In a digital world full of screens and a lack of buttons, there’s a big market for analog gear that aims to capture that tactile feel a lot of consumers are missing these days (the resurgence of vinyl is a great example). The humble cassette player, however, hasn’t received quite the same love as vinyl, but We Are Rewind is changing that with its Cassette Player, a modern take on the classic piece of gear (and the world’s first Bluetooth cassette player).
Clean, modern, and a true love letter to analog gear, this cassette player has all the classic features like volume control, forward and rewind buttons, a headphone output, and an audio input if you want to record your own sound. The beauty here is in the modern features, though, like the addition of Bluetooth and a rechargeable battery (which gives you up to 12 hours of listening time and is a lot more sustainable than disposable batteries). The design here is great, too (inspired by the first Sony Walkman), opting for a minimalist aluminum construction that avoids cheap plastic bits for a more elevated look.
Sure, the modern touches here are super cool, but the fact that We Are Rewind teamed up with experienced French engineers who worked on the OG cassette players, along with ORA (a high-end audio company), is equally as impressive. The company also had to work around the fact that most of the parts for a cassette player (and the factories that manufacture them) have been obsolete for over a decade. Again, this is also the world’s first Bluetooth cassette player, which the label doesn’t seem to be flexing enough.
We Are Rewind’s Cassette Player is available now for $159, and it comes in a trio of colorways, including the grey one we’ve featured here (dubbed Keith), along with orange (Serge) and blue (or Kurt).
