long battery life.
- Slacker and FM radio built-in.
The Bad
- Terrible web browser; so-so YouTube client.
- Limited Internet apps and no 3rd-party apps.
- Slow sync process.
- SenseMe, audiobooks and other features absent.
wrapping up and the question of apps
When it comes to its core functions, the Walkman X1000 is a stellar product. It's designed for music in the real world and makes a great way of watching a video on the subway or showing photos to friends. Exercise enthusiasts should put this on their short lists as one of the only touchscreen players really suited to the gym or a long run thanks to its ergonomics and useful FM and Slacker radio sources.
At the same time, that vision of a perfect device quickly falls apart when trying to use the hardware for something else. Internet access on the X1000 is ultimately an afterthought that has its uses but comes across as a selling point, not a real advantage. Some of this stems from the absence of things to do online: other than the web, Slacker and YouTube, users are stuck offline. There are no e-mail clients, information widgets or map utilities to justify using the player outside of its primary role.
That wouldn't necessarily be an issue if it weren't for the inescapable presence of Apple in the same space. Its iPod touch players are priced at the same $299 and $399 for their respective 16GB and 32GB capacities as of this writing; but at these costs, the iPods have more Internet apps, better web and YouTube clients, and a smartphone-grade platform that easily extends the feature set in different directions. An iPod can be a PDA, a game console, or even a voice-over-IP phone. What can the X1000 series be? Unless Sony puts the framework in place for developers to add their own software, its top-end Walkman will forever be confined to the feature set it shipped with.
There will undoubtedly be a segment of users that will find the Walkman perfect for their needs, and if the design, FM radio, noise canceling and OLED are worth the price, it's hard to disagree. In absolute terms, though, the X1000 is only really recommended over an iPod for those who either want to avoid Apple's at times too-strict ecosystem or have a checklist of hardware features a device must have that Apple can't match.