Android-enabled Sony NW-A306 Walkman with Hi-Res Audio announced

Sony‘s A300 Walkman line has a new model, the Sony NW-A306 Walkman. Users who desire a luxury appearance and excellent audio will appreciate this Walkman’s design. Low impedance, consistent, clean sound, and strong bass are the results of its machined aluminum frame’s better stiffness.

This follows the release of the Sony NW-A105 and premium Walkman models NW-WM1ZM2 and NW-WM1AM2 last year. In 2020, Sony NW-A105 was introduced in India.

Wi-Fi is supported, and the 32GB of internal storage on the Sony NW-A306 may be expanded using a microSD card. It also boasts a 3.6-inch HD TFT touchscreen display.

The audio formats Hi-Res Audio, LDAC, DSD, and FLAC are supported, and an S-Master HX digital amplifier with low noise and distortion is included as well. On the side, it also contains easy-to-use controls for media playback.
The addition of DSEE Ultimate for upscaling music, whether it is downloaded or streamed via Wi-Fi, distinguishes the new NW-A306 from its prior models. Wireless headphones can be used to listen to compressed digital music files that have been accurately upscaled to better quality by The Edge-AI and DSEE Ultimate.

Sony NW-A306 Walkman Specifications

It comes with a 3.6-inch HD (1280 x 720 Pixels) TFT colour display with a white LED backlight with Android 12 support. It has Ports – USB Type-C (USB 3.2 Gen1), Stereo mini-jack, and MicroSD card support with 32GB internal memory. It supports Bluetooth Codec: SBC, LDAC, aptX, aptX HD, and AAC with Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz).

Audio Playback: MP3: 32 – 320kbps (supports VBR) / 32, 44.1, 48kHz, WMA: 32-320kbps (supports variable bitrate(VBR) / 44.1kHz (STEREO) ,32-48kbps / 44.1kHz (MONO) , FLAC: 16, 24bit / 8-384kHz, WAV: 16, 24, 32bit (Float / Integer) / 8-384kHz, AAC: 16-320kbps / 8-48kHz, HE-AAC: 32-144kbps / 8-48kHz, Apple Lossless: 16, 24bit / 8-384kHz, AIFF: 16, 24, 32bit / 8-384kHz, DSD: 1bit / 2.8224, 5.6448, 11.2896 MHz, APE: 8, 16, 24bit / 8-192kHz (Fast, Normal, High)

Music Play Modes: Shuffle Playback, Repeat Off, Repeat 1 Song, Repeat All, All Range, Selected Range

Additionally, it supports 360 Reality Audio. Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound technology, used in 360 Reality Audio, enables you to hear a range of sounds in a 360-degree spherical sound field.

The Sony NW-A306 Walkman costs £350 (about $428 or Rs. 34,840) in the UK and €400 (roughly $433 or Rs. 35,305) in Europe. It is available in black and blue. Beginning this month, it will be for sale throughout Europe.