Sony NWZ-S544 review

Sony’s S-Series player doesn’t have as many swanky features as the X Series: there’s no Wi-Fi and no noise-cancelling feature. The screen is a regular 320 x 240 TFT, rather than a widescreen OLED panel, and it isn’t touch-sensitive.

Yet the NWZ-S544’s interface remains easy to navigate, with intuitive onscreen menus and dedicated buttons for all the important features. The only minor disappointment is that the navigation “wheel” is just a four-way rocker that doesn’t rotate.

Sound quality is loud and satisfying, although the bundled headphones are uncomfortable and sound a little muddy. There’s a built-in loudspeaker, too. It’s better than most mobile phone speakers and loud enough to share a video with a friend, but it’s inevitably tinny. MP4, H.264 and WMV files are supported.

The FM radio, voice recorder and EQ are all present and correct as well, and an unusual alarm clock mode means this player can wake you up to your favourite music.

The maximum 8GB of storage is a little on the low side, but if that’s enough for you the S Series hits all the important buttons, and brings a few distinctive features too. It’s just a shame it uses Sony’s proprietary WM-Port rather than a normal USB one.