For me, music is a relief. Especially during 70 min of swimming per session. With a lot of joy I bought myself a Sony Walkman NW-WS413B for swimming and this is my review.
Based on the online reviews, I also bought a 4 year extended all-inclusive warranty from the supplier. This was the best decision ever, the device broke down after three 70 min swim sessions. This post was delayed by a while in order to replace the device via the extended warranty.
I was hoping to start on the right foot, but it seems that for now this is no the case.
Short update on the above: The replacement is here and the first 2 sessions with it were completely different from with the previous one. It seems that the older one was broken from the factory/storage and did not fail after I started using it. It had a failure within completely unrelated to what I did.
Already 1 month+ of using the replacement for my Sony Walkman NW-WS413B and I am happy to state that it is behaving very well. the 4 GB storage is enough for what I need and the IP67/68 water and dust protection is behaving as it should. I do not even mind the fact that there is no microphone and no Bluetooth as I do not use it with my phone during swimming.
The controls are OK and I was able to get used to them quickly, but I am not that happy that when I move to the next folder, the player does not remember at which track I was the last time when I was here. In case you use audio books or have 100s of tracks in a folder, do not move between them if you want to continue from where you left off. I usually either put it on pause and then turn it off and then turn it ON and press play during next session and skip folder change altogether. In case of audio books, I delete the tracks that I already listen to when I am at home and proactively preparing my tracks & books for the next swim session.
Another issues shown on online reviews is the fact that you have to change ear buds. As I only use it when swimming (so far) this has not been an issue for me. We will see how annoying this is once I start strength training later on down the road. Due to this I have not checked if the sound with the non-swimming ear buds is better or not, although the main assumption is that it has to be better. Please note that with the swimming ones the volume is not that high. If you want to listed to an audio book and there is an aqua gym trainer around yelling instructions, they it will disturb you. In such cases I switch to music and resume the book next time. If you listen to metal then the volume will be decent due to the already high volume of the tracks, but keep in mind that you are wearing swimming ear-buds and not normal ones.
As for the option that allows you to listen to your trainer or external sounds, I have not used it yet, as I would like to only listed to my music or my books for now. Will update this review once I start using it.
I would recommend this headphone due to the points listed in this Sony Walkman NW-WS413B review. Especially when you are swimming and getting bored. If this is the boost that will keep you motivated, then go for it. I would also urge you to get extended or premium warranty from your supplier as the online reviews I saw list it breaking down from time to time (once a year or once every two) and if the price is right, it might be a good acquisition. For me it already paid off as the 1st Sony Walkman NW-WS413B I had was replaced. The 2nd one works well and i sleep easily as it continues to be covered by the extended warranty.
If you want and checking out what others do motivate you, then you can check my progress out on my monthly weight statistics and my weight loss goals page.