Sony has announced the addition of the A306 Walkman to its A300 series, catering to users who prioritize aesthetics and audio quality. The device features a milled aluminum frame for increased durability and improved sound output with low impedance, clear audio, and strong bass.
Sony has added the A306 Walkman to its lineup of premium audio devices, following the release of the WM1ZM2 and WM1AM2 Walkman models in the previous year, as well as the launch of the A105 Walkman in India in 2020.
The Sony NW-A306 has a 3.6-inch HD TFT touchscreen, Wi-Fi connectivity, and 32GB of internal storage expandable via microSD. It supports Hi-Res Audio, LDAC, DSD, and FLAC formats, featuring an S-Master HX digital amplifier with reduced distortion and noise. It also includes easy-to-use media playback controls on the side.
The new A306 Walkman model has been upgraded with DSEE Ultimate technology, which enhances the quality of music whether it is streamed over Wi-Fi or downloaded. DSEE Ultimate and Edge-AI work together to upscale compressed digital music files for a higher-quality listening experience, which can be enjoyed with wireless headphones.
The Sony A306 Walkman also supports 360 Reality Audio, which utilizes Sony’s 360 Spatial Sound technology to create a 360-degree spherical sound field. Sony claims that the device can provide up to 36 hours of playback for 44.1 kHz FLAC, 32 hours for 96 kHz FLAC High-Resolution Audio, and 26 hours when using a music streaming app.
The Sony A306 Walkman comes with the following features:
- 3.6-inch HD TFT color display with white LED backlight (1280 x 720 pixels)
- It runs on Android 12
- USB Type-C (USB3.2 Gen1), Stereo mini-jack, and MicroSD card support for ports
- Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz) and Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity
- Bluetooth codecs supported: SBC, LDAC, aptX, aptX HD, and AAC
- 32GB internal memory
- Audio playback supported for MP3 (32-320kbps, supports VBR), WMA (32-320kbps, supports variable bitrate), FLAC (16-24bit, 8-384kHz), WAV (16-24-32bit, 8-384kHz), AAC (16-320kbps, 8-48kHz), HE-AAC (32-144kbps, 8-48kHz), Apple Lossless (16-24bit, 8-384kHz), AIFF (16-24-32bit, 8-384kHz), DSD (1bit, 2.8224, 5.6448, 11.2896 MHz), and APE (8-16-24bit, 8-192kHz, Fast, Normal, High)
- Music playback modes: Shuffle, Repeat Off, Repeat 1 Song, Repeat All, All Range, Selected Range
- Dimensions: 56.5mm x 98.4mm x 11.8mm, weight: 113g
- Battery life: up to 36 hours for normal playback and 22 hours for Bluetooth playback.
Pricing and availability
The Sony NW-A306 Walkman is offered in black and blue colors and is priced at £350 in the UK, €400 in Europe, and approximately $428 in the US, It will be available for purchase in Europe starting this month.
