5.0 out of 5 stars Works well for a small unit

S.S. · March 21, 2024

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } I live in a tiny studio condo and wanted something small to play my CDs, LPs, and to listen to the local radio. Sounds good to me and takes up almost no space. Easy to use manually as well. I don’t need another remote laying around. Not sure the wire antenna does anything but I live in town so reception is fine. No, it isn’t audiophile sound but I wasn’t looking for that. All plastic and very light too. Good purchase for me.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic purchase, so glad we went with this one

M. · January 6, 2021

So, it's only day one of having this player. But we absolutely LOVE it.The record player works fantastically. Bluetooth connected like a dream radio comes in clear. Havent tried any cassettes yet, but will soon. All sound is clear as a bell.The only con so far, is we do wish the volume would go higher. We will be needing to add speakers if we want more volume. Don't expect to really jam the heck out if you're partying *but* it does get loud enough for general music listening.This would 100% make a great gift for any music lover, and I feel like the price point was unbeatable for it's worth.Edit, 3 years later: I still absolutely love this record player!

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good for digitizing

M. · November 27, 2024

I would say the most important consideration is the purpose of the device. This device has a lot of built in features for digitizing legacy media like vinyl records and cassette tapes. I've found that it is excellent for this function and I've already digitized several vinyl records - 45s and LPs, and several cassette tapes. However for the function of daily enjoyment of legacy media, this is not the best choice.Opening the box, there was an insert stating that the company had no control over the environment the product may have been in during shipment, and this may have affected the belt that controls the turntable. It showed diagrams showing simple step by step instructions on how to correct this. It seemed very simple - something that I could do that could save me the trouble and delay of returning it. However, I had no issues with the belt - the turntable worked perfectly out of the box.This device has an FM radio that works very well, however I feel that the claim that it has an AM radio is misleading. It technically does have an AM radio, but it won't tune to every frequency on the AM band, instead it jumps from one preset frequency to another. For example, in my city, the dominant AM station is AM 770, but as I turn the tuning knob, it jumps to 664, then 773, so it's impossible to tune to AM 770. However, for my digitizing project I have no need for an AM radio so this isn't a factor for me, but it could be an issue if the device were used for general purpose entertainment.It has two speakers built into the device and they are "loud enough" but not room-filling. It has a headphone jack, so you could use an adapter to hook up powered speakers to this jack. It does not have any RCA ports in the back of the device. The Bluetooth feature is for inbound signals, not outbound.If you look closely, the stylus component is red. From research online, this is an indication that this is a ruby-tipped "needle" with a ceramic cartridge. For daily enjoyment of vinyl media, audiophiles recommend a diamond tipped "needle" with a magnetic cartidge. They say a diamond tip lasts longer and offers better performance. However, for digitizing, this thing seems to work fine, to be honest. They say the ruby tipped stylus should be replaced after 200 plays, but the replacement stylus seems cheap, and the replacement instructions seem simple.For these digitizing systems, some of them have a front loading cassette deck, which is what I'm familiar with, but this one has a side-loading design. From researching online, this is because the designers used a design that was originally intended for cars. It makes sense. For a car, you have a limited amount of space to work with, and you just want to play the tape - you don't want to mess with it while you're driving. For me, this caused some confusion, but here are the rules. There is no traditional pause, fast forward, or rewind. You pop in the cassette and it plays immediately. When you're done, you press the eject button to remove it. On the front of the device there are stop, play/pause, fast forward, and rewind buttons. These may be intended for the CD because they have no effect on the cassette tape.Digitizing is very easy, but the steps are not intuitive. First plug in a flash drive, then select the appropriate mode (vinyl/cassette) by pressing the "MODE" button. Press "REC". Wait for "USB" to flash. Then press "REC" again. It should start flashing "rec". Then press the "play/pause" button. Now the "rec" indicator should stop flashing. At this point either start playing the record or pop in the cassette. When you're done, press the "stop" button, then press the "rec" button. That sequence can be important. Getting it wrong may cause the system to not save the recording. It creates a directory on the flash drive named "REC" and it stores the MP3 files there.Once nice thing about this device is that it uses a sample rate of 96Khz, which is very good. For comparison, CDs use a sample rate of 44.1 Khz.This device has a convenient remote that allows you to turn it off and on, quickly select the mode, and change the volume.I tested the bluetooth and CD functions. It played my CD, and I was able to digitize a song from YouTube Music. I'm not sure why I would need to do that, but it's possible.In summary, this is a very good tool for digitizing your vinyl records and cassette tapes. It supports speeds of 33, 45, and 78, but I've only used the first two speeds. If you are looking for a device for the daily enjoyment of your legacy media, you may want consider a different option.Right now I'm listening to a cassette recording that I made back in 1996. The playback and digitizing functions work great. After this I'll use WavePad to trim the ends. The volume is already optimized on the digital file.Tip: When you pop in the cassette you have to position the cassette so that the side with the exposed tape is facing the back of the device. From this perspective, the tape is pulled from right to left, so you probably want most of the tape to be on the right side of the cassette.

