{"id":158422,"date":"2023-03-12T12:44:57","date_gmt":"2023-03-12T12:44:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techweekmag.com\/?p=158422"},"modified":"2024-06-04T17:29:23","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T17:29:23","slug":"sony-nw-ws623-review-the-walkman-takes-on-a-new-form-and-it-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stereoindex.com\/tech\/headphones\/sony-nw-ws623-review-the-walkman-takes-on-a-new-form-and-it-works\/","title":{"rendered":"Sony NW-WS623: The walkman takes on a new form and it works"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Sony NW-WS623\u00a0, also called the Sony Sport NW-WS623, are wireless headphones with a built-in MP3 player that carry the torch of Sony’s iconic Walkman.\u00a0They are perfect for exercising and playing sports thanks to their band design, to which we must add their IP68 resistance;\u00a0the latter means that they are suitable for swimming.\u00a0On top of all that, they deliver high-quality sound, fully worthy of Sony’s Walkman stamp, and deliver a phenomenal battery life of up to 12 hours.<\/p>\n

Sony NW-WS623 Design<\/h2>\n

As you can see, these are not conventional headphones,\u00a0they are hybrid and have a curved design with a headband that goes behind the neck\u00a0and keeps them in position at all times, even when exercising or running.\u00a0With that in mind, it’s true that earphones apply pressure against your ear to keep them from slipping out of position;\u00a0As a result, it may cause ear canal bone discomfort after long-term wearing.<\/p>\n

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The body of the headphones has a matte finish\u00a0available in various color presentations, but what interests us is that they are resistant, we can stretch, straighten, curl or bend them;\u00a0They won’t fray, break, or warp, in fact, they return to their base shape quickly.\u00a0For its part,\u00a0the neck band is robust\u00a0, it does not protrude and it shows that it was reinforced, but without sacrificing flexibility, which is great.<\/p>\n

In the same way,\u00a0they have buttons at our fingertips with all the possible functions\u00a0, such as changing the volume, going forward \/ back the track and activating the ambient sound mode.\u00a0Also, the layout of the buttons is the same on both headphones and their response is satisfactory.\u00a0However, the controls can be a bit confusing at first, as holding down one performs another action, so it might be a good idea to consult your manual.<\/p>\n

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To put the cherry on the cake, these headphones are IP68 certified, so\u00a0they are waterproof and dustproof\u00a0, to the point that we can use them in the pool and also on the beach, as they are resistant to water and also to low and high temperatures. (from \u20135\u00b0C to 45\u00b0C).<\/p>\n

Sound<\/h3>\n

The Sony Sport NW-WS623 bring a fairly balanced sound to the table without the need for tuning.\u00a0Going into details,\u00a0they offer good depth throughout the treble, midrange and bass\u00a0.\u00a0Highs are clean and crisp, and vocals stand out clearly.\u00a0The mids provide a very good soundstage that adds some 3D personality to the instruments, and there’s no trace of distortion even at maximum volume.<\/p>\n

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They don’t have active noise cancellation as such, but their design pretty much takes care of isolating all background noise effectively, and it’s so good at it that you actually need an ambient sound mode\u00a0to\u00a0be able to hear what’s going on around you. around, because after all they are headphones with sports purposes in mind.\u00a0Said mode is present and its activation is at the reach of a button.<\/p>\n

As we mentioned before,\u00a0the Sony NW-WS623 can play MP3, FLAC and WMA files locally\u00a0, so we don’t need any paired device to use them.\u00a0The internal memory is 4GB in\u00a0the version that we are taking as a reference, but there is also one with 16GB of storage, it is not much, but when it comes only to saving songs, this figure is enough and plenty.<\/p>\n

Connectivity<\/h3>\n

Although the premise of these headphones with the Walkman seal is that they can play MP3s locally, that does not mean that we cannot pair them with our mobile, tablet or notebook wirelessly.\u00a0In fact,\u00a0we can do it both through Bluetooth and NFC\u00a0with a simple touch of a button, so the options are not lacking.<\/p>\n

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There is also a remote control that is sold separately.<\/p>\n

The only thing that doesn’t quite convince us is how the songs are loaded and transferred, since it requires a\u00a0proprietary support to which a USB cable and headphones are connected\u00a0.\u00a0If it is lost or damaged, it will not be as easy to replace as a conventional charger, so be careful with that detail.<\/p>\n

Battery<\/h3>\n

Lastly, the Sony NW-WS623 promises\u00a0up to 12 hours of music playback on a single charge\u00a0, but that’s with local playback.\u00a0One thing Sony forgot to mention is that when used\u00a0via Bluetooth or NFC the actual battery life is around 10 hours\u00a0tops, and that’s with the volume at 50%, so you can expect a lower figure if you’re using the volume at maximum at all times (something we advise against doing because of the risk of hearing damage).<\/p>\n

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That said, the recharging process takes around an hour and a half, and according to Sony, we can get 1 hour of music playback from just 3 minutes of charging.<\/p>\n

PROS<\/strong><\/p>\n