D-22

The D-22 belonged to the phase where Sony had stopped reinventing the Discman every year and started refining a proven formula. It kept the compact late-1980s body style and familiar transport layout, while benefiting from quieter improvements in mechanism stability, power use, and general day-to-day behavior.

Portable CD no longer needed to announce itself as futuristic by 1989. The D-22 makes the most sense as the kind of machine Sony could build once buyers mostly wanted something dependable, modern-looking, and easy to live with instead of something engineered to prove a point.