PORTABLE MUSIC PLAYERS

These portable devices bring impressive hi-fi quality to your music, wherever you want to take it

Astell & Kern A&norma SR25 MkII

₹POR

Considering the shrinking portable music player market – in all likelihood squashed by the smartphone – Astell & Kern need not have tried so hard with this upgrade to their Award-winning entry-level player. But if we can assume anything about the South Korean company’s engineers, it’s that they are tinkerers by nature. If they find an opportunity to squeeze more out of a player, they will. And have with the A&norma SR25 MkII.

This latest entry-level player retains all the features that made its predecessor such a pleasing music companion: 32-bit/384kHz and DSD256 file compatibility, two-way Bluetooth with LDAC and aptX HD support, the ability to use the player strictly as a DAC, and built-in access to streaming services plus a full MQA decoder.

The built-in 64GB storage will accommodate roughly 200 CD-quality FLAC albums or about one-fifth as many in 24-bit/192kHz quality, so avid collectors of hi-res albums will probably need to fork out for a microSD card (of up to 1TB) to expand on the integrated memory.