When you think about portable cassette players, you probably wouldn’t associate words like “premium” or “modern” with them. Instead, you would probably think about more retro cassette players, ones that you would use in the 1980s that now feel low-tech, maybe even a bit fragile or rickety. But what if I told you that cassette players are still made to this day, and are making a comeback? And in a sea of cheap cassette players on the market, the Fiio CP13 seeks to stand out with its modern design applied to retro sensibilities.

This portable cassette player isn’t like the other ones. It has a sturdy, and dare I say, luxurious build. The device boasts higher quality internal components than other mass-produced portable cassette players, and it’s garnered the attention of cassette nerds on the internet. So does the Fiio CP13 live up to the hype? I got my hands on one, put in my favorite tapes, plugged in my favorite headphones, and got to work to find out.

Price, specs, and availability

This device is hefty, simple, and beautiful

The Fiio CP13 is available on Amazon and AliExpress, as well as other platforms through third party sellers. It retails for $100 USD, though prices can fluctuate, and it can be found on sale as well. It’s rather hefty, weighing 310 grams, and its dimensions are 1.2 x 8.8 x 3.2 cm. The housing of the device is aluminum, and it comes in a variety of colors, with the blue and red players having a silver backing, and the white player having black accents.

This cassette player has a 3.5mm jack for headphones, and doesn’t have any Bluetooth, so you’ll need to use wired headphones to listen to cassettes on it. It has a 1800mAh battery with a 13-hour battery life, so you can get quite a bit of listening time out of it without having to worry about charging. It charges using USB-C, so it also charges up pretty quickly.

What I liked about the Fiio CP13

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cassette player quite as aesthetically pleasing as this one

The very first thing I thought when I unboxed the Fiio CP13 was just how beautiful it is. The cassette player has an aluminum housing, and the device has some weight to it, making it feel like a premium audio product, as opposed to some of the cheaper plastic cassette players you can find online. The buttons are pleasantly smooth to press down, the volume knob feels wonderful, and the luster of the housing is almost mesmerizing. The whole experience of just holding and looking at the cassette player is incredible. It feels like holding a piece of art in my hands.

Not only is it beautifully built, the internals of the cassette player are impressive too. The Fiio CP13 has a nice, thick copper flywheel that ensures tapes play smoothly with as little frequency wobble as possible, and a high-voltage motor to ensure tapes are played at a consistent, stable speed.

And sure enough, while using the cassette player, I did notice less frequency wobble, commonly called “flutter” and “wow.” I played a few of the same cassettes in the Fiio CP13 along with two other cassette players I have, the ByronStatics cassette player and the Gracioso cassette player, and every cassette sounded much better in the Fiio CP13 than the other two. This is enough to prove to me that the CP13 stands out as a high quality portable cassette player with a focus on good internals and good design.

Lastly, I really like that the CP13 has a rechargeable battery. It has a long 13-hour battery life, and I think this helps bridge the gap between retro and modern tech. You get the authentic feeling of using a retro product that just plays cassettes and doesn’t have anything frivolous like Bluetooth, but you don’t have to rummage through your drawers for AA batteries to use it, and can just use the USB-C chargers you already have in your house when you need to power it up.

What I didn’t like about the Fiio CP13

If I could record with it, and if it just had a belt clip, it would be that much better

One thing I wish is that Fiio CP13 had recording capabilities. I’ve used other portable cassette players that are able to record as well as play cassettes, and it would’ve been nice for this one to be able to too. When I was younger and used cassettes more, I would often use them for recording, like recording my singing lessons, recording voice memos, or recording mixtapes. Being able to do those things would make this cassette player feel a bit more authentically retro to me, but again, this isn’t a major qualm.

I also wish the CP13 had some sort of clip to attach it to myself, so I can clip it to my belt and use it while I walk around. It’s portable in that it’s small enough to hold in my hand and move around, or that I can put it in my tote bag, but it’s not portable enough to walk around and listen to music with it outside or even around my house. It feels like more of a stationary device in this way, and if I could attach it to myself in some way, it would be significantly more useful.

Understandably, this cassette player is pretty pricey, coming in at $100. The price, in my opinion, is justified by how well-built it is, but at that price, I would’ve liked to see more features with this cassette player. I would still buy and enjoy this cassette player for that price, but it certainly is not a steal, and more of a splurge.

Should you buy a Fiio CP13?

I would recommend the Fiio CP13 to any cassette enthusiasts who want a high quality, beautiful, and simple cassette player. People who want a cassette player with a pleasantly bright sound profile and high quality internal components will enjoy using this cassette player.

Its high price can be a bit of a barrier to entry, so this isn’t for anyone looking for a cheap cassette player that just gets the job done. There are certainly cheaper portable cassette players out there, and if you want something that will do more than just play cassettes, like being able to record and having a radio, you won’t find that here.