Customer Ratings & Reviews

I bought this Ion Boom box primarily to use as a portable Bluetooth speaker, and in that capacity it works very well. The unit is pretty big, so let’s call it moveable rather than portable. you can’t toss it in your backpack. However, The large size delivers. The sound is good, much better than any of my (much smaller) portable rechargeable speakers. I still listen to over the air radio and this unit has good reception on both am & fm bands. I even played a 30 year old cassette tape and that sounded fine too. The rechargeable battery lasts several hours,(but I wasn’t timing it). The recording function left a lot to be desired- the sound quality was not very good. My biggest concern however, is the build quality. The antenna, knobs & switches all feel cheap and fragile- don’t let your little kids near it! There are usb and micro card ports that I haven’t used And a battery compartment for six “D”batteries that I’ll probably never use.

With a trained ear as a musician for most of my life, I appreciate good clarity. My opinions are based on that fact. Growing up in the 80’s, I’ve had my share of Boomboxes. I have no idea what happened to any of them at this point, but I have been wanting something like that again for years, so I was excited to see a company actually take a shot at re-creating the much adored old skool Boombox. I do applaud ION for the retro look of this (I had one very similar way back), but that’s about where the cool ends for me. Personally, the most important part of a Boombox is the sound and this just fails. While it is not trying to compete with audiophile quality, it could still be loads better. You get a two band (Bass & Treble) EQ, plus Bass Boost and that isn’t enough for me to coax a pleasing sound. The speakers are small and thin sounding causing distortion a little past 50% volume. Bass boost is useless and only makes speakers distort worse. I have tried cassettes, Micro SD music, radio, as well as Bluetooth, and while all of these options work well (it’s nice to actually have a Cassette deck again), the sound quality ultimately ruins the vibe. This is marketed as a modern version of a classic, which includes Bluetooth and an SD card slot. Bluetooth pairing with my Android phone was simple and flawless. Every time I flip the toggle to Bluetooth, it connects to my phone right away. The SD card slot is a welcome addition, but I have a couple of thoughts there as well. First off, why not include the more standard full size SD slot instead of a micro SD? I doubt there is a space issue, so that is odd. Secondly, there should definitely be a “shuffle” button included on the side controls for SD and/or USB device playback. Who really wants to listen to 8, 16, or 32 gigabytes of music all in a row? The tuner seems solid and gets great reception in my area. It includes an internal rechargeable battery. Very cool feature, but no sure how much time it will provide yet. There is also an option to load it up with six D cell batteries, but again I want to ask why? Why not use that space for a bigger internal rechargeable battery instead? Maybe even make it a battery that can be ejected and replaced over time. Conclusion… Nicely built, solid sounding, aesthetically pleasing Boomboxes were all the rage in my youth. I can only hope that other companies climb on board the retro wagon and start reproducing some of the classic Boomboxes of Generation X. Let’s also hope that if they do, they focus on sound quality a little more than this offering. PROS: Retro styling Internal rechargeable battery Cassette deck and Radio work well Built in mics so you can record straight to Cassettes/SD cards CONS: Speakers are thin causing distortion a little past 50% volume Bass boost is useless and only makes speakers distort worse Some of the printed text on mine is smeared, giving it a more cheap look Should use the D cell battery compartment for more internal battery SD slot should be full size No “shuffle” button for SD cards

This is a nice boombox, but it loses a star because of the sound quality and the so-so cassette mechanism. On the plus side: it has a great retro look, the controls are simple, it has a built-in rechargeable battery, it has Bluetooth, it has a radio, it plays MP3s from a thumb drive, and it plays cassettes. On the minus side: not much bass (even with the bass boost on), the sound quality deteriorates at high volume, and the cassette mechanism lacks auto-shutoff after fast forward or rewind. The rechargeable battery is a great feature and it lasts a surprisingly long time, even when playing cassettes. This boombox is great for podcasts and audiobooks, but not as great for music. It is a bit heavy, but still very portable with a sturdy handle.

I'm a professional DJ and love the nostalgia of this little radio. The price is amazing if you like the look because the sound is pretty good. I'd say it's twice as good as what would have originally came out of this radio back in the day. Good for a single room or small area. The Blue Tooth works great but I still have to dig out some of my caste crates to test out the tape deck. I also want to try the recording because I think it's time to make some classic mix tapes. AM/FM radio, great accents with the working VU meters. The power configuration is a bit weird. You can plug it in to the wall, Use D Cell batteries to power it or if you take the batteries out and unplug it from the wall, It uses a mini arc reactor from Stark Industries to power the radio, pretty cool. No really.....it must have an additional rechargeable battery inside the radio. Freaked me out when we were playing music, turned it over and there were no batteries in the compartment. I turned to my wife and asked her if she was a good witch or bad witch? Christmas morning didn't go well after that but the radio is loud enough to tune out all the gripping.

