Sony Walkman
Ranked 3 of 11 portable music players by recommenders
Pocket players that play music without a phone, praised for compact, sturdy design and extras like AM radio; critics say newer Android-based models are slow and expensive.
Pocket players that play music without a phone, praised for compact, sturdy design and extras like AM radio; critics say newer Android-based models are slow and expensive.
40 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 20
- criticize it
- 20
- approval share
- 50%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 20 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1 recommender for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Compact, sturdy, well-engineered design
“they would inevitably be tiny, sleek, yet beautifully engineered to still be easy to push/slide”
Comment from 23 Jul 2026 in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models” “The last high-end Walkmans were beautifully crafted and barely bigger than the cassette inside”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Modern Walkmans” “There was plenty of solid design in the 90s. Look at the stuff Sony put out.”
Comment from 7 May 2026 in “Setting up a Sun Ray server on OpenIndiana Hipster 2025.10” - Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Modern Walkmans”
- Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models”
- Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Cassette tapes are making a comeback?”
Plays music without a phone
“I love mine. I have app pinning enabled in android so it's completely locked to just my music app.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking” “They're nice for letting me experience music without having to have my phone with me.”
Comment from 19 Oct 2026 in “New Walkman $5,899.99” “I do have a Sony Walkman (the new one) with a nice collection of music”
Comment from 16 Jul 2026 in “The lost joy of music piracy” Nostalgic, iconic classic
“I loved my Sony WM-10 back in the day.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Modern Walkmans” “The Walkman and Discman were iconic.”
Comment from 22 May 2026 in “Why Japanese companies do so many different things” “Walkman/disc man was my fav”
Comment from 6 Nov 2025 in “NY school phone ban has made lunch loud again” Extras like AM radio and SD
“That is the decent player you're looking for. (It has an SD card slot.)”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models” “Yes, still useful. I bought one specifically for the AM radio”
Comment from 30 Jan 2026 in “Ode to the AA Battery” “they didn't even make a 2-in-1, not even an AM/FM! i loved”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Modern Walkmans”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Slow boot and mediocre battery
“It's bad. It takes a long time to boot, the battery life is mediocre, the UI is mainly lists of things.”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models” “It didn't really ever play at a constant speed and ate batteries like they were free.”
Comment from 9 Dec 2025 in “Modern Walkmans” “It's bad. It takes a long time to boot, the battery life is mediocre”
Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking” Android-based clunky, awkward interface
“It's bad. It takes a long time to boot, the battery life is mediocre, the UI is mainly lists of things.”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models” “they all just look like Android phones with extra buttons”
Comment from 19 Oct 2026 in “New Walkman $5,899.99” “an intentionally awkward user experience for no purpose”
Comment from 19 Oct 2026 in “New Walkman $5,899.99” - Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Tech Is Fun Again: The Tech Monoculture Is Finally Breaking”
Too expensive for what it offers
“That's around $600 - I think it fits into the OP's category of "some sort of enthusiast audiophile flac player thing that costs way too much"”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models” “Instead they come up with a $6000 Walkman type audio player.”
Comment from 23 Oct 2026 in “Sony Exits UHD Blu-ray Player Market as Pull Back from Physical Media Continues” “300 for something with 30gb storage today is a joke”
Comment from 25 Jul 2026 in “Why Sony Can't Bring Back Its Classic Walkman Models” Sony's past scandal and isolation
“This scandal really showed what Sony thought of their customers, and it holds true to this day.”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Sony BMG copy protection rootkit scandal from 2005” “Sony obsessed over the isolation it was creating when it released the walkman”
Comment from 1 Jul 2026 in “Physical disc production ending in Jan 2028 for new games on PlayStation” “Cable TV, Walkmans, and well, even just TVs in general are to blame.”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “Hello, me. It's been a while”
Other portable music players people recommend
The four most recommended other portable music players, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPod | 102 | 32 | 76% | 12 | 6 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| Sony MiniDisc player | 40 | 12 | 77% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Sony WalkmanThis page | 20 | 20 | 50% | 6 | — | — |
| Apple iPod Classic | 18 | 5 | 78% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Apple iPod nano | 15 | 1 | 94% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
40 of the 42 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Sony's sync software was even worse than iTunes”
“Instead they come up with a $6000 Walkman type audio player.”
“There's no other reason for that price tag.”
“a glorified iPod Touch with media controls as physical buttons”
“an intentionally awkward user experience for no purpose”
“They're nice for letting me experience music without having to have my phone with me.”
“they all just look like Android phones with extra buttons”
“What kind of Walkman doesn’t play cassettes?”
“Ooooh oxygen free copper chassis! (loads device with compressed audio)”
“Cable TV, Walkmans, and well, even just TVs in general are to blame.”
“This scandal really showed what Sony thought of their customers, and it holds true to this day.”
“300 for something with 30gb storage today is a joke”
“WM-2 was TINY - 75% the size of TPS-L2/WM-1.”
“They are loud, weak, heavy, inefficient, unreliable etc.”
“nearly magical how long my final Walkman could run with a single AA cell”
“It's bad. It takes a long time to boot, the battery life is mediocre, the UI is mainly lists of things.”
“give them to a child who will love it”
“That's around $600 - I think it fits into the OP's category of "some sort of enthusiast audiophile flac player thing that costs way too much"”
“That is the decent player you're looking for. (It has an SD card slot.)”
“that kinda sucks cuz it's android”
“you're paying through the nose for the brand”
“they would inevitably be tiny, sleek, yet beautifully engineered to still be easy to push/slide”
“I was glad to find this site offering refurbished iPods, and they also have refurb Walkmans.”
“I do have a Sony Walkman (the new one) with a nice collection of music”
“Sony obsessed over the isolation it was creating when it released the walkman”
“The Walkman and Discman were iconic.”
“This is like a combination of a Sony Walkman meets Rasberry PI meets the prepper in me.”
“There was plenty of solid design in the 90s. Look at the stuff Sony put out.”
“Yes, still useful. I bought one specifically for the AM radio”
“I love mine. I have app pinning enabled in android so it's completely locked to just my music app.”
“Sony's modern Walkman is an Android device. No thanks.”
“It's bad. It takes a long time to boot, the battery life is mediocre”
“hearing my walk man turn my Top Gun Soundtrack cassette into plastic waste”
“The last high-end Walkmans were beautifully crafted and barely bigger than the cassette inside”
“these devices are like pieces of beautiful clockwork”
“It didn't really ever play at a constant speed and ate batteries like they were free.”
“I loved my Sony WM-10 back in the day.”
“they didn't even make a 2-in-1, not even an AM/FM! i loved”
“Quite a sturdy guy as i recall”
“Walkman/disc man was my fav”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.