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If you wish to get appears, clip a Maxell Wi-fi Cassette participant to your backpack and watch the astonishment roll in. My espresso man might barely include himself: ”Wow, traditional! Boy!” I walked away with espresso, a bagel, and a smile on my face.
On the workplace, a small crowd gathered round to look at it. All males of their 30s, 40s, or 50s, they acknowledged the enduring form and buttons. “What a blast from the previous,” smiled one. One other pointed and requested incredulously, “It really works with Bluetooth?” Sure, I advised them, it does, although there’s extra to that story.
Worth and availability
The Maxell Wi-fi Cassette Participant launched in February 2026 and prices $99.99. It isn’t presently obtainable within the UK.
Specs
| Row 0 – Cell 0 | Maxell Wi-fi Cassette Participant | Row 0 – Cell 2 |
Dimensions | 6.5 x 1.7 x 5.8 inches | Row 1 – Cell 2 |
Weight | 210 grams | Row 2 – Cell 2 |
Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.4, wired | Row 3 – Cell 2 |
Battery | 8 hours wi-fi | Row 4 – Cell 2 |
Ports | USB-C (cost), 3.5mm headphone jack | Row 5 – Cell 2 |
Design and setup
Picture 1 of 4
Regardless of being designed for media made 40 years in the past, the Maxell participant has a satisfying fashionable look, with a principally white, composite physique and a band of silver/grey operating across the edge that leads you to the easy grey buttons (Quick-forward, Rewind, Play, and Cease) and to the, volumne wheel, ports and tiny Bluetooth button on the aspect. It is a much less fussy design than you may discover on the pricier, $160 participant from GenZ (speak about an on-the-nose model title)
There’s additionally a big clip on the again so you’ll be able to slip the participant in your belt or backpack. I attempted each, although settled on the backpack — extra on that in a bit.
The face of it has the traditional capsule-shaped cutout so you’ll be able to see your tape and possibly a little bit little bit of the album title. There is a small lip on the correct aspect that you just use to flip open the duvet so you’ll be able to slip in a tape. I attempted opening the participant by placing two fingers on the lip aspect and my thumb on the opposite. That was a mistake. It flips open simply with only one finger tip.
As a result of the whole face of the Maxell Wi-fi Cassette Participant is the cassette door, you’ll be able to’t seat it on its base while you need to load a cassette — the underside edge will get caught or make the entire thing tip over. It isn’t an enormous deal, however I do marvel if there was a greater solution to make that cowl.
As with nearly all cassette gamers made over the past 50 years, the cassett slips in high first and with the uncovered tape going through up.
Connecting and enjoying
I used to be not a mix-tape man, however I used to have a small assortment of audio cassettes that I performed in my outdated Hyundai’s built-in cassette participant. Since that automotive was gone, I had to search around for my outdated field of tapes. I discovered it underneath a layer of mud, however the cassettes had been in comparatively good situation.
I had an outdated Carly Simon album, the unique Broadway manufacturing of Chess solid album, some private recordings of my CBS Information Radio appearances (hear me speak about how Web Explorer 4 may lastly overtake Netscape!), and The Touring Wilburys. You won’t know that band title, however again in 1988, they had been one of many authentic tremendous teams, comprising Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and George Harrison. I beloved that album.
I slipped in that final tape after which plugged in a pair of wired headphones (simply to see if the factor labored). It doesn’t ship with headphones or a charging adapter, however you do get a USB-C charging cable.
There’s additionally no energy swap or button. As a substitute, when you hit any of the three predominant buttons and it simply begins, winding, rewinding, or enjoying. I pressed play, which was fairly satisfying, I have to admit, and heard the quartet’s immediately identifiable sound coming by means of my headset.
Bluetooth connectivity turned out to be considerably tougher.
Making the connection
Instructions for Bluetooth connectivity are comparatively spare, and it is in moments like this that you just understand simply how spoiled we’re by ever-present screens.
The one indication of the participant searching for and establishing a Bluetooth connection is a tiny blue gentle. It flashes in search mode and stays on when the connection is established.
My purpose was to attach the Maxell Wi-fi Cassette Participant to my Apple AirPods Professional 3. The Maxell handbook instructs you to place your Bluetooth gadget in pairing mode after which press and maintain the Bluetooth button on the participant to place it in pairing mode. That is it. They need to discover one another.
They didn’t.
It doesn’t matter what I attempted, I couldn’t get the AirPods Professional linked. At one level, although, I believed I heard a sound from my TV within the subsequent room. After half-hour of making an attempt, I walked into the lounge and turned on my LG C5 OLED TV. Then I positioned the Maxell cassette participant in entrance of it and hit play.
Yep, it had linked to my TV.
On the intense aspect, I might hear the music, however I additionally did not plan to take my TV with me.
Take 2
,The following day I took the Maxell participant with me to work and, whereas sitting on the prepare, I used to be capable of efficiently hook up with the AirPods Professional. My guess is there was simply an excessive amount of Bluetooth crosstalk in my home.
Maxell claims that after the primary connection, the headphones ought to mechanically hook up with the Maxell Participant. Typically that was true, however not persistently.
For my stroll to work, I put the Maxell Wi-fi Cassette Participant on my belt. Sadly, it couldn’t hook up with my AirPods. So I moved it as much as a backpack strap that put it inches from my head.
Bingo.
It labored, and I listened to clear, wealthy audio with nice highs, wonderful mids, and good-enough lows. The connection, although, was not all the time strong. It actually broke if I turned my head the improper method. Even so, I loved the expertise and the reactions.
Battery life
Maxell charges the participant for 11 hours of playback wired and eight hours utilizing Bluetooth. I unboxed it and began utilizing it, and have but to cost the participant. Once more, although, the shortage of a display screen means I do not know how a lot juice is left
Listening to cassette tapes isn’t just analog; it is a serial expertise. Songs are lined up sequentially on tape. You possibly can’t bounce round or see both what you are enjoying or what’s arising. Oh, and if you wish to hear the remainder of the album, you could take away the tape, flip it over, and slip it again into the participant.
Largely, I did not thoughts this. I additionally do not care in regards to the lack of recording capabilities. I do not plan on creating new cassette tapes. Although it was enjoyable rediscovering tapes I final performed after I was in my 30s, listening to my youthful, recorded voice opining on the state of the browser wars, and the younger voices of my now grownup kids. None of that may’ve been potential with out the $99 Maxell Wi-fi Cassette Participant, and it is price it only for that.
First reviewed April 2026
