(The following is a guest post from my beautiful wife, Jessica. These aren't bluetooth headphones, but I figured this review would be a good piece for the site, since we get a fair number of viewers looking for info on headphones they can swim with.)
As an avid swimmer and music lover, I love to hear my jams while I'm in the pool. I'm sure many of you know just what kind of positive effect music can have on a workout- it pumps us up, keeps us moving, and gives us a rhythm to work with. For a while I'd been doing laps while wearing my Go Waterproof MP3 Headphones, so I was pretty bummed when they finally crapped out on me. Thankfully, my husband bought me the new Sony NWZ-W273 Waterproof Walkman MP3 player for Christmas. How did it stand up? Well, here's my review.
Pros
- Truly waterproof and submersible up to 6.5 feet
- Fast charge and long battery life
- Sleek one-piece design
- 4 gigs of music strapped to your head
Cons
- Uncomfortable
- Lackluster sound
- Controls are difficult to use under a swimcap
A New Walkman For A New Day… In The Pool
Sony, and specifically Walkman, are names I've trusted since I was a kid. The big difference is now they're much smaller, play MP3s instead of cassettes, and in this case, perform even in the pool. I was thrilled when I opened a box on Christmas to discover my husband had bought me this as a replacement for my busted Go headphones.
The NWZW273 has a one piece design- it's two earpieces with built-in controls connected by a pretty short cord. Sleek, simple, and stylish. It holds 4 gigs of music, and though I only used it for MP3s, it also supports WMA, AAC, and L-PCM formats. Out of the box it comes with a usb dock, different sizes of earbuds, and a rubber adjustment band, all of which I will address shortly.
Taking It For A Test Swim
When I first put it on, I immediately noticed how tight the fit is. Part of the reason is the very short cord, which makes sense since it's aimed at swimmers, joggers, and other active exercisers. The medium sized earbuds were perfect for me, though not terrible comfortable. When you add a swimcap, or the rubber adjustment device though, they can be painfully snug. I found it was slightly easier on the ears to have the cord coming around the sides of your ears rather than over them, but this is not always practical.
One of the things I've learned from my husband is that for these types of headphones to work right and sound good, you need to have a nice, tight fit. This not only keeps water out, but keeps sound in. If there are leaks, your bass will be very weak and the music will sound like it's coming from a distant old-timey radio. With a decent fit, I thought these sounded alright outside of the water, though nothing to write home about.
Underwater, the sound was surprisingly good, though still nothing to write home about. The bass is solid, but the treble is a little high for my taste. The volume isn't great, but it was definitely enough. I like to zone almost everything out, lock in with the rhythm of the music and swim laps, and this device was good enough to help me do that without any hiccups. It was loud enough to tune out the rhythmic swishing in-and-out of my head as I did each stroke, and didn't crap out even when I swam under the water. (It should be noted, however, that users are specifically warned against using it in salt water, which will corrode it.)
A Couple Technical Considerations
The Sony Waterproof Walkman has an amazingly fast charge time. They claim a 3 minute charge will keep it going for an hour, and I believe that. I usually leave it plugged in for an hour or so (if I don't forget about it), and I've never ever had it die on me. To test the life I used it all day at work, and it kept going until I got back home.
On the other hand, that charge requires the special USB dock instead of a micro-usb or anything else I can share with other gadgets. This is no big deal if I'm going straight from home to the pool, but it means I can't charge it or change the songs unless I bring my laptop with me.
The controls are well designed and fairly intuitive. Because there's limited space, buttons have dual uses. For example, you can tap a button to move to the next song, or hold it down to move to the next folder, which is super convenient if you have each album in a folder like I do. It's iTunes and Windows Media Player compatible, though I usually just drag and drop from Windows Explorer. It's pretty much plug and play, too, so you don't have to mess around trying to install and wrangle a bunch of software to get it working.
On the other hand, if you're planning on putting a swimcap over these, I advise you to set your playlist in advance. The buttons are just too small to consistantly control the device if they're under a layer of rubber.
So, Worth It Or Not So Much?
If you're looking for an underwater MP3 player to use specifically in the pool, the Sony NWZW273 Waterproof Walkman is a decent option. They sound alright and they work underwater, which is all many people are looking for. However, there are better options if those aren't your precise criteria.
For those of you after headphones you're only going to use for exercise outside of the water, I like the Motorola S10-HD (read my husband's review of those here). They won't work in the pool, but they stand up to heavy sweat and even rain, they sound good, fit comfortably and they're bluetooth so they're cordless and will work with your phone. They're also a little bit cheaper than the NWZ-W273.
If you're looking for an MP3 player you can use anywhere, including in the water, I actually recommend what my husband has been using, which is a waterproofed Apple iPod Shuffle
