Sony Introduces $1,200 Luxury Walkman

At this week’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Sony introduced the Walkman ZX2, a luxury mp3 player that will reportedly retail for $1,199.99, as The Verge points out. Along with the expected features of a modern mp3 player—it has 128GB of storage, uses a touch screen, Bluetooth, and supports Android apps—the selling point is the S-Master HX processor, which enables high-resolution audio.

This feature has earned comparisons to Neil Young’s Pono player, which offers a similar high-end listening experience for dedicated audiophiles. According to The Verge, Sony plans to launch the ZX2 in the spring. 

Some background: Back in the 1980s, the Walkman cassette player was the ubiquitous portable audio experience. After introducing the similarly successful Discman CD player, the player’s popularity slowly declined along with the CD and cassette market. Today, the Walkman name is used for Sony’s line of mp3 players, which haven’t been able to capture more than a small portion of the market. 

Below, you can watch a video where The Verge’s Ross Miller plays around with the ZX2:

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