I tested the We Are Rewind boombox and it rekindled joyful memories of splicing together mixtapes

Date:
Fri, 26 Dec 2025 10:27:00 +0000

Description:
We Are Rewinds GB-001 boombox is perfect for recording mixtapes and blasting bass.

FULL STORY ======================================================================

While testing out the We Are Rewind GB-001, the cassette-tape boombox with modern connectivity, something clicks in my brain. As Im cueing up tracks and recording them to a ferric oxide cassette tape, it triggers memories Id
almost completely forgotten: of lazy Sunday mornings piecing together tapes
to listen to during the week on my Sony Walkman.

Theres something deeply joyful about these memories. In an era before playlists were even a thing, recording mixtapes was the way wed attempt to reduce our entire personality down to a single 60-minute mashup. And theres a point during my testing of We Are Rewinds boombox that Im suddenly back there again, sat in front of hi-fi equipment meticulously taping tracks into place one by one and hoping I hadnt left the record input volume down again.

This is a big part of the devices magic. While its not the cheapest option of the best Bluetooth speakers out there with a list price of $579 / 389
(around AU$875) its these nostalgic moments that elevate it above and beyond your standard portable speaker. Will it keep me coming back once that retro charm has worn off? Its hard to pre-empt the answer to that question. But Id argue it has enough going for it that its more than just a novelty. We Are Rewind GB-001 ace of bass (Image credit: Future)

The first thing youll notice about the We Are Rewind GB-001 is its bass. This thing is not shy about serving up generous helpings of bass, so you better have a big appetite. Listening to Otomo (feat. O'Flynn) by Bonobo, I was genuinely blown away that huge drop sounds amazing, with the thwomping bass having so much presence. Even for a speaker of this size, it has a whole
lotta sub to give and can make almost any track sound wonderfully warm.

Ive heard so many speakers that have betrayed their brittler edges when Ive played Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac but rather than the harsh, glassy edges youll hear when a speaker overdrives the treble, here theyre nicely balanced and smooth. Some of the transients like snare and cymbal hits occasionally feel a little more forward than Id like, but for the most part
it doesnt overplay its hand in the high frequencies.

Where it does come slightly unstuck is in the middle. Dont get me wrong: the lower-mid tones of the guitar in Otherside by Maribou State sound gorgeous, feeling so beautifully polished, while the kick punched through the mix like it was shot from a rivet gun. Unfortunately though, this came at the slight cost of overshadowing upper-mid frequencies like those in Holly Walkers sublime vocals, making them seem much more subdued than Im used to.

It should be possible to finesse the mix a little with those bass and treble knobs, so I tested this theory out with Sit Down. Stand Up by Radiohead. Previously the kick and bass guitar were overwhelming elements like the thundering piano riff and the racing drum machine. With the bass turned down to 10 oclock, it definitely improved but even with both treble and bass
turned down completely, some of the higher-mid frequencies were still AWOL, suggesting its less an issue of balance and more a case that there are some frequencies the Boomboxs drivers are less confident with. (Image credit: Future)

What about stereo separation? Well, playing The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel, I could definitely detect the different channels at work, with the overdubbed electric guitar noticeably panned to the right, while the drum track look, I like that version, dont @ me eventually shuffles into place
on the left. Perhaps inevitably that sound doesnt extend much further than
the sides of the speaker but, short of side-firing drivers, few speakers can deliver that wide a soundstage. And it definitely is capable of a decent separation of each channel.

I dont want these slight sound gripes to overshadow a simple fact though: the We Are Rewind Boombox is a fun listen. Sure, its almost monomaniacally
fixated with bass but I suspect if youre buying a cassette-playing boombox in 2025, youre not doing so with the aim of accessing meticulously balanced audio. Instead youre expecting something with personality, thats capable of real impact and thats absolutely the niche We Are Rewinds boombox occupies. Effectively its a dope-sounding party speaker with retro functionality and it doesnt really need to be anything else. We Are Rewind GB-001 full of
features (Image credit: Future)

Naturally, the big appeal of the We Are Rewind GB-001 is going to be that
tape deck. That means you can pick up your parents old Rod Stewart tape,
stick it in this deck and its like the last four decades of non-physical
media never happened.

