This Portable Bluetooth Record Player Needs Your Funds to Play

With vinyl making a comeback despite the lack of stores that stock them, this handy portable gadget might be just the ticket for your holiday gifts this year. Mixing the old with the new, the folks at Pink Donut have designed “the world’s first infinitely portable Bluetooth record player,” called RokBlok.

A record can represent many things to different people. To audiophiles, they mean audio reproduction at its highest and finest form. To baby boomers, they represent ancient relics tucked away collecting dust in a bin. Or something cool to collect from long ago.

According to RokBlok, it is a way to discover your favorite albums while you’re on the go. It looks like a rectangular box that spins around on top of your 45 RPM or 33 1/3 LP record. How sound comes from it is a mystery that goes back to Thomas Edison’s time. Just in case you missed this class in school, he’s the guy who invented the first phonograph in 1877.

The RokBlok has gone through several design phases to become the streamlined box it is today. According to their Kickstarter campaign, the original prototype was almost three times the size and their current model now sports a plywood case with a sturdy honeycomb-like outer shell.

But compared to the old-fashioned gigantic boom boxes you would lug to the beach or the park, RokBlock only weighs 3.2 ounces. A 12-inch vinyl record weighs an average of four to five ounces – about the same as a slice of bread. Additional accessories may include a backpack to carry them in and a flat surface to rest upon. That album cover you framed might just come in handy for that.

Their how-it-works video demonstrates pulling the little black lever on the box and placing it on the record to listen. To stop, simply wave your hand over it. But how does it sound? Tinny might be the operative word. It’s not until you activate your wireless speakers or headphones to its built-in Bluetooth that the sound comes to life – within a range of 30 feet.

Nostalgia is still big business as RokBlok is already well over their $50,000 Kickstarter goal with a collection of $89,000 from over 1,000 backers. For a pledge of just $15, you will also receive SheetRok, “a fun reward” which is a record player made out of a sheet of paper that works on man power. You have to spin the record yourself, which seems more like work than fun. You also get a random record from their personal collection — so fingers crossed it’s someone you’ll want to listen to.

RokBlok expects to be fully funded by January 24, 2017 and delivering the goods to their backers by September 2017. Check out if RokBlok is worth the donation, or just another quirky spin-off.