SonyNWWS413BM 4GB Sports Wearable MP3 Player (Black)

Music really enhances lap swimming for me. Of the variety of ways to accomplish this I chose the previous generation Sony NWZW273S. It got the job done, I like the simplicity of design to put on and take off without being attached to my swim goggles.The older model also had some drawbacks. Chief among them was lack of volume and then for me keeping the contacts clean for charging and adding music.This new model definitely fixed the volume issue. I actually turned it down from Max, which is great. The docking, charging station looks like an improvement, but it's too early to tell. The controls are completely different, but I think with a little time they will be an improvement. The ear pods are slightly larger on this newer version, which was a concern, however they are light weight, fit very well and more importantly stayed on well in the water.The software is the same for both units which made adding music to the new unit a snap. The software interfaces smoothly with iTunes.** UPDATE ** 7/7/16 I picked mine up early May '16 liked it so much I bought another for a friend towards the end of May. We each swim for an hour 5+ days a week. So I've used mine ~ 40 times in a chlorinated public pool and my buddy, who swims in salt water, has used his about 25 times. So far these units are holding up great. With the non-water ear buds the volume can be WAY too loud, when the swim buds are put on it does reduce the volume as they are essentially a shower cap to keep the speakers dry, with a membrane between your ears and the speaker. Without the swimming ear bud covers the unit would die in the pool from the speakers getting wet. The music, for me at least, is plenty loud and I typically go a click or two down from full volume.** UPDATE ** Oct '16 ** The two units I bought are going strong six months later. Each sees 5+ days a week of hour long lap swimming. One is in a standard chlorinated pool, the other in a salt water pool. I haven't had any problems with my contacts for charging or adding music and I haven't done a thing to clean them. Mine will play an hour interval 3 times before it needs a charge.** UPDATE ** Nov '17 ** Both units still working, one perfectly the other is having issues with song forward button not always working but otherwise still serviceable. I'll definitely buy another if this one dies.

This mp3 player is used often while running. It has been a good product and works great. Theprice is good. It is good for me because I do not have to carry another product everything isdownloaded onto the player. It is a good fit on the head and does not slide around.

I had a previously owned a pair of these headphones that lasted for 5 years. I bought this pair 13 months ago. I put them on their charger this morning, and the charging light was on. When I checked this evening, the headphones were dead!!! I had previously noticed that this pair did not hold a charge as long as my previous pair, but this is a big disappointment, since these headphones were not only comfortable, but they had a good sound for a reasonable price.

It does what promises. It plays music in the water or at gym. This is after 4 times of use about 1 hr each time at the local pool.My primarily use is for lap swimming. I read someone's review about the difference in volume between music and podcasts, which I didn't notice. The volume of music, however, may sound different depends on genres (loud rock vs. quiet blues or classic), or your choice of swimming style. I guess that is a given. If you are breathing heavy in breast stroke, your breathing noise may cancel soft sounding music a bit. Naturally, it sounds best when you are doing back stroke. This is fine, as I didn't want or expected it to completely eliminate ambient noise. Not having codes around is great. Today I took it outside for the first time, and I realized the quality of sound is so much better. Talking mode works fine, not that I would use it often. As a gift probably it does well for all ages, since it's simpler, doesn't really depend on phone, other device or software.What I don't like about are:1) It's still a bit bulky around ears for swimming. Unlike others wrote, my big head and hair could not accommodate the device inside already tight silicon cap. I switched to comfortable Lycra cap to see if the earbuds fit inside....my ears still hurt. When half way covered, the pressure of the cap lifts earpieces....ummmm....so I gave up and keep my ears exposed.Then I also realized it sometime hits my arm when I do front crawl / freestyle. I didn't see anyone is complaining about this, so I guess my wrong stroke style is the problem. Nonetheless, most pools require wearing cap and it's only natural for swimmers wanting to secure an expensive device underneath it. It would be better if the profile around ears is smaller or controls are further away, behind the ears or head etc, both ergonomically and hydrodynamically speaking. I did see another product closed to what I just described, but rather flimsy looking, and the rating was lower. I decided I would rather pay for a good quality product.2) The software is ok, but not great. Yes, it automatically find your iTunes music folder in your computer without duplicating files. But, some purchase from iTunes are MPEG-4, which Media Go (accompanied software) does not recognize. The way around it, is to burn the music onto a CD first, I heard, or use a third party software to convert the file. I decide not to bother either. As long as your files are MA4 files, or something you copied from CD. This prompted me to search my old CDs I have procrastinated to back up till now.It's a pretty good straightforward product. When I looked at other options, there aren't that many I liked. I thought iPod Shuffle & waterproof headphone combo was too expensive for what it is. I did not like another option that is to bring my phone near the pool to pair up waterproof Bluetooth headphone (also expensive). This is the only all-in-one option in ok price range, sans cords, from rather reliable brand, with a pretty good rating. I am happy with my purchase.

wear these, when i go kiteboarding, i wear a hat and have these tied to my hat so when i wipe out i don't lose them, they are very loud and sound so good