Astell&Kern is known for its high-end portable music players, but the company is back with a slightly different take. The new Astell&Kern P1 is just as premium as its previous models, but unlike previous devices, this one is built for those with a more active lifestyle.
So how does that manifest? Well, the player offers a more durable build and design elements that lend themselves better to quick control while on the go. The body is built with a combination of aluminum and polycarbonate, providing a smooth and comfortable feel while remaining grippy enough to hold easily. Not only that, but the buttons on each side of the player are uniquely shaped to allow users to control them by feel without having to look at them. Essentially, the P1 should be fully usable while it’s in your pocket without needing to take it out to look at the screen.
Of course, it’s not all about the build quality though. As you would expect from Astell&Kern, the P1 boasts plenty of tech to make for better sound quality too. In fact, the player supports audio at up to 32-bit/384kHz, which is absolutely huge and more than the vast majority of listeners will ever need. This essentially means that each of the left and right channels gets its own dedicated DAC chip, which means that there’s more balanced and vivid audio.
The player has a USB DAC mode that you can use in conjunction with your Mac or Windows computer. In USB DAC mode, audio is sent from your computer to the P1 itself, which you’ll connect your headphones to, for better audio than you would get by connecting your headphones directly to your computer.
The Astell&Kern P1 has Android built into it, with support for the Google Play Store, so you can download your favorite streaming apps or other apps if you want. It has 64GB of internal storage, but there’s a microSD card slot that supports expanded storage of up to 1.5TB, which should be more than enough to store all your favorite high-res files. Under the hood, it has an octa-core processor that Astell&Kern claims maintains smooth operation, and it offers a battery life of up to 20 hours of listening.
The Astell&Kern P1 digital audio player is available for $430 here.
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