SonyNW-WS413 Waterproof All-in-One MP3 Player, 4 GB - Black

This is a great product. I needed a waterproof player for Spartan racing and this is great. I have absolutely tortured this product and it is still going strong! There are separate buds for water submersion which are great but you do loose a bit of sound when using these. The battery lasts for ages. Mine has gone for 10 hours and still had charge. The buds keep the mp3 in place very well even when doing overhead and underwater obstacles. Overall I would recommend this product for its build quality and the fact it is still going strong after the 12 months of hard use I have exposed it to! I’ve never washed the mud off it and it’s even been stood on a couple of times. Great product!

I feel compelled to attempt to address what I've seen to be the biggest concerns/ misgivings about this product: the volume and what can be done about it.I've been after a waterproof MP3 player for some time, specifically for swimming, and after researching the competitors, I felt that this one provided the best all-round features. However, the mixed reviews on whether the volume is good enough seems to have been debated for some time so the purchase was a cautious one. There was also a lot of uncertainty/ lack of clarity on a number of different features and points, which again, I'll attempt to address below.Having run (and swum) it through its paces, I can confirm, in my opinion, that the volume CAN be really good, with the following understandings and potential, easy, tweaks:- Out of the box, the AVLS (Automatic Volume Limiter System) is disabled. If you're not sure if AVLS is on or not, turn the volume up as high as it can go. If you hear a series of beeps, it's off.I did not know this at the time, and so managed to turn AVLS on (more detail below) without realising. This resulted in a very underwhelming walk where the sound of my footsteps far exceeded playback at 'top' volume - at this stage, I figured the volume was as poor as some people have said and I was contemplating a return.- Turning AVLS on and off - the instructions advise that AVLS can be turned on and off by holding down the forward button and volume up button at the same time for around five seconds (whilst playback is paused). The battery indicator will then apparently flash a couple of times to confirm success. For the life of me, I could not get this to properly work. After attempting for a while, I apparently succeeded but then couldn't turn it off again.If this happens to you, reset the device to factory settings by holding the power button down for 17 seconds or so. You won't lose your music, and AVLS will be off once more.- With AVLS off, the volume at max is fair. However, to really get the most out of it, I would implore you to download any free program online that lets you increase the 'normal' dB of your track/ audio book/ podcast. It's incredibly easy to do and I did not notice any decline in quality after doing so.With AVLS off, and your track's dB slightly upped, the volume is absolutely fine - on the verge of being almost too loud on max, actually. Put it this way - when swimming lengths in a public pool (whilst a class did aqua-aerobics to the music of ABBA), I was able to listen to an audio book without the slightest hindrance.I won't go into much detail at all about other features as I feel they've been adequately covered already - in short, battery life seems fair, the product is light, fits very well and doesn't let any water in (providing you choose your buds carefully). All in all, a really good price for a really good waterproof MP3. Please do not be put off by negative comments on volume. If you're clued up and prepared to put in the slightest amount of work to get the most out of the system, you'll be happy.

If you are thinking about buying this, even at the ‘bargain’ price Amazon keeps offering, don’t. For swimming, it is utterly useless. It takes an age to get a decent seal on the earphones and when you finally managed it (it took me at least 10 attempts) you can’t hear the music! The other reviews on here are right; the volume is completely inadequate. There’s no danger of hearing damage, except from water ingress. This product really is rubbish. It’s almost incomprehensible that a manufacturer like Sony has failed to to match the performance of unbranded Chinese electronics costing a quarter of the price. Save yourself a lot of money and frustration by avoiding the ‘waterproof’ Walkman.

When my aquabeats by Speedo died I thought it was going to cost me a fortune to get another waterproof mp3 player till I found this one. My main question was will I be able to hear my music underwater as I've read many reviews of other cheaper products and people all have that issue. the answer is yes, yes you can.I only use mine for swimming so cant comment on how well it does when running or anything else but:Pros• Its waterproof!!• I can hear my music, and at a decent quality• There are multiple play formats - album, folder, random• It's easy to transfer music on to it• Battery life seems quite good• Different sizes of ear buds means you can change the sizes to fit your own earsCons• Swimming fast the headphone can come out of your ears so you need to stop to pick them up and put it back on• Little fiddly working out which buttons so what function especially when you are working upside down when they're on your head• You will still get water in your ears from time to time which makes the music muffled• Weird charger is needed so if you lose it you need to buy a replacement. Keep in a safe place

I bought these to use whilst swimming and they are perfectly suitable. The sound quality is good as you would expect from Sony. I have only used them swimming and have the waterproof earbud on which does dampen the sound down a little but they were definitely better than listening to other people in the pool and made my swim that much more doable...I hate swimming but it's good for you!Loading it up with tunes was a bit of a faff as you have to connect it to a laptop but I've just put loads of different types of music on there, set it to shuffle and that's it...hopefully I wont have to keep changing it!