Sony is keeping its Walkman players alive with three new, very pricey models, including a gold-plated version that costs $5,899.
On Thursday, the company refreshed the Walkman digital music players with a trio of “premium” models, including the NW-WM1ZM3, which features a gold-plated chassis that’s primarily made out of oxygen-free copper, held together with gold-plated screws. It also comes with a headphone jack and a 5.5-inch touch screen to view, play, and stream music on Android 16.
(Credit: Sony)
For consumers looking to save a little, the NW-WM1AM3 features a mostly black aluminum chassis but still offers gold plating on the back. It will set you back $2,899.
The pricing is certainly exorbitant, considering the Walkmans are merely MP3/WAV players and cost more than a more versatile smartphone, including some foldable models. But Sony is marketing the products to “music enthusiasts and audiophiles” seeking exceptional, uncompromising sound quality. The Walkmans are built with an assortment of premium hardware components and software features to pull this off.
(Credit: Sony)
The third product, the NW-ZX900, is cheaper at $1,899 and has a slightly smaller 5-inch touch screen, but it still includes many of the same high-end audio features, Sony says. To update the product line, the company upgraded the power circuitry to “provide cleaner, more stable power with minimal interference.”
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“A larger, high-purity 4N copper coil is used in the L-C filter to optimize the balanced output signal from the digital amplifier,” Sony added. “Its flat conductive wire reduces resistance and distortion, enhancing clarity and detail across the frequency range.”
Sony’s website says all three models are expected to start shipping in January. The three products also have a battery life of up to 31 hours.
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Michael Kan
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Experience
I’ve been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I’m currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country’s technology sector.
Since 2020, I’ve covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I’ve combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink’s cellular service.
I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.
I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I’m now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I’m always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.
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