Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

PROS: Sold build quality, neat audio interface, no shortage of modes, easy music upload and management, straight-forward instructions CONS: Excruciatingly poor/non-existent audio quality in the water, awkward fitting, gets in the way of swim gear (cap/goggles), price is a tad high, especially when factoring in that it barely works in the pool. I was excited to read about this product's introduction at CES 2013 and anxiously awaited for it to arrive on Amazon. Let me first say that I consider myself to be an intermediate swimmer; in the pool 3-5 times a week, working a variety of different routines and distances. I have never tried underwater headphones before, primarily because they are all either A) too expensive or B) poorly reviewed. However, the price point, 4GB's worth of music space, and Sony branding appealed to me enough to take the plunge with this 'Waterproof' Walkman. Out of the box, these headphones seem impressively minimal -- a charging 'dock' that connects the walkman to your computer for simple USB drag-and-drop is the only periphery aside from the headphones. You cannot connect the MP3 player to your computer in any other way, and this was OK with me. Dry-land sound was bearable -- nothing remotely earth shattering -- but I figured if the audio was even half as decently replicated while in the pool it would be worth the investment. Unfortunately, on my first push off the wall underwater the headphones lost volume completely (even at the loudest volume setting) and it sounded like Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" was being whispered into my ear by a gnat ... or something. Utterly frustrating. I took the headphones off and tried to dry them off on the pool deck. Also tried drying out my ears. No dice. Over the course of my workout I tried the headphones both with and without my swimcap (the headphones will NOT fit under a cap, unless it is folded up above the ears) and still wasn't able to get listenable audio. If you do a google search for a review of these headphones you will in all likelihood stumble across a series of video reviews conducted by swimmers/bloggers that Sony hired to sing the device's praises. Pay close attention to how the swimmers in the video utilize the headphones: not once do they ever actually put their face in the water! I'm convinced that is the only way that this product can be used successfully. If you do water aerobics, VERY light swimming, or are just looking for something to lounge in the hot tub with, I imagine that these would be right up your alley. If you are buying these for the other 'extreme' exercises that Sony is also attempting to market toward (sweaty cycling, running, kayaking) there are better options both in terms of sound quality and price. I have already boxed these up for return.