TEST / SONY WALKMAN NWZ-W273 waterproof

After the Aquabeat from SPEEDO , Sony is throwing itself into the deep sea of ​​waterproof music players by presenting its NWZ-Z273.The NWZ-W273 is the brand's first waterproof MP3 player. In the form of an in-ear headset with a circular rigid cable, the W273 comes in three colors (black, white, black and blue) and is advertised waterproof up to two meters. We put on our swimsuits to check it all out.

This Sony music player is made for athletes. It's tough and isn't afraid to get wet to follow you through all your physical aquatic activities. The NWZ-W273 is not the brand's first "sporty" Walkman (see the test of SONY NWZ-W263 WALKMAN ) but it is the only one that is water resistant. OEMs Speedo and Arena also offer submersible portable players, but their models are not very practical to use underwater. They are indeed designed like classic music players: a player, a pair of in-ear headphones, all attached by a wire.
The Sony, on the other hand, brings together the player and the headphones in two small modules directly inserted in the ears. No discomfort in movement, because no cable to tangle the brushes.

As for the headphones, Sony delivers three silicone tips of different sizes. These tips will fit most users, but we recommend that you test first. In addition, we advise to wedge the helmet under the cap or the elastic of the diving goggles to keep it in place before thinking of taking the big leap.

Sound side, as is often the case with Sony it is very clean. Despite their small size, the headphones deliver very decent sound. We tested it for two 30-minute sessions and it's really nice to be accompanied by the music you love while you do laps. The device's memory (non-expandable) allows you to store up to 4 GB of music.Due to its one-piece design, all the usual music player controls can be found directly on the headphones: play / pause, volume, forward / backward but also shuffle playback and a button to lock the "keyboard". When you press the play and shuffle buttons, a voice tells you what you have just done. Confusing at first but very useful.

Regarding autonomy, nothing exceptional (about 8 hours) but it is more than enough to listen to it during several sessions without having to recharge it each time . The internal battery is recharged via the portable player's USB station (Sony does not supply an AC adapter), which is used to transfer music. A small charge indicator is present inside the earbuds and lights up green, orange or red to let you know the health of the battery