The PonoPlayer is a new breed of MP3 players that features the “greater than CD-quality” playback. Its debut at CES 2015 was accompanied by similar devices in the forms of the Cowon Plenue 1 and the Sony ZX2. Most of the high-end players would have a cost of approximately $1000; the PonoPlayer goes up to a quasi-affordable price of $400.
The first thing you would notice about this device is the form. While most players these days desperately try to mimic the iPod as much as possible, the PonoPlayer comes in to shatter that stereotype. The device measures in at 5 x 2 x 1 inches (long, wide, deep) and it is triangular shaped, somewhat like the iRiver T60 and T50. The design of the PonoPlayer, according to company officials, permits the usage of a larger cylindrical battery that measures 2950 mAh. Quite the size for an MP3 player.
The PonoPlayer is based on the design of Neil Young and it is generally referred to as the “Pono”. The player encompasses two different platforms in the form of the PonoPlayer hardware and the PonoMusic Web Store. The kick with the music store is that it sells high-resolution recordings of various famous artists. Combo that with the hi-res of the PonoPlayer on its own and you get a total blast.
Calling the PonoPlayer an “MP3 player” is a bit of an understatement, as it is designed to reproduce high quality audio (24-bit/192 Hz), and is compatible with formats like FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AAC, AIFF, ALAC. Even if the design on the device is not something of the new-age-slim category, it is not by any means outdated. The PonoPlayer features an internal storage capacity of 64 GB, plus a microSD card slot that can fit up to 64 added GBs, so 128 in total if you’re in need.
The design of the PonoPlayer gives it a better grip while in hand and allows for it to station vertically on any surface (desk, table, stand etc). According to company officials the device has all-around quality hardware inside to give the best listening experience. Neil Young got Ayre Acoustics on board and put in an ESS Sabre 9018 DAC, quite the power I would say. The player features two jack-outputs, one for headphones and a line-out.
The standard color variants for the PonoPlayer are black/yellow, while Kickstarter earlybirds were able to get limited-edition pieces signed by artists such as Willie Nelson, Arcade Fire and Neil Young himself. The PonoPlayer is sync-able to either PC or Mac via a Micro-USB connection and a special app.
