Sony Walkman NWZ-A17 handles hi-res audio (pictures)

Meet Sony's new NWZ-A17 Walkman. That's its US name anyway -- Sony told us that elsewhere this gadget may go by the moniker NWZ-A15.

Sony thinks there's still room in this smartphone-packed world for a dedicated MP3 player. Check out our hands-on pictures.

It's very light, and drastically more portable than most smartphones.

With this Walkman, Sony's aiming squarely at audio enthusiasts. Sony's really pushing what it calls "hi-res audio" at the moment, which is audio of a higher-than-CD quality, typically at 24bit/96kHz or 24bit/192kHz.

Here's a view of the side, which plays host to volume controls.

NFC and Bluetooth are on board, though curiously there's no Wi-Fi.

There's no touchscreen either, but with such a simple interface, that doesn't feel like too grievous an omission. Instead of prodding the display, you'll control this Walkman using this diamond-shaped set of navigation keys.

The relatively simple specs could help out with battery life. Sony reckons this diminutive player will manage up to 50 hours of battery life, or 30 hours when playing full-fat 24-bit/192kHz files.