Feel the Joy of Making Mixtapes With These 4 Cassette Players

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The last time I used a cassette player was in the 2002 Honda CR-V I drove in high school. I'm not trying to undercut my authority by pointing out how young I am, but I've got a special connection to cassette, unlike most of my Gen-Z counterparts. To play music in my car, I had to use a cassette to aux converter. My friends never let me live down how bad it sounded, so I leaned in. I got a shitty little recorder and used downloaders to turn YouTube videos to MP3 files and MP3 files to cassette tapes. I might be the only person in the world that had Young Thug's Barter 6 and Future's DS2 on cassette. (Hopefully I'm past the statute of limitations on that.)

Vinyl is its own beast, obviously. Everyone has a turntable and bookshelf speakers these days. But, there are little enthusiast communities popping up around all sorts of bygone media types, not just the analog ones. There are people who still use MP3 players (technically called DAPs now) and DVD players and Hi-Fi analog speakers. I might sound like a bozo saying, "Wow look what I just found out, people still use old stuff," but it's cool.

No matter how much new tech, like goggle computers, pours out and gets awarded by tech editors like myself, people are always going to use older, physical media. Some might even go back because of the fast-pace of new tech and streaming services, not in-spite of them, and experience stuff like cassette players for the first time. That, my friends, is a beautiful thing. If you're looking to do it and want to know what the best cassette players on the market are, I did the testing for you. You can shop them right here.

Portable Cassette Player

It’s amazing when small time enthusiasts from across the world can make specialty products they’re passionate about and ship them out to other random enthusiasts. The Rewind Player is the best example of that. Made by some little company in France, and costing a pretty steep $159, this thing is keeping the Walkman tradition alive.

It’s a simple player with a nice blend of new and old tech. It has simple, analog controls, and it can record cassettes from an aux connection. But, the coolest part is that it's got bluetooth. You don't have to worry about a second pair of headphones when switching between this and your iPhone. It's not authentic, but it's convenient.

CR7010A-BK

If you’re looking for a cassette player, I’m going to bet you’re not just into cassettes. You’re excited about physical music players more broadly. You probably have some vinyl. You probably even like the not physical, but not streaming, players like CD and radio. Instead of buying four separate machines, why not get an all-in-one.

This stereo isn’t anything fancy. It doesn’t look incredible, and it won’t be beloved by serious vinyl heads. But, it can play and record cassettes. It can play vinyl and CDs. It can get radio. It'll connect to your fancy stereo speakers via RCA. Hell, you can even connect your phone via aux or bluetooth and stream music when that’s easiest. For at home listening, this is your one-stop player.

Retro Boombox Cassette Player

Hey, if you're going to go around to thrift stores and buy old cassettes, why not lean into the look? Beyond cashing in on the extra dose of nostalgia, Audiocrazy actually makes the best new cassette players on the market.

First and foremost, it can play cassette tapes. Cool. But, it's also got a great internal speaker, which is tough to find on a lot of this stuff. It even functions as a nice little bluetooth speaker. The battery has decent power. And, you can use it as an AM/FM radio and record your favorite segments. Or, you can—get excited about this one—use it as a shortwave radio. My dad still talks about when he would use his shortwave radio in the '70s. Since he was in Louisiana, right at sea-level, on clear nights he could pick up ship communications from the Atlantic Ocean.

All of that to say: There's a lot of cool analog things that people don't care much about these days. This cassette player does a lot of those things.

Portable Cassette Player

As for something that does the classic Walkman deal with no frills, this is a nice little player. You can play a cassette, record audio, and listen to radio. That's it, and that's why it cost $40.

Still, you get the luxury of bluetooth, since we are still operating in 2024. If you don't want to do bluetooth, you've got a 3.5mm aux jack that you can use as well.

I've actually got difficulty calling this a no frills player, because it's just a cassette player. The only reason it's "no frills" is because all the other options that we like on this list happen to have a lot of frills. If you just want something to listen to your old tapes or play the new ones you're scooping at the record store, this is the player for you.

What to Look for When Buying Cassette Players

Let me tell you, of all the forms of physical media that people obsess over, cassettes are the least snobby. They were cheap, portable ways to sell albums, and they were easy to use for mixtapes. It's not like vinyl or CD where people obsess over the sound. That's why the testing criteria below don't have much to do with sound:

Versatility - Having a dedicated cassette player in 2024 is silly, even for enthusiasts. Unless you're a collector, I advise getting something with multiple uses. These all function as radios, speakers, or other types of music players.

Output for Speakers - We tried to stick to options that had practical speaker outputs, not just 3.5mm headphone jacks. RCA connections and bluetooth capabilities were top priorities.

Looks - Don't lie to yourself. You're here for the aesthetic. We kept it classic and strayed away from cheap and ugly Amazon options.

Ability to Tinker - A big part of cassette enthusiasts love for the medium is tinkering with the players. It's not digital, and it's more straightforward than a record player. We tried to stay true to that, especially with our budget pick.

Why Trust Esquire?

I mean who else is even writing critically about cassette players, MP3 players, and DVD players? We're you're only option.

Joking aside, We've been reviewing the best tech for (collectively) decades. Sure, cassette players aren't the pinnacle of tech, but we know our way around A/V, as well. We took our expert knowledge and impeccable taste, and we tested out a bunch of the cassette players you can buy in 2024 to find these top options.

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