Now, I dont have a huge number of cassettes laying around. Hoarder though I am, I try to not keep any technology that has been obsolete for any longer than two decades and my collection of sonically degraded 1990s mixtapes did not survive a previous cull. So I borrowed some tapes off a colleague, including Megabass 2: Rave to the Rhythm which felt like the ideal kind of recording to test out the Boomboxs prowess.

Honestly, I found the results genuinely pretty impressive. Theres just the right amount of old school tape hiss to give the sound that analog authenticity without appreciably distorting the quality of the recording. And despite the fact the tape is easily 35 years old, there was almost no perceptible wow or flutter the fluctuating pitch you often associate with cassette playback. But it is worth noting that your mileage may vary here, as some of that distortion can be caused by the condition of the tape youre playing. (Image credit: Future)

But appealing though it might be to be able to play old-school tapes again, I suspect that for many, the biggest draw here might be getting to record your own tapes and mixes. Recording on the We Are Rewind Boombox is seriously fun
, unlocking something of that old magic of trying to stitch your fave tunes together in the perfect flow. On top of this, the recordings themselves are decent enough quality, sounding deliciously bassy while still having just enough compression and hiss to maintain some of that old school charm.

Youre not restricted exclusively to physical media though. You can easily
hook up modern streaming devices up to it as well for example, using the built-in Aux port, I was able to stream lossless quality audio from Apple Music on my laptop. On top of this you can connect wireless over Bluetooth
5.4 connecting was a cinch, while youve also got access to the increased range and lower latencies unlocked by previous versions.

Battery life is pretty decent, although this is partly down to the fact a device the size of the Boombox has a lot of room for a seriously capacious battery. Doing my usual battery tests was a little awkward, as theres no way to get an exact battery level reading here but I listened to the Boombox for 15 hours cumulatively during my testing and the low-battery light still hasnt come on, demonstrating itll definitely do you for a full pool party or impromptu rave. We Are Rewind GB-001 delightful design (Image credit:
Future)

Ill be honest here. When it comes to design, I have almost no notes for We
Are Rewind. It's nailed the look of the GB-001. But as yeah, it looks great makes for a pretty tedious review, Ill try to elucidate and throw some constructive criticism into the mix.

As with most of We Are Rewinds products, it's cartwheeled along the tightrope between faithful retro styling and modern sensibilities as though it were a sidewalk two feet wide. It looks more convincingly like the spirit of a boombox than a lot of the products I owned back when I was a kid. Its essentially the platonic ideal of a boombox instantly recognizable as such but without an inch of waste or unnecessary ornamentation to it.

Unlike the bright hues of some of We Are Rewinds portable tapedecks for example the bold pink and turquoise colorway of the Edith the Boombox is
more unassuming. The vast majority of its body is either black or gray, with just a splash of yellow to its record button and logo to remind you it doesnt take itself too seriously.

Build quality is first-rate. The matt plastic its fashioned from is smooth to the touch yet dependably solid, while the anodized metal plate that runs
along its top surface feels just luxe enough for a speaker of this price. (Image credit: Future)

Just as well-made is the series of switches and dials embedded into it. Whether youre flicking between different sources or dialling the bass and treble up and down, each of these controls feels chunky and substantial, giving you a decent amount of tactile feedback. Similarly, the buttons on the tape deck present just the right amount of resistance theres none of that plasticky clickiness I used to associate with tape decks.

It would be easy to dismiss the VU meters in the front of the device as a
mere gimmick, but actually I think theyre a stroke of genius. Watching the needles jump in time with the music Im playing gives me flashbacks to the
olds days of recording mixtapes on my dads old hi-fi gear. Even as a pure nostalgia thing, it really fits with the Boomboxs whole vibe and thats ignoring how useful it is for monitoring the volume of both recording and mic inputs.

So I promised I had some criticisms alongside all of the gushing. Well, my chief design complaint revolves around battery. While theres an indicator light, it only lights up when its either running low or on charge as a
result its essentially impossible to tell how much battery it has apart from when its almost too late. Given youre often likely going to be taking this speaker out and about with you, knowing how much juice it has left is really key information and it feels like We Are Rewind could easily rectify this issue.

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