TechRadar Verdict
Small and discrete, but still a very good MP3 player.
Pros
- +
Very portable
- +
Quick charge
- +
Good sound quality
- +
Cheap price
- +
Built-in USB
Cons
- -
Not the easiest to navigate
- -
Zap mode is annoying
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It feels like a long time since the Sony Walkman was the king of portable music, with the Apple iPod stealing its thunder.
The Sony Walkman NWZ-B173 isn't going to revolutionise the MP3 player market, but it's a decent budget player with a few nice features.
A charge of just three minutes provides 90 minutes' playback - whilst a longer charge gives around 18 hours.
A built-in USB interface is a nice touch that makes plugging it into a PC incredibly quick, and adding files is done via dragging and dropping in Windows Explorer, no need for proprietary programs or iTunes annoyances here.
A small LCD screen shows you where you are, and it's easy enough to navigate through the menus.
Holding down a button gives the bass a boost, but there doesn't seem to be much of a difference.
Annoyingly, pressing that same button turns on the 'Zap' mode - which plays snippets of your music for you to choose a song you like. Not only is it pretty pointless, it is preceded with a loud voice that says 'Zapping in'.
Sound quality is good, though the included headphones are a bit on the uncomfortable side to wear.
