An action grip with reflective cushion provides comfort and safety, while an included belt clip lets you wear the Walkman, freeing hands for other activities. The player's water-resistant seals help keep out water, moisture, and dirt, and a battery-level indicator on the unit's LCD lets you know when you're running low.

The player's automatic volume limiter system (AVLS) maintains an even volume level, guarding against unintended level increases and evening the output of musical passages that vary widely in level. Auto-reverse lets you enjoy uninterrupted listening to both sides of a cassette with no need to open the player and turn over the tape. A switch adjusts the sound to accommodate metal-oxide tapes, and Mega Bass produces deep, rich bass tones. Finally, an anti-rolling mechanism maintains stable tape speed to minimize music-distorting "wow and flutter" while the player is in motion.

For the radio, 40-station preset tuning offers one-button tuning to your choice of seven TV stations, four weather-band stations, 24 FM stations, and five AM stations. An FM local/distant (DX) switch improves reception of fuzzy stations. Supplied MDR-J10 headphones clip behind each ear so they won't mess up your hair. A single AA battery provides up to 32 hours (maximum) of continuous tape playback, or up to 50 hours of FM radio reception.