Key Takeaways
- The ByronStatics Cassette Player offers nostalgic simplicity with a cute design and basic features like tape playback and radio support.
- The portable player is easy to use, but be prepared to use your own headphones as the built-in speakers don’t sound great.
- If you’re looking for a basic retro-tech experience, the ByronStatics cassette player is an attractive, affordable choice with an appealing design.
Retro technology is appealing not only for its nostalgia, but also for its simplicity and, of course, beauty. For many of us, there’s nothing more enjoyable than having cute, well-designed technology that lets us enjoy media from the past. It makes us want to put away our phones, forget Spotify, and get those cassette tapes out of the closet.
The ByronStatics Cassette Player is exactly what I imagined it to be from the description above. At first glance, it’s very cute and the pink colour makes it look more like a Barbie toy than a functional cassette player. So I took it for a spin to see how well it performed as a portable cassette player.
ByronStatics Cassette Player
The ByronStatics Cassette Player is exactly what I wanted in a cassette player. It plays and records tapes, and it supports FM and AM radio. It does exactly what you expect it to do, without needing anything else. Plus, it looks cute.
- Adorable design
- Simple and easy to use
- Built-in clip for easy carrying
- The built-in speaker sounds poor
- The radio signal is not good without headphones.
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Pricing, Specifications and Availability
You can buy the ByronStatics on Amazon for $53. It’s a standard-sized cassette player, weighing 7.2 ounces and measuring 4.5 x 3.1 x 1.2 inches. A clip attaches the whole thing to a belt, making it easy to carry around. The case is all plastic with large, tactile buttons that make it feel like a ’90s toy you might find in a closet or at a garage sale.
BryonStatics is powered using a microUSB power cable or two AA batteries, which you must provide yourself.
The cassette player has a built-in speaker, and although earphones are included, the sound quality isn’t great so we recommend using your own earphones. The BryonStatics doesn’t have Bluetooth connectivity so you’ll need to bring wired headphones.
What I like about the ByronStatics cassette player
Great, nostalgic and easy to carry
A cassette player should be simple. It should do what it’s supposed to do, without any unnecessary bells and whistles. The ByronStatics does exactly that. It can play and record tapes and has a built in FM and AM radio. In my opinion, that’s all a cassette player should do, in true retro tech style. The ByronStatics only supports wired headphones and has no Bluetooth, making it a really fun throwback product.
I also really love the design of this cassette player. It almost looks like a toy, and the pink one I reviewed is super cute. Not only is this great technology, but it’s also a really cute accessory, so I was happy to clip it to my belt and be able to listen on the go. Speaking of clipping it to your belt, I really appreciate that it has a clip so I don’t have to carry it around with me.
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What I didn’t like about the ByronStatics cassette player
Unfortunately, the speaker misses the point.
The biggest problem with the ByronStatics cassette player is that the built-in speakers don’t sound great. They sound pretty cheap and don’t reproduce bass very well. This is to be expected since it’s a toy-like cassette player purchased from Amazon, so I’m not too surprised about this, nor am I too disappointed.
The radio signal is also not very good if you don’t use headphones. The cassette player uses the headphones as an antenna, which improves the radio signal a lot, but if you only use the speakers, the radio signal is very noisy. If it had an antenna like other cassette player/radio combos I’ve used, it could be improved.
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Should I buy a ByronStatics cassette player?
The ByronStatics Cassette Player is a good buy if you are looking for a cassette player with just the basics and no frills. It can play and record tapes and has a radio, but that’s it. If you want something more modern, this isn’t for you.
It’s also a great choice for anyone looking for a very well designed and cute cassette player. I love the pink look, but the teal and black colors look great too. It has a plasticky, toy-like feel to it, but I think that’s part of its charm.