A new Sony Walkman could be on the way with Bluetooth 5.0 and wi-fi

A new Sony Walkman could be on the way with Bluetooth 5.0 and wi-fi
(Image credit: Sony)

The Sony Walkman is having quite a year. Not only have we seen a huge Wall of Walkmans exhibit in Tokyo, the iconic brand also turned 40 back in July. And now a brand new, Bluetooth-enabled, wi-fi Sony Walkman is rumoured to be in the pipeline.

Sony's Walkmans – like the recently reviewed five-star NW-A45 (pictured) – have long since done away with cassettes altogether in favour of colour touch-screens, hi-res  music support and a microSD storage option. 

And according to The Walkman Blog, a new Sony Walkman dubbed the NW-A100 has appeared on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) website. The FCC (an independent agency in the USA that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable) has only limited information on the new model, but wi-fi 2.4/5.0Ghz, NFC and Bluetooth 5.0 are all listed.

No visuals of the new model are currently available, but a Sony Walkman with wi-fi could mean that alongside DSD, WAV and FLAC file playback, you could soon be streaming hi-quality music from the likes of Tidal and Qobuz. This, of course, would bring it into direct competition with another five-star product, the Apple iPod Touch (2019)

So when can we expect to see the new model revealed to the tech-loving masses? If a Sony NW-A100 is on the way, our money would be on it debuting in September at Europe's biggest tech show, IFA

Only time will tell, but we'll be sure to bring you any updates from Sony as and when we get them.

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Becky has been a full-time staff writer at What Hi-Fi? since March 2019. Prior to gaining her MA in Journalism in 2018, she freelanced as an arts critic alongside a 20-year career as a professional dancer and aerialist – any love of dance is of course tethered to a love of music. Becky has previously contributed to Stuff, FourFourTwo, This is Cabaret and The Stage. When not writing, she dances, spins in the air, drinks coffee, watches football or surfs in Cornwall with her other half – a football writer whose talent knows no bounds.