Gadget review: Sony NWZ-A866 Digital Media Player

One of the reasons Apple virtually cornered the market in portable audio was its mastery of branding: the iPod was easy to say and easy to remember, with an ad campaign to ram home the message.

So we can only assume that with their NWZ-A866 Digital Media Player, Sony are banking on quality and tech specs over word-of-mouth.

First and foremost, size most definitely matters when it comes to music on the move. Here the NWZ-A866 scores points for its portability. At only 97mm long and 9mm thick, you could fit this in a wallet or purse, never mind a pocket.

Less impressive is its memory size (this model is 32GB). For a similar price, the iPod Classic offers a whopping 160GB. Whether or not you’re likely to need that much, anyone wanting the freedom to take sizeable music collections or modest video libraries wherever they go may want to look elsewhere.

What you normally stand to benefit by sidestepping Apple’s walled garden is greater flexibility. The NWZ-A866 gives mixed results on this front. In the audio stakes, it adds WAV, AAC and wmv to the standard mp3 compatibility, but it won’t play FLAC or Ogg. As for video, it supports H.264, MPEG4 and WMV, but not DivX and MKV.

Speaking of the video, the resolution is sharp and the colours strong. The small 2.8 inch screen size is fine for short clips but you’re unlikely to want to watch full episodes or films - without a magnifying glass that is.

It almost goes without saying these days, but that the Sony NWZ-A866 is touchscreen, and indeed the overall user experience is excellent. It’s easy to get used to the menu controls and the scrolling and graphics are smooth and swift. The home button always gets you straight back to a clear overview of the functions on offer.

But what really commends this high-end device - and it was always going to come down to this - is the sound quality. Even the most hardcore audiophiles will be impressed by the tonal range and detail on offer. Even at full volume (don’t tell your ear doctor) every last sound is clear and nuanced.

The Sony Media Go software is a straightforward means of getting your music from your computer to your player, and avoids the infuriating waiting times involved in syncing on Apple’s iTunes.

Sony have also included a very nifty little feature known as SensMe, which groups your songs according to mood, if you’re feeling “energetic”, “mellow”, or indeed a bit “lounge” (which is presumably suited to a lazy Sunday).

Throw in an FM radio, voice recording and bluetooth connectivity and you have a media player that packs a lot of punch into its small size.

At around £200, however you’ll need to think hard about your options. If you value excellent sound quality and easy portability over whopping memory and flashy extras, then this does represent value for money.

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