I gave this for 5 stars because everything you need is there. They have a tape recorder for 80, Radio FM and AM, Bluetooth, Mini SD card, Bild in the battery for 9 hours good for the beach, camping and any outdoor activity. I love using my iPhone playing my Music using this Bluetooth speaker Boombox. The sound is a package I recommend to everyone that love music .

I first bought the Boombox to digitize my cassette collection. Once I got it out of the box, and started to discover all the features I was amazed! Bluetooth, Auxiliary, AM FM, Cassette, Digital recorder. Not only can you record cassettes, you can also record anything paired in. Own a Bluetooth turn table? Record your album collection. Now lets talk portability! It can run on electric, D cell batteries, OR the built in Lithium battery that lasts for like 5 plus hours. Best $69.95 I ever spent on music equipment! Oh Yeah, and it has great sound!

this boom box is clutch for bluetoothing our phones to it. i like that we can move it to different rooms. you can also charge it and the charge will last for a long time. the radio stations clear and easy to find. and i can play all of my old tapes. sometimes i lose the charge cord but ive found that other cords of the same type work just as well

I never take the time to review products. I typically expect them to work as advertised or return them. However, with retro/nostalgic products, you almost always are disappointed in performance. Cheap, tinny sound with no real value expect the initial visual. However, I have to hand it to ION for taking the time to actually make a decent, solid performing boombox that feels like it belongs in the 80's with current technology. No, the sound is not superb, but its pretty dang good and definitely worthy to use and enjoy. The feel/weight of the boombox is very solid, the battery is great, and the details are presented very nicely. Cassettes and Bluetooth work flawless and I might add the cassette player mechanism is well-made unlike most other current cassette players. Also, have to give props for the included manual which is well written with a purpose...like ION actually gave a crap to present a cared for product to have you enjoy it. I truly appreciated it and hope this product's success leads to influence more companies from releasing higher quality products like this. A+

My MIL had offered us a bunch of cassette tapes from when my mom was little, and whilst we have 3 high quality audio systems in the house - all of the cassette mechs needed replacement belts, and I haven't had time to fix them so I needed to grab a cheap cassette player. This is very well built, and is oozing with options and capability. Power wise, it'll run of D cell batteries...however it also has a 10hour built in Lithium Ion battery which I did not see advertised anywhere when I bought it. It'll also run off AC. My only complaint with the AC, is I wish that the plug was on the rear and not the side as it makes it look ugly with a cord sticking out of the side. Sound quality is pretty good, but don't expect it to match the quality of an 80's or 90's or even early 2000's model stereo. The bluetooth quality is pretty good, as is the radio. I would strongly advise against using this to record to cassette, as the quality is appalling. Cassette playback on the other hand, is actually pretty reasonable. Recording FROM cassette to SD card is also very reasonable. It records at 128kbps fixed mp3, but it sounds fine. If you truly care about cassette to digital, get a Nakamichi cassette deck and use Audacity. I placed this in front of my 10 year old so we could listen to music together, and she loves it. Whenever I pull this thing out, she gets so excited and stares off at it, totally zoned out. I find I use mostly the bluetooth feature for her music - but she has learned to use most of the buttons. Overall, it's a great little stereo and my daughter loves it. That's what matters.

I'm loving my upgraded retro boom box. Plays cassettes, records cassettes, and am/FM radio has great reception. Box sounds good if not pushed to full volume and has bass and treble control knobs. Has built in microphone for voice recording, plus an auxiliary input for other options. Boom box also receives Bluetooth. Over all there's a lot of fun here!

I bought this to listen to old cassette tapes I had recorded. I am a musician. The plan was to go back and listen to music I had personally made and recorded on cassettes and then transfer some highlights to MP3s. I was surprised to hear how good the old cassettes played back on the newly purchased machines. The speed was at the same speed as when the cassettes were originally recorded and the sound was very clear and in distorted. I am still working through listening to the old cassettes and have not yet transferred parts to MP3s. But, based on how good the machine sounds playing back old cassettes, I tend to think the conversion to MP3s will work, though I won’t know until I try the function. I really thought this cassette deck would be a piece of garbage. It’s not. It works and sounds great. One thing to warn others about. Make sure you punch out the do not record over tab on any old Home recording cassettes you plan on listening to with this deck. I forgot how on some cassette recorder decks how pushing in the play button is so close to the record button. This one is the same. (In error I recorded over 5 seconds of an old cassette when in error I pushed the record button at the same time as the play button. Had I first punched out the cassette’s do not record tab on the cassette before my error, the 5 seconds would still be on original cassette instead of lost forever. Now, I am punching out the tab to not enable future recording on all of the old cassettes before I play them as the record button is easily inadvertently pushed in when the play button is pushed. Lesson learned. This machine is like an old cassette recorder/player reissued with some digital capabilities. It also has Bluetooth capabilities that can be paired with your smart phone to play music on. Quite a cool cassette deck.

