NW-WH303

The NW-WH303 was a W Series Network Walkman built into a headphone-style form. It offered 4 GB of storage for MP3, AAC, and WMA playback, with a lithium-ion battery rated for up to 8 hours.

Its behavior was different from a normal pocket player because the listening hardware and storage lived in the same object. There was no separate body to clip on, pocket, or cable to headphones. The product made sense as Sony's attempt to remove friction from portable listening by turning the headphones themselves into the playback system.

That gives the WH303 an unusual place in the Walkman line. It did not advance the classic dedicated-player idea so much as move it into a different physical form.