NWZ-W273 NOT for swimming underwater

[daknightuk]

I'm one of your customers of 15 years its a shame the NWZ-W273 does not live up to your claims.

Once water gets into the earpiece which even using the best fitting buds is unavoidable. Maybe I have odd shaped ear canals?

But anyway the issue which me and a few people I know who have this is that sound becomes muffled and even 2 hours later you end up having to try it out with a hairdryer just to get full audio back again.

Looks like its got micro perforations in it when I remove the rubber earbud as blowing into it I saw water come out.

The rubber earbuds are a bit too flexible too you can end up with them folding over themselves if you're not careful.

Admittedly very good for use in the gym and surface swimming but definately not for underwater use even if you do say its 2m waterproof.

Incidently i'm on my 3rd one in a week after I had 2 completely die on me which on both I suspect water ingress but had them swapped at the retailer.

If any of your customers are considering the NWZ-W273 I'd suggest buying from a well known retailer who isn't going to give you the 3rd degree if you do suffer any water damage.

[Thalamus.]

Hi darknight,

welcome to Questions & answers..

hopefully the followinfg information from the support pages tips & tricks may help..

Why does the volume become low during or after swimming?

The sound quality may deteriorate if water gets inside the headphone sections (A). When you use your Walkman in the pool, be sure to choose the size of earbud carefully so that it fits fully into your ear and then insert the headphone sections firmly into your ears, so that there is no gap to allow water to get in.

If water gets inside the headphone sections, hold your Walkman as illustrated and shake it about 5 times to remove the water. However, if there is still water is in the headphones, remove the earbud, put a dry cloth over the aperture of the headphone, and shake the headphones about 5 to 10 times.

[ando600]

Thalamus I have to agree with the dark knight, the buds provided just aren't up to scratch keeping water out, leading to loss of sound. There's little value to the above advice if you have to stop each length for several minutes to get the water out. Perhaps some better ear buds would be a solution.

Incidentally a longer connecting piece would be good on future models, my fat western head is almost too big for it.

[Thalamus.]

ando600 wrote:
Thalamus I have to agree with the dark knight, the buds provided just aren't up to scratch keeping water out, leading to loss of sound. There's little value to the above advice if you have to stop each length for several minutes to get the water out. Perhaps some better ear buds would be a solution.
Incidentally a longer connecting piece would be good on future models, my fat western head is almost too big for it.

Hi ando600,

thanks again for the info which has been forward back to our contact in Sony..

[daknightuk]

The fix detailed works to a point... However the W273 can also be inhibited by sweat build up, if your sound is continually muffled even after drying out the buds remove the rubbers from them and rinse under a slow running tap to remove sweat residue. Use a soft cloth to dry after or a tissue. I have to do this with mine every so often to restore the sound quality.

[daknightuk]

Just an update, so I'm on my 5th W273, the last one got water in the left hand earbud and despite a lot of attempts to dry it out the sound never came back to normal.... I've only 1 month left of warranty from the original unit.

Someone in the gym asked me to recommend this product, I replied that I wouldn't touch it again with a bargepole.

If this one breaks in the next 4 weeks (which is highly likely) I'm exchanging it for an ipod and sod the waterproof feature. I only really use mine once every 2 - 3 weeks in a pool anyway.

SONY - your customer service is the worst I've ever come across you don't even bother to address the issue with your customers and continue to launch new waterproof walkmans without much thought, you should be issuing a customer service announcement and at least extending our warranties due to your design flaws

[Lindnarden]

Soudn has almost completley gone in my left earpiece and I haven't been near a swimmming pool, it seems that running on the treadmill has the same effect.....marvellous