Great, Now I Need a Next-Gen, Cassette Tape-Playing Boombox

If you’re super nostalgic for the days of analog, modern Bluetooth devices probably aren’t cutting it. You can’t pick Bluetooth up; you can’t see it; you can’t… forget to rewind it and then have to wait to start your favorite album over again. Luckily, IFA 2025 is here, and the sky is the limit, which means we now have a modern boombox that can play honest-to-God cassettes while still leaving room for the convenience of wireless music streaming and hi-fi audio.

We Are Rewind’s GB-001 is billed as a “next-gen” boombox, and outside of having a built-in cassette deck that plays tapes, it can also record on cassettes, which is a huge win for your next (very anticipated) lo-fi album drop. The company goes out of its way to assure us that the GB-001 isn’t just a gimmick; it’s also built to deliver hi-fi sound with separate left and right tweeters and woofers that combine for a total of 104W of power. Couple that with features like “dynamic power control,” which is designed to lower distortion, and a “spatialization” function for “a wider, more immersive stereo image,” and—on paper—you’ve got yourself a boombox that may actually earn the “next-gen” marketing.

Equally as important as the sound and the fun analog features is the look. I’m a big fan of the symmetrical rectangular build and the black color with a tiny pop of yellow on the buttons. My favorite part is the two backlit VU meters, which show your playback levels but also levels for recording, which is legitimately useful when using a mic. Speaking of useful, there’s also an included mic input that you can adjust the levels on for when recording live sound.

If all that analog goodness isn’t cutting it, you’ll be happy to know that the GB-001 has Bluetooth 5.4 and a battery that’s both rechargeable and replaceable. We Are Rewind says you’ll get about 10 hours of playback in tape mode and up to 15 hours when listening in aux mode, though figures are dependent on volume, and I’m not totally clear on whether aux mode and Bluetooth battery are the same. Those aren’t the best battery figures in the world, but tapes, people, come on.

I’m dying to try this thing out, but preorders aren’t open quite yet. We Are Rewind has announced European pricing; the GB-001 starts at £379 and €449, and honestly, that’s not as bad as I’d expect for a cool-looking device that kind of does it all—cassettes included.