Sony NW-A35HN 16Gb

Model Sony NW-A35HN is a successful attempt to combine maximum functionality and compact dimensions. Excellent quality, intuitive control and crystal clear sound — this is the hallmark of this model from the Japanese flagship of electronics.

Less is better

The compactness of the player, as for a Hi-Fi combine, is impressive. Here Sony has done its best. The Japanese did not disappoint with the touch screen either. It is large (3.1"), occupies almost the entire front, and despite the fact that it is capacitive, it has a good response. However, on the right sidebar there are physical buttons for blind control.

Space for sound

The player received 16 GB of internal memory and an expansion slot up to 256 GB. This is enough to accommodate numerous uncompressed audio files such as FLAC or DSD. To complete the picture, the manufacturer has provided an FM receiver, a 6-band graphic equalizer and, most importantly, a 24-bit DAC to play audio files with maximum sound quality.

Absolute freedom

The battery of the NW-A35HN is quite capacious and is designed for 22 hours of listening to music in high quality and up to 45 hours in 128-bit. Against the background of such battery life, the duration of a full charge cycle of 4 hours does not bother at all.

There is support for Bluetooth and NFC, and, according to the manufacturer, the sound quality when playing via Bluetooth is practically not lost, thanks to the proprietary LDAC data transfer protocol. The statement itself is very conditional, since the implementation of a high bit rate (up to 990 kbps in total) requires compatible wireless headphones, and this is already a problem in the form of additional expenses. In addition, the wired headphones with active noise cancellation and a frequency range of 20 — 40,000 Hz that come with the kit win the competition by a wide margin.

The picture of an excellent combination of compactness and functionality is spoiled by a proprietary 24-pin connector for charging and connecting to a PC. Why it was impossible to use a regular USB remained a mystery to us.

Otherwise, the model turned out to be worthy of the attention of all lovers of high-quality sound, although a bit expensive.