I had a stereo unit very similar to this one back in the early eighties and thought I would give it a try. Glad I did! It has a USB port for digital music, a real cassette player, AM/FM stereo receiver, micro SD card slot and an internal battery that lasts me 8 solid hours of 60% volume level. It also has a compartment for 6 D cells (why, I have no idea) but guess it's good for if the main battery drains. It also has two working analog VU meters and of course, LED meters too! SOund quality is fantastic and it's much lighter than the original units back in the day. The only problem I have is the tuner slide assembly could have been designed a little better. It hangs up a little on the far low and far right side of the frequency scalesa. Other than that I am very satisfied with this unit!

this was a gift for my husbands garage & he loves it. the tape player actually functions & the radio does too. good sound & such a fun retro look. you can plug it in, use batteries, or charge it up & use with no power source. bluetooth works great.

First we tried to find a cassette deck to stack with our audio components, but everything was too large, and/or too expensive. We even tried eBay for used equipment because our audiofile friends said to try it, but still no dice. Of course younger salespeople said “just do streaming” but the fact is, it is fun to look at shelves of cassettes and pull one down to play! So, in the end we got this little boombox style player. We like it and it is cute with its retro-style. I assume it will not last 10 years or anything- but for now it does the trick! It has the built-in radio too and we listen to our shows on it. We are happy.

I absolutely love everything about this boom box, I’m talking Sound Quality, cassette player, mini SD card slot and usb! Even the radio and antenna are spot on! Do yourself a favor and purchase this product!

Sounds great little better then expected but same time was hoping for more but still the fact you can do blue tooth radio or cassettes and it has a rechargeable battery is great.

I brought this to a photoshoot set knowing we'd be there all day and needed some music. When someone said they wanted to get their bluetooth speaker from the car I said "I've got it covered" and pulled this out and everybody freaked out. Everyone really thought it was vintage and when I popped out the cassette and flipped the tape over that added to the effect. I pressed play and started rolling a tape I recorded the night before and they couldn't believe it. That covers the visual aspect of this little boom box, now for the performance. - TL;DR - Fun but not perfect, I bought this when it was half price, but wouldn't pay full price for it. - The night before the photoshoot I tried recording a tape. I used the bluetooth mode to stream music through the boombox and recorded it on a new tape (also purchased from Best Buy). When I went to play it back it had TONS of noise, the sound quality was really poor. I think this is a problem with recording because when I put in my Guardians of the Galaxy mix tape it sounded fine. My experience recording to tape hasn't been great but it plays pre-recorded tapes just fine. Overall sound is OK but not amazing. I bought this on a half price sale and it was worth it for that price but I wouldn't have paid full price for it. Most importantly, I wish Best Buy would have a link to the online user manual. It wasn't until I read some of the other reviews on here that I realized this unit has a built-in battery. I installed "D" batteries to use it outside of the house and didn't realize they were not needed. I've run into some strange issues with power not working and I wonder if it's because of a conflict between the AC on/off switch, the "D" cell batteries and the internal battery (which I didn't know existed). Build quality is OK but I find the levers and switches on the top to be very plastic but for the half price sale when I purchased it I can overlook that.

Great! All the features and functions of a retro boomvbox plus the new connectivity technology of modern bluetooth speakers. Included internal re-chargeable battery with the option to plug in the wall or use DD batteries.

Walked in to find a portable radio for My farther in law and came out with this ! My father n law loves this retro Boom box. (I purchased this for him for Christmas)Sound is awesome , and could not believe the nostalgia of the look and feel but with modern tech! He love that you can charge it ,plug it in, or even put batteries in it just in case scenario! Lol. Tape player is functional and you could record if you like. Would recommend...he loves it and I love it. Burrowed it twice!

I saw this cool item in a store and had to have one. I grew up in the 80’s and the retro look of the was so cool. Got one for Christmas and out of the box played an old cassette tape and was like, “COOL!” That was about it with the wow factor. After hooking it up to my phone’s Bluetooth (which is very easy BTW), I began to be underwhelmed by the flat sound. The adjustable treble, bass, stereo mode, etc really didn’t improve anything in regards to sound. For $99 this product ain’t worth it. I get way better sound from my ”Wonderboom” speakers for 1/2 the price. Wish they had a floor model to demo in store before buying. As it is this device with probably have minimal use, gather dust, and be sold in a garage sale for like $25 in a couple of years.