Sony is leaning back into its Walkman roots with a trio of high-end digital players it says deliver the "finest portable sound experience" for audiophiles. It is the first time in several years that new hardware has carried the Walkman name. The NW-WM1ZM3 ($5,900), NW-WM1AM3 ($3,000), and NW-ZX900 ($1,900) are available to preorder now, though Sony has not said when they will ship. The company positions these as niche, enthusiast-grade products that sit outside its far larger mainstream personal audio business.
The flagship NW-WM1ZM3 uses an oxygen-free copper body finished with gold plating, and even the screws are gold plated, which Sony says provides a "stable ground connection that delivers powerful bass, an expansive soundstage and smooth, extended high frequencies." The other two models use aluminum alloy for the main housing, paired with a rear plate that is gold plated. All three run on Android, and the NW-ZX900 jumps to Android 16 from the older Android 12 on the previous version.
Displays get sharper across the board. The NW-WM1ZM3 and NW-WM1AM3 step up to 5.5 inches with 1080p resolution and are a bit bigger and crisper than their 2022 counterparts. The NW-ZX900 moves to a 5-inch screen at 1080p, up from 720p on the prior model.
Feeling nostalgic? There is a cassette-style screensaver you can turn on.
Sony's updated DSD Remastering Engine is built into every model and, according to the company, can give digital tracks a warmer, more analog character. When streaming compressed, lower-quality files, the players use AI to recognize genres and lift both treble detail and quiet nuances. And if you already pay for Spotify or Apple Music, both services let you stream or download high-resolution, lossless audio. To really hear what these machines can do, Sony says you will want serious headphones that can reveal tiny details in your music.
Battery estimates are based on playing 128 kbps MP3s, which most enthusiasts are unlikely to use. For the NW-WM1ZM3 and NW-WM1AM3, Sony estimates streaming endurance at as long as 31 hours, while offline playback can stretch to 35 hours. On the NW-ZX900, stamina increases to 35 hours when streaming, climbing to 40 hours if you listen from internal storage.
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Sony is not alone in this corner of the market. Brands such as Astell & Kern, along with several Chinese makers, sell their own hi-fi players at significantly lower prices. Beyond players, Sony has been busy on the pro audio front.
In early October, it rolled out a $250 spatial audio microphone for smartphones that records immersive sound for video. And after buying boutique headphone maker Audeze in 2023, Sony said that purchase has primarily helped its PlayStation business so far. Last month it introduced a new PlayStation gaming headset lineup that uses Audeze's planar magnetic drivers.
This launch is squarely targeted at listeners who chase every last bit of fidelity, not the casual crowd, with price tags and materials to match. If you track niche audio gear and luxury tech, the new Walkman family shows Sony placing chips on ultra-premium hardware while threading recent acquisitions and audio R&D into its product story.
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