Sony NW-A55L identical to NW-A55 minus the FM tuner

I have finally received a reply from Sony regarding the upcoming NW-A55L Walkman destined for Europe. In the original post there was confusion whether this would ship with a new USB type-C port and Bluetooth 5.0.

Update: Sony UK has responded on Twitter, providing conflicting information, USB type-C.

Hi again, we’ve asked internally, and this Walkman will use a USB type C charger and will have Bluetooth version 4.2. ^Sean

— Sony UK (@SonyUK) October 2, 2019

With Sony responding to me directly via email, I can confirm what I suspected, this is just last year’s NW-A55 but with one major change, no FM tuner. I am attaching the email I received from Sony below. My thanks to Stephanie from Sony for getting back to me, much appreciated.

So there we have it, no Bluetooth 5.0, no USB type-C and FM tuner removed. The model in Europe will ship without the NC headphones (IER-NW500N) but I would imagine one could easily just buy the headphones separately on Ebay if someone wants them, but most listings are around $100+ so not cheap.

That being said, the NW-A55 from last year is a great model, offers great battery life, supports a wide variety of codecs, can act as USB DAC, and Bluetooth receiver mode. Prices are 180 GBP or 200 Euros.