You may have missed it, but cassette tapes appear to be heading the same way vinyl LPs did during the hipster years. Companies like GadHouse are hopping onto the trend, with the company’s new Miko portable cassette player having just launched.
Of course, GadHouse isn’t the only one that has noticed the trend. Other tech has begun including the older audio format in its lineup, from oversized audio to something more retro-futuristic. The Miko is a lot more traditional, to the point where it’ll still work with a pair of AA batteries.
Miko has it taped?
It doesn’t have to, however. Its creators have included a USB-C port that, unfortunately, doesn’t charge an internal lithium-ion battery. It does, however, take over power duties from your Duracells. That’s not much good if you’re trying to make like a 1980s jogger, but it does mean you can listen to those vintage tapes at your desk.
While the Miko’s design is almost cruelly faithful to the original portable cassette players, it does have some more modern concessions. Well, at least one. 3.5mm wired headphones are still an option, but owners can also connect their wireless buds to the device via Bluetooth 5.3. That’ll make up for the lack of a rechargeable internal battery somewhat. But not entirely.
The retro gadget uses a 28mm flywheel and sticks to a set of five physical buttons, including one that’ll let users record… stuff. There’s a line-in option for external sources (so you can pretend that it’s 1992 and the radio is still a thing.) There’s also an internal microphone, in case you’d prefer to just talk to yourself in public(ish).
The only catch? The price. GadHouse will send one of its Miko cassette players to South Africa for R2,100 when they ship in mid-April. The trouble is that FiiO will send its lithium-ion-powered CP13 to the same place, right now, for R1,900.
