A couple of years ago I bought a Sony NWZA818, the forerunner of this unit, and have been extremely pleased with it. In fact I could barely fault it in any way so when I decided it was time for a new one, it was only natural to go for the NWZE445. I've been using it for a month now and it works well, it clearly has excellent capacity, the functionality is familiar and, unlike others, I have no complaint about the volume range.
However, I can't escape the feeling that it just isn't as well made as its predecessor. The feel of the buttons and other controls, the way they operate and the overall appearence just give the impression that the quality has been compromised; it's as if Sony have brought out a logical replacement but, in doing so, have built it down to a price.
If this is your first Sony MP3 player, you probably wouldn't even notice - and I'd recommend it highly - but if you've had them before you may be just very slightly disappointed.