Sony NWWS413BM 4GB Sports Wearable MP3 Player (Black)

Bottom line, I was swimming with these headphones the other day, the sound cut out, the voice said "data error" then crackled and fizzed and now it won't turn on, charge, or mount on my computer. It seems to be totally dead.Before hand, I used it for swimming laps. Because of the interface i had to manually break audiobooks into separate tracks so if I accidentally pressed the skip button, I wouldn't have to hold the fast forward button down for 15 or so minutes to get back to my place.The sound quality was pretty scratchy and volume was low. It just wasn't great for swimming. They headphones stayed in your ears pretty well but usually after 3-5 kickoffs or flip turns one ear would pop out.The day it died, a person in the pool asked me how I liked it. I told them it was decent but if I were to replace it, I'd probably try something different. It died ten minutes later so I'm going to find something different I suppose.If you're looking for a good pair of swimming headphones/mp3 player and you see this on some of the lists of best options, I'd say look somewhere else. Hope this was informative.

Music really enhances lap swimming for me. Of the variety of ways to accomplish this I chose the previous generation Sony NWZW273S. It got the job done, I like the simplicity of design to put on and take off without being attached to my swim goggles.The older model also had some drawbacks. Chief among them was lack of volume and then for me keeping the contacts clean for charging and adding music.This new model definitely fixed the volume issue. I actually turned it down from Max, which is great. The docking, charging station looks like an improvement, but it's too early to tell. The controls are completely different, but I think with a little time they will be an improvement. The ear pods are slightly larger on this newer version, which was a concern, however they are light weight, fit very well and more importantly stayed on well in the water.The software is the same for both units which made adding music to the new unit a snap. The software interfaces smoothly with iTunes.** UPDATE ** 7/7/16 I picked mine up early May '16 liked it so much I bought another for a friend towards the end of May. We each swim for an hour 5 days a week. So I've used mine ~ 40 times in a chlorinated public pool and my buddy, who swims in salt water, has used his about 25 times. So far these units are holding up great. With the non-water ear buds the volume can be WAY too loud, when the swim buds are put on it does reduce the volume as they are essentially a shower cap to keep the speakers dry, with a membrane between your ears and the speaker. Without the swimming ear bud covers the unit would die in the pool from the speakers getting wet. The music, for me at least, is plenty loud and I typically go a click or two down from full volume.** UPDATE ** Oct '16 ** The two units I bought are going strong six months later. Each sees 5 days a week of hour long lap swimming. One is in a standard chlorinated pool, the other in a salt water pool. I haven't had any problems with my contacts for charging or adding music and I haven't done a thing to clean them. Mine will play an hour interval 3 times before it needs a charge.** UPDATE ** Nov '17 ** Both units still working, one perfectly the other is having issues with song forward button not always working but otherwise still serviceable. I'll definitely buy another if this one dies.

I had the previous model of this Sony mp3 player and while nice it only lasted about 8 months before I started having charging and function issues. So far this model is working great, and is functionally far better than the previous model. It was listed as slightly heavier than the last model but seems lighter, the fit is better, the materials feel more expensive, and the sound is amazing. Charging is fast, button response and voice is clear and intuitive, and the new ambient sound feature, which uses a mic to play sounds from the outside when you need to hear them, make me feel like I'm living in the future.I have tried many many earbuds, mp3 players, and wireless bluetooth products, and none have approached the quality of Sony. They have a reputation for a reason. If this product malfunctions, I'll update this review, but so far it has performed perfectly during workouts.Update May 2017: This device is still working perfectly, it's one of the best pieces of technology I've ever owned.