NW-A25

The NW-A25 is a 9th-generation A Series Network Walkman with 16 GB storage supporting MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC, ALAC, AIFF, and Linear PCM playback. A lithium-ion battery provides up to 50 hours of use with digital noise cancellation.

The A25 is part of the period where the A Series stopped trying to be a miniature media gadget and started settling into the role it would hold for years: Sony's compact serious-listener Walkman. It is smaller, calmer, and more disciplined than a lot of the A models that came before it, which is exactly why it matters. Sony was no longer trying to make the A Series into a catch-all premium object. It was starting to define it as the more portable, more approachable counterpart to the larger premium branches above it.