Sony SRS-NWT10M Speaker Dongle Review
Whenever I'm about to buy some minor piece of electronics I usually google for reviews and often come up empty for less known products. I can't exactly blame sites such as our own for not reviewing everything on the planet, but it would still be nice to find an occasional review on such products even if it's just a thumbs up or down with regards to the value.
It's with that pretense (and the fact nothing is really happening in the MP3 player world at the moment) that I bring you a quick review of the Sony SRS-NWT10M speaker dongle for Sony MP3 players. For $30 it's rather on the pricey side, so is it worth the money? Read on to find out.
Design
The whole thing is very tiny and shaped like a pebble when the cap is on. The half circle design that makes up the speaker itself when connected to a player is very nice in that it makes the player fit very well in your hand. What I don't get is why the connector is slightly raised from the speaker so that it leaves a gap in between the player and the speaker when connected. As far as i know no Sony players have a lowered dock port that would somehow explain this design and it would look more integrated into the player if if was all flat and "gapless". Still, the design works. A lanyard hole or something would be nice though for the sake of portability.
In Use
The speaker is amplified and get its power directly from the player. While this does of course mean less battery life on the player itself, it's nice to not have to worry about charging the speaker. An internal battery would also bring up size and cost. I haven't done any tests on how much it drains the battery but judging from what I've seen with using it for watching videos I'd guess about 5 hours with video playing and the speaker on middle volume. They could of course have made the speaker passive and without any amplifier, but i think that would have proven quite useless since it would then have no volume whatsoever.
Sound Quality
The sound quality is very good considering the size of this thing. Normally speakers like this one sound very tinny and are useless because they will make your ears hurt from listening to them. Integrated speakers in cheap cellphones come to mind in that category. The SRS-NWT10M is better than that, and I'd put it along the lines of media centric cellphones such as the Nokia models with stereo speakers. There is no bass to speak of, but otherwise it's very good for its size. It's rather limited for using with music, but it can work if you just need to share a few songs with some friends or find yourself in a situation where the sound itself is more important than the quality of it.
What this thing is really useful for is watching videos. For dialog and such on TV episodes and video podcasts it works very well and I use mine all the time for watching videos in bed. For that use I normally keep the volume around 20-25/30 which is sufficient (and keep in mind video volume is often rather low). If you use it for music or other loud content you should stay away from the top end of the volume meter as it will start to crackle if you push it too hard, but music also sound generally louder than video does so it'll still be loud enough to be heard. If you use podcasts or audio books, that's another area where a speaker such as this could be useful.
Conclusion
The $30 price tag is a little hard to justify and it should have been closer to $20, but thats the price you have to pay for something that fits perfectly and runs off your players battery. If you watch a lot of videos or have other uses where a tiny speaker would be useful it's not a bad investment as it does do what its designed to do fairly well. Having bigger speakers connected via a cable or even Bluetooth isn't the same as the ease of use you get with the SRS-NWT10M. It will also work if you upgrade to new Sony players like I did as it uses the Sony WM port which is the standard proprietary connector for recent Sony players.
Comments
Koolio on September 17, 2008 7:57 PM
Nice review. Good to see reviews of less common accessories. thanks!
sputnik00 on September 17, 2008 10:30 PM
hi, here's an alternative i use which doesn't have a proprietary connector:
http://sputnik00.wordpress.com/2008/07/08/x-mini-review/
it really sounds very decent for something that's only about 12 quid.
JSV on September 17, 2008 11:22 PM
Is it mono or stereo? If it's mono, are both channels being mixed together?
Andreas Ødegård on September 18, 2008 1:18 AM
@sputniko: Yeah there are several non proprietary ones such as http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.1304 as well. I've had this one on the link and it was a bit annoying in that I had to charge it seperately and it didnt sit on too well since it's somewhat of a bulk and ony connected through the minijack
@JSV: It's mono, with both channels mixed into the mono signal
GS on September 18, 2008 2:04 AM
Big thanks goes to you!
I am looking for either a pmp or external Sony phone speaker!
