1: Silicone case with hard transparent back: Decent case, feels kind of greasy on the silicone bumper, hold the player so tightly that it is a real challenge to get out of the case, the frosted soft-touch acrylic back shows fingerprints and will scratch over time.
2: The FatBear: A go to for a lot of people. Tactile feels of the buttons is excellent, but the case adds a decent amount of bulk, I'm confident this case will age well.
3: The Inorlo "Shell Series": A practical case, built- in USB C dust plug, has SD card access, but the silicone bumper around the edges is made of a cheap, slippery 'piano black' silicone that makes the whole thing feel cheap.
4: "Sand" texture matte black silicone case: This is my personal favourite, it's slim and the texture feels great, I doubt it'll protect from a major drop but will protect against small drops and from the player hitting anything in your pocket. Buttons are a bit stiff to begin with but had loosened over time with use.
5: Official Sony Silicone case: Surprisingly, the worst out of all of them, loose, slippery, attracts dust like crazy, the player wants to fall out. It's made of that very soft silicone that will stretch over time, if you owned an iPod with a case you know what I mean.
6: Generic silicone case, smoky dark variant: Middle of the road, buttons feel good. Like all TPU cases it is a bit slippery and attracts many fingerprints, it'll also discolour with time. and show micro-scratches relatively soon. It also makes your player look like your mum's iPhone 6.
7: Official Sony Soft PU leather case: Feels very premium, I am dubious about how long it would continue to look so nice though, as the radius of the corners is quite sharp and I'm sure over time will become quite 'dog-eared' and worn being removed and replaced in and out of a pocket. The magnets that hold the front cover closed don't always perfectly align either, which will cause undue fatigue to the "spine" of the case over time. Of all the cases though this gives the best impression that my investment is protected. Where it loses out for me is not so much the fault of the case, I just don't really gravitate towards cases that require an extra step e.g. opening it like a book, and prefer the player stays accessible via one hand, this is highly subjective though.
So those are my impressions, any thoughts or questions let me know.
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Just wondering if anyone knows where I can find a protective case for the walkman? The ones I see on Amazon are for the A100 series and don't mention if they fit the A306.