[gsora]

I’m 99% sure you can stream Spotify and similar on it. The last generation of Android-based Walkman can do that just fine.

I think they mention streaming briefly because the target demographic for this device is the kind of people who have their own hi-res files available.

I hope Sony fixed the battery life on those, because the last gen was underwhelming on that front.

[rospaya]

If it only has wifi then you can only stream what you saved beforehand in areas where there's no wifi access.

But if it has a SIM slot with 4G/5G access then it's nothing more than a repackaged phone.

[izacus]

So click the "Download" button in Tidal/Spotify/Apple Music?

I mean, if you need cellular, then you're better served with your phone and this isn't for you. It also doesn't have to be for you - use your phone and move on.

[SECProto]

> But if it has a SIM slot with 4G/5G access then it's nothing more than a repackaged phone.

A repackaged phone with a quality headphone jack and physical buttons? I'd love to buy that (but unfortunately it doesn't seem to have a SIM slot)

[sangnoir]

Is there a streaming service in existence that doesn't offer offline playback? It's probably requires a subscription, but a streaming service that can't be used in deadspots or tunnels is kinda useless, don't you think?

[rospaya]

For me the streaming part is important - I usually don't choose what to listen to before leaving home.

> a streaming service that can't be used in deadspots or tunnels is kinda useless, don't you think?

I think all of them have buffering to pass any dead spot. Also bad reception is a thing of the past where I live and and 30 GB of data makes it all very seamless.

[sangnoir]

I explicitly mentioned downloads - I didn't mean buffering.

> For me the streaming part is important - I usually don't choose what to listen to before leaving home.

Pre-downloaded mixes are a compromise of discovery and offline playback

[SSLy]

> Is there a streaming service in existence that doesn't offer offline playback?

Youtube Music :^]

[sangnoir]

The YouTube music app has offline playback, if you have a subscription. It can proactively download recommended tracks to a local cache only when connected to WiFi

[gsora]

It doesn’t have cellular network AFAIK.

But again, the target users don’t bother with streaming much, the device just so happens to run android, and that makes running streaming apps possible.