This Affordable, Vintage-Inspired Speaker Breathes New Life Into a Classic Audio Format

The new-age boombox combines old-school flair and playback ability with modern flexibility.

Published May 15, 2025

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Although it may not be on the same scale as vinyl, cassette tapes are experiencing a revival, too. According to reports, sales of the old school audio format have risen nearly 400 percent since 2015.

One of the companies spearheading that revival is We Are Rewind. Recently, the French audio maker has made waves with its WE-001, a modern portable cassette player featuring new-age technology, including a rechargeable battery and built-in Bluetooth.

And now the up-and-coming brand is doubling down on its love of cassette tapes with its first portable speaker.

We Are Rewind GB-001

A new-age cassette tape player

The GB-001 is a portable Bluetooth speaker that looks like a reimagining of the classic boomboxes from the 1980s. It features backlit VU meters, which deliver a similar soft glow to many vintage stereos. It also packs numerous tactile knobs and switches, and a folding carrying handle.

Yes, it functions like any modern Bluetooth speaker, allowing you to stream audio directly from your smartphone. But it’s real charm is that it can play (and record) cassette tapes.

The boombox features “a top-of-the-line cassette deck mechanism, complete with a powerful, user-adjustable motor that includes internal speed regulation,” according to the press release. “It also has a noise reduction circuit that emulates Dolby B, so it can play pre-recorded Dolby B tapes.”

We Are Rewind — It has all tactile buttons, switches and knobs for playing, recording and tweaking your music.

Doubles as a Bluetooth speaker

There is a 3.5mm audio jack so you can wire the GB-001 directly to an analog source. It has a microphone input with adjustable levels for live recordings. You can also plug in a guitar and GB-001 as a dedicated amp.

The speaker features two woofers and two soft-dome tweeters, which can distribute 104 watts — 32 watts to each woofer and 20 watts to each tweeter — to deliver a powerful stereo sound.

As for battery life, it promises 10 hours in tape mode or up to 15 hours in Aux mode. The built-in 3,000mAh lithium-ion battery is also user-replaceable, which helps extend the overall lifespan of the product.

Price and availability

We Are Rewind’s GB001 costs €449, which is roughly $500.

The company is expected to put it up for preorder soon, with shipping expected to start this summer.

We Are Rewind GB-001

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About the Author:

Tucker Bowe has been on Gear Patrol’s editorial team since 2014. As a Tech Staff Writer, he tracks everything in the consumer tech space, from headphones to smartphones, wearables to home theater systems. If it lights up or makes noise, he probably covers it.