1.0 out of 5 stars Poor Quality – Short Lifespan

J.G. · June 21, 2025

The turntable stopped working after just three months of use. Very disappointing quality for something expected to last much longer.

5.0 out of 5 stars Nice little music player

J.L. · May 6, 2024

Compact yet has many modes to listen to music and great sound. Radio reception is good and the remote is great for switching modes and turning on or off. It comes with a 3 year warranty and packaged to prevent damage. Clear succinct instruction manual. Good music bang for the buck

3.0 out of 5 stars Possibly defective unit

H.E. · August 22, 2023

I loved this phonograph when I received it. I carefully read the manual. My primary purpose in purchasing this was to use it to transfer my huge collection of vinyl to digital. The first problem I encountered was that the hard buttons on the unit did not respond when pressed. I fared better using the remote but it had weird delays. I followed the instructions to record a vinyl and, using the remote, the phonograph seemed to be responding. My flash drive was flickering like data was being written. But when I checked the flash drive, it was completely blank. I tried three different flash drives and three different vinyls all to the same result — nothing recorded. I went to Bolo to see if I could get support but my only option was to return the unit for a refund. So I contacted the manufacturer directly. They responded and said they would get back to me. A couple days passed with no response and so I emailed again to tell them I was returning the unit. Then I received an email with a set of instructions that were not included in the user manual (I reread the thing to make sure I hadn’t missed it.). So, first, the flash drive could not be larger than 32GB. And second, the flash drive needed to be formatted to FAT32. So, I incorporated these instructions and still experienced delays when pressing the buttons on the device itself. After a couple hours of having no success in recording (I had files created but they were zero kb), I gave up and re-emailed the manufacturer. They were really trying to help, even sending me a brief video showing a hand pressing the buttons. I tried SEVEN more times. Twice the button pushing failed to initiate the recording process at all. Twice I was able to successfully make a recording. Three times there were “recordings” but they were blank. The disconcerting thing was the USB drive was flickering in all seven tests like it was recording. So, there was no way to tell if my recording was working until I’d finished. I reported all this back to the manufacturer and they did offer to send me a new unit but I had already shipped mine back to Bolo for a refund.The positives were that the unit was very nice and compact. Sound was “ok” but nothing to get excited about but for my purposes of just transferring vinyl to digital, great sound didn’t matter much. And the manufacturer’s customer support was very good. After the initial delay, they did try very hard to resolve my issues. I think that the unit I received was defective because pushing the buttons in exactly the same sequence did not present the same results.Ultimately, not knowing IF the recording was working till I’d recorded a whole vinyl was the deal breaker.

5.0 out of 5 stars Good product

A. · January 28, 2025

Functions all work well! Good sound, price is fair!