TechAudioThis Hi-Res Audio player keeps the quality but drops the price tagAstell & Kern’s new Activo brand delivers serious specs for more affordable pricesWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechAudioThis Hi-Res Audio player keeps the quality but drops the price tagAstell & Kern’s new Activo brand delivers serious specs for more affordable pricesWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Astell & Kern’s new Activo brand delivers serious specs for more affordable prices
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Astell & Kern)
(Image credit: Astell & Kern)
Quick SummaryThe Activo P1 is the first digital audio player from Astell & Kern’s new and more affordable audio brand. It delivers an impressive specification for an RRP of £399.
The Activo P1 is the first digital audio player from Astell & Kern’s new and more affordable audio brand. It delivers an impressive specification for an RRP of £399.
The Activo P1 is the first digital audio player from Astell & Kern’s new and more affordable audio brand. It delivers an impressive specification for an RRP of £399.
The Activo P1 is the first digital audio player from Astell & Kern’s new and more affordable audio brand. It delivers an impressive specification for an RRP of £399.
If you’ve been hankering after a hi-res audio player but don’t want to pay a premium price tag, Astell & Kern’s new Activo brand could be just what you’ve been waiting for. Its new Activo P1 digital audio player is a hi-res audio player with support for all the key streaming services, it doubles as a wired or wireless DAC, it has 20-hour battery life and it has a price tag of just £399.
The P1 is built around an ESS ES9219Q SABRE Dual-DAC and Astell & Kern’s Teraton Alpha amp circuit. There are 3.5mm and balanced headphone outs, 64GB of storage and a microSD slot supporting capacities of up to 1.5TB, and it comes with the Play Store and pre-installed apps includingAppleMusic, Spotify, Qobuz, TIDAL and more. It supports lossless audio from those apps if you have the appropriate subscriptions.
Activo P1: high spec for a relatively low price
While the price is lower than you’d expect for Astell & Kern hardware there doesn’t appear to be any unnecessary corner cutting: Bluetooth is 5.3 with aptX HD and LDAC, charging supports PD 3.0 fast charging and there’s full MQA encoding for hi-res audio. You can check out the full specifications on theActivo website.
The design is less striking than a normal Astell & Kern device – it looks more like a smartphone than one of A&K’s fascinatingly textured players – and the interface is new: it’s light in colour and built around geometric shapes. Physical controls are limited: there are volume controls on one side and power and home buttons on the right. Everything else is done via the 4.1-inch touchscreen.
The Activo P1 is available from today fromAmazonwith an RRP of £399.
Sign up to the T3 newsletter for smarter living straight to your inbox
Get all the latest news, reviews, deals and buying guides on gorgeous tech, home and active products from the T3 experts
Samsung Galaxy S25: every leak, rumour and spec we’ve heard before the launch eventThis is everything we’ve heard about the new handsets
This is everything we’ve heard about the new handsets
This case turns your iPhone or Android phone into an e-reader, but there’s a catchActually, there are a couple…
Actually, there are a couple…
