Sony's new $5,900 gold-plated Walkman music player doesn't come with the latest version of Android

The Sony Walkman name is legendary, and Sony hasn’t failed to capitalize on its popularity by releasing Android-powered music players under the Walkman name. Though these are usually expensive and aimed at audiophiles with money to burn, Sony’s latest Walkman devices take things to a whole new level.

Sony today announced three new digital music players under its Walkman brand: the NW-WM1ZM3, NW-WM1AM3, and NW-ZX900. While they offer improvements across the board, they are surprisingly using Android 16. That is an upgrade over their predecessors, which were running Android 11 and Android 12. But it’s still surprising that Sony thinks it’s fine for you to pay nearly $6,000 and not even get the latest version of Android.

One could argue that Sony’s target audience isn’t focused on the Android version. After all, most music streaming apps support anything from Android Nougat (remember that?) and later, and that’s really what these music players are supposed to do: run music apps. It’s entirely possible — and dare I say, highly probable — that Sony’s target audience is looking at something else entirely: materials and an audiophile experience.

The WM1ZM3 is the top-of-the-line offering, priced at a whopping $5,899.99. It features a gold-plated, 99.99% pure oxygen-free copper (OFC) chassis that Sony says delivers clear, powerful bass, along with improved mids and highs.

The mid-range WM1AM3, priced at $2,999.99, also features a gold-plated OFC rear chassis, paired with an aluminum main chassis. The ZX900, on the other hand, incorporates several internal components and circuit elements found in the higher-end models.

All three players feature Sony’s DSD Remastering Engine, which converts stored FLAC and WAV files into an 11.2MHz DSD stream for a more “analog” experience. It also works with streamed music, so you can listen to songs on your favorite Hi-Res music streaming service, and DSD can make it even better.

Both the WM1ZM3 and WM1AM3 come with 5.5-inch displays, while the ZX900 features a 5-inch display. All three share the same connectivity options, including a stereo mini-jack, a balanced standard jack, and a USB-C port.

Sony claims up to 35 hours of battery life for the WM1ZM3 and WM1AM3. However, that figure is based on 128kbps MP3 playback — an odd benchmark considering these devices are aimed at audiophiles who will rarely listen to standard MP3 files. The ZX900 claims up to 40 hours of battery life under the same playback conditions.

The WM1ZM3, WM1AM3, and ZX900 will be available in November. You can pre-order them on Sony’s website for $5,899.99, $2,999.99, and $1,899.99, respectively, with deliveries expected to begin in January.