WM-GX677

The WM-GX677 is a higher-end radio-recording Walkman that kept the GX branch alive as a genuinely capable portable recorder even in the format's late years. It offers recording from both the built-in microphone and the AM/FM tuner, with auto-reverse in both playback and record modes, selectable sound profiles including Mega Bass, and a transport clearly built to handle more than casual tape use. The body stayed practical instead of luxurious, but the machine itself was much more than a simple radio cassette player.

What makes the GX677 important is that it shows Sony still defending cassette as a working medium instead of just a nostalgia object or fashion accessory. By 1998 most people were no longer asking portable tape to do much beyond playback, but the GX677 was still built for capture, repetition, and real everyday utility. It sits within the last serious chapter of the recording Walkman instead of the novelty side of the story.