WM-EX9

By 1998, the cassette Walkman had reached its technical and aesthetic peak, and the WM-EX9 embodied that moment. It arrived as part of Sony's twentieth-anniversary push but avoided overt celebration, presenting a highly refined and compact cassette player at the end of the format's development.

Its design was the headline. At just 17.4 mm, the EX9 used a newly engineered F-type slim drive and a full metal chassis finished in a light-reactive "chameleon" coating that shifted hue depending on angle. Surfaces were tight and clean, and the proportions gave it a level of precision few portables matched. The wired LCD remote added backlighting and jog-style navigation in a compact, well-balanced control.

Features followed Sony's late-nineties direction. The EX9 supported all tape types automatically, offered Dolby B, and included Mega Bass, Groove, and Revive shaping. A rechargeable gumstick cell could be paired with an external AA for runtimes approaching one hundred hours. Playback stayed stable thanks to the new drive system, and the sound leaned toward the confident low end and clear midrange Sony favored at the time.

The WM-EX9 served as a final refinement of the cassette Walkman, combining advanced miniaturization, extended runtime, and mature playback design at the end of the format's lifecycle.