Hidizs is preparing to launch one of the year’s more distinctive portable audio devices — a music player that borrows heavily from the visual language of a classic gaming handheld. The AP30 Music Boy is far smaller than the company’s AP80 Pro Max and adopts a layout built around a D-pad and A/B buttons, both of which are used to navigate and play tracks stored on a microSD card. Supported card capacity reaches 256 GB.
Design Choices and Hardware Miss
The gaming-inspired controls stop short of what some might expect. Instead of a full-featured emulator, Hidizs includes only a built-in Tetris clone on the device. Despite that limitation, the audio hardware is serious. The player supplies a 3.5 mm single-ended headphone output capable of delivering 61 mW per channel, alongside a balanced 4.4 mm output that reaches 137 mW per channel. At its core, a Cirrus Logic CS43198 DAC handles decoding for resolutions up to 24-bit/192 kHz as well as DSD256.
Connectivity, Battery Life, and Sound Shaping
Wireless playback runs over Bluetooth 5.3, though streaming is limited to the SBC codec without support for higher-quality Hi-Fi codecs. A 1,200 mAh battery powers the unit, offering between eight and twelve hours of music playback depending on volume level and whether a wired or wireless connection is used. Users can tailor the output with an onboard equalizer. A rotary volume knob styled after the original Game Boy adds a nostalgic functional detail.
Pricing and Crowdfunding Window
The Hidizs AP30 Music Boy launches on Kickstarter on Thursday, July 23. During the Super Early Bird phase, the plastic-bodied version will be priced at $85, while the aluminum-shell variant will cost $93. These figures do not cover shipping, import sales tax, or any applicable customs duties.
Sources: www.kickstarter.com, www.hidizs.net