Stylish, tiny and metal, this CD player has the best design of any that I’ve seen. The case is hard, tough, and cool to the touch. The case has a very shiny, rough metal shell - there are no plastic parts except the buttons and remote. The case has a nice weight to it - it’s not heavy, but it doesn’t feel like a light plastic (cheap) player. The case is smaller than a CD jewel case except that it is a few millimeters taller. When the case is open you can easily see that the player is only slightly larger in diameter than the CD itself.
The sound is as good as any other CD player - they all sound basically the same these days. The 2 level Bass boost is fantastic for those songs that just beg for it. There is absolutely no skipping no matter how much or how long the player is shaken. It has the sound quality that you can expect from any Sony CD player.
My only complaint is that when I leave the remote behind, the buttons on the player are mildly hard to use. It’s caused by Sony not wanting the buttons to be pressed by accident while the player bounces around in somebody’s backpack, or wherever. It’s a minor problem, but I’m sure it will annoy some people.
The remote is only a bit larger than a AA battery and works well. The backlight is great. The advanced controls could be placed better, but the volume and skip controls are great and very easy to use. Volume and track skipping/searching are done by twisting the top of the remote. The cord on the remote is around 3 feet long which is good for me since I often carry the player in my backpack.
Battery life is fantastic. It lasts more than 30-40 hours given just the internal rechargable batteries.
NOTE: There is no text display on the player - so if you really need to know the track number at all times, you’ll need to use the remote.