My main use for class rooms! I need to play mp3 lessons for the students! So I really really need a loud stuff! Voice only! No music in any lesson!
I went to Cowon, but I couldn't tell if the external speakers of their COWON A3 is loud enough to counter the noisy kids!
I have SonyE phone, C902. Which I considered getting portable easy to carry (small) speaker if I managed to find one! So, I seek help and guide!
Thank You all in advance.
johnston21 on September 18, 2008 9:14 AM
I have one. It's great for listening to podcasts / TV Shows @ "bedtime."
Timberg on September 18, 2008 11:36 AM
It's finally nice to see Sony investing something in it's own MP3 players. It's been frustrating as the owner of a NWZ-S616 Walkman to see Sony go to market with more iPod accessories than Walkman accessories. I might have to purchase this one.
Andreas Ødegård on September 18, 2008 11:55 AM
@Timberg: Indeed. There are a few other accessories such as a bluetooth transmitter that fits in the same port, a dock cradle and a more advanced speaker dock which even has a remote. All of it is rather pricey but might be worth checking out. Best overview of the products is with sonystyle buy you can often save a few bucks by buying on amazon, for instance the speaker dock with remote is 93 USD on amazon and 150 on sonystyle
Mp3 search engine on September 18, 2008 4:06 PM
Nice post. Hit us with an update as to how long the battery lasts using this baby. :)
Alan on September 18, 2008 8:26 PM
Thanks for the review.
What I love about this website is it keeps me abreast of what's going on in the digital player market beyond the iPod world.
Reviewing a product that is about something other than private mp3 listening is exactly the kind of information I appreciate.
Feel free to keep reviewing other products that highlight the wide variety of ways to enjoy digital entertainment in our homes.
Thanks
johnston21 on September 19, 2008 6:57 AM
It's to allow clearance for the bottom-right corner of the clear hard-plastic case.
Also, yes it's mono, with both channel mixed (as far as I can tell).
---------
What I don't get is why the connector is slightly raised from the speaker so that it leaves a gap in between the player and the speaker when connected. As far as i know no Sony players have a lowered dock port that would somehow explain this design and it would look more integrated into the player if if was all flat and "gapless". Still, the design works.
Andreas Ødegård on September 19, 2008 9:44 AM
@johnston21: Thank you, that makes perfect sense! i couldnt for the life of me figure out why that wasm made that way, but its good that they dont break compatibility with other accessories.
About the mono thing, I actually opened this speaker and checked inside and also ran a left/right channel test file to see that both channels were present. i didnt post the picture of the insides as it would have meant I'd need 2 more pics to make them all line up in rows of 3 (ocd anyone). if anyone wants to see the inside, the picture is here: http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/images/spkr.jpg
E. Shrdlu on September 19, 2008 9:46 PM
It's = It is
Its = the possessive
Wings on September 20, 2008 12:23 AM
Thanks for the review. I might pick one of these up if the price does drop to $20 ro $25.
Any other Sony Walkman products?
Andreas Ødegård on September 20, 2008 2:59 AM
@E. Shrdlu: fixed
@Wings: I'll post a review within a few days that might be itneresting to A820 owners but as for generic walkman accessories you'll have to check whaat's on sonystyle
paulr on September 21, 2008 4:22 AM
Looks similar in concept to one made by Coby that Walgreen's sells for $5, that is powered by one AA cell. I have one and it's great value, sounds about as good as my laptop computer's internal speakers, i.e. not hi-fi at all, but fine for listening to a youtube video or something like that. No proprietary docking thingie, just a standard 3.5mm stereo plug sticking out of the dongle. I use it with my Cowon D2.
AA on October 1, 2008 1:38 AM
Works well with the A815-it sounds nice and quiet:so it won't damage your hearing
sya on February 8, 2009 10:02 AM
does it work with NWZ-S738FBNC??can you reply asap??
Andreas Ødegård on February 8, 2009 11:19 AM
It does work on NWZ-S738
stefano on February 20, 2009 7:25 AM
does it work with the S639F?
on the www.sony.co.uk site on the compatible product page only the A series models are listed not the S...