Sony NW-A306 Walkman®

Take hi-fi music wherever you go

Sony's NW-A306 is a lightweight, affordable option for those wanting to take their high-resolution tunes on the go. This portable high-res player supports just about every file type out there, and delivers natural, precise sound from your music files whether you're streaming them over Wi-Fi or listening to files stored on the device's memory. It uses high-quality internal components, a potent digital-to-analog converter, and ample processing to make your favorite music sound great.

Premium internal components

Housed inside the 'A306's rigid aluminum chassis are audiophile-grade components designed for sound quality. The player features Sony's acclaimed S-Master HX amplifier designed specifically for their Walkmans. The amplification it provides is clean and full-bodied through the unbalanced headphone output. Sony even optimized the circuit board layout to further reduce noise. High-quality film capacitors on the circuit board ensure uniform frequency response and low distortion even at higher output levels. Sony even used solder with gold in it on all the internal connections to bolster the player's sound quality.

Powerful digital processing

The NW-A306 has a ton of useful processing features to help your music sound its best. The powerful digital-to-analog converter works overtime giving your tunes a nice polish, revealing more detail in the process. There's also Sony's famed Digital Sound Enhancement Engine (DSEE) Ultimate™, which uses artificial intelligence to upscale compressed music files like MP3s in real-time. It gives you wider dynamic range, more detail, and more clarity on otherwise lossy tracks.

A sleek operating system and interface

This player's built-in Android™ operating system makes it easy to use and especially flexible. You can download almost any music streaming app from Google Play using Wi-Fi, including Spotify®, Pandora®, TIDAL, and more. Once you're listening, the player's 3.6" touchscreen gives you plenty of real estate to see the track you're listening to, the album art, and more.

You can even select a cool, vintage-style cassette tape user interface and screen saver that harkens back to the Walkman's original portable music mojo. How the cassette tape looks depends on the kind of file codec you're listening to.

Supported file types

The NW-A306 supports high-resolution PCM-based files (like FLAC and WAV) up to 32-bit/384kHz. It's also MQA-compatible if you're a TIDAL user or if you have some purchased MQA albums on-hand. The DAC chip also supports DSD playback up to 11.2MHz for detailed sound as close to the original recording as possible.

Wireless connectivity

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity are both built into the NW-A306. You can connect it to your Wi-Fi network, download your preferred streaming app, and listen away. If you have a pair of Bluetooth headphones you'd like to use, you're in luck — the 'A306 can wirelessly transmit audio and supports high-quality Bluetooth codecs like aptX® HD and LDAC.

Expandable memory

32GB of onboard storage might be great for a few albums, but you'll likely need more as your collection grows. You can add a microSD card to the NW-A306 to give yourself some additional space for music.

More than a day's worth of battery life

The NW-A306 can play music for quite a while before it needs recharging. Depending on what you're listening to and the volume level, you can expect to get anywhere from 26 to 36 hours of playback time before the player needs to be charged.

Onboard connections

On the bottom of the player, there's a single unbalanced 3.5mm headphone output. There's also a USB-C port for charging and connecting the NW-A306 to a computer.