iriver Astell&Kern AK100

91 reviews

Nov, 2024

Positive
performance (57)
sound (45)
usability (33)
portability (25)
design (19)

Negative
price (13)
reliability (8)

General overview
Price comparison

alaTest has collected and analyzed 91 reviews of iriver Astell&Kern AK100. The average rating for this product is 4.2/5, compared to an average rating of 3.9/5 for other products in the same category for all reviews. Views about the design and portability are on the whole positive. The sound and usability also get good feedback, but some have doubts about the reliability and price.

performance, usability, sound, portability, design

price, reliability

We analyzed user and expert ratings, product age and more factors. Compared to other products in the same category the iriver Astell&Kern AK100 is awarded an overall alaScore™ of 90/100 = Excellent quality.

Review analysis

(Based on 91 reviews)

Expert Reviews

User Reviews

Review Ratings

(55% of reviews)
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Features

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usability
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sound
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portability
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design
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Showing 42 review(s)

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Showing 1 - 42 of 42 Show Reviews: in English | in other languages (49)

Consumer review (amazon.co.uk)

Amazon.co.uk review summary for iriver Astell&Kern AK100

alaTest has collected and analyzed 8 user reviews of iriver Astell&Kern AK100 from Amazon.co.uk. The average user rating for this product is 4.5/5, compared to an average user rating of 4.0/5 for other products in the same category on Amazon.co.uk. Opinions about the performance and design are overall positive. The usability and portability are also mentioned favorably, whereas many are negative about the durability and size.

sound, portability, usability, design, performance

size, durability

88% of the reviews on Amazon.co.uk give this product a positive rating.

Nov, 2024

Consumer review (amazon.com)

Amazon.com review summary for iriver Astell&Kern AK100

alaTest has collected and analyzed 28 user reviews of iriver Astell&Kern AK100 from Amazon.com. The average user rating for this product is 4.2/5, compared to an average user rating of 3.8/5 for other products in the same category on Amazon.com. Opinions about the design and portability are overall positive. The sound and usability also get good feedback, whereas some have doubts about the price. There are some mixed reviews about the reliability.

performance, usability, sound, portability, design

price

89% of the reviews on Amazon.com give this product a positive rating.

Nov, 2024

Expert review by (t3.com)

Astell & Kern AK100 review

The Astell & Kern AK100 is a high-end audio player with a salty price tag

Portability ; Practicality ; Hi-fi bothering sound

Clunky interface ; Awkward touchscreen

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Expert review by : Jamie Lendino (pcmag.com)

Iriver Astell & Kern AK100

Audiophiles with the means should take a close look at the Iriver Astell & Kern AK100, a high-end media player that delivers exceptional sound quality with the right music files, but it comes with plenty of compromises.

Incredible audio quality with the right material.

Extremely expensive. No AAC or Apple Lossless support. Buggy. Mastering-quality files are expensive, take up a lot of storage space, and aren't widely available. No headphones or AC adapter included.

Omissions and Conclusions So the audio quality is excellent, if not necessarily worth $700. But with the AK100, you're also giving up a lot of features that much less expensive players have had for years. There's no camera (front or rear) or...

Dec, 2012

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Expert review by : Clint DeBoer (audioholics.com)

Astell&Kern AK100 32GB Music HD Player Review

Today we're reviewing the Astell&Kern AK100 32GB HD Music Player from iriver. If you think your iOS device or Android phone is a high quality music player, think again.

Jul, 2013

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Expert review by : Mark Fleischmann (soundandvision.com)

Astell & Kern AK100 Music Player

Performance Features Ergonomics Value

Is Apple the biggest obstacle to progress in portable audio? The iPod has been around a full dozen years, and the iPhone for half that, yet even today the Apple ecosystem fails to support 24-bit audio file formats. All Apple-supported file formats—even...

Nov, 2013

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Expert review by : Steven Stone (hometheaterreview.com)

Astell & Kern AK100 Portable Music Player Reviewed

An audiophile quality portable music player has been desired by many. Now, that player may have arrived in the Astell & Kern AK100 portable music player. Steven Stone investigates in this review.

The AK-100 delivers superlative sound quality in a small form factor ; The AK-100 has support for full-resolution 44.1, as well as 88.1, 96, 176.2, and 192 kHz files ; The AK-100 is compatible with a wide variety of headphones and in-ear monitors ; The...

The AK100 does not come with any software for the Mac, but the Mac OS is supported for basic drag and drop functions ; The AK100's 20-ohm output impedance could present mismatch issues with some extremely low-impedance, high-sensitivity earphones

Obviously, not everyone needs high-resolution capabilities in a portable music player. But if you do want to be able to take full-resolution uncompressed music wherever you go, the AK100 delivers. While its ergonomics may not be as slick as an Apple...

Mar, 2013

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Expert review by : Mike (headfonia.com)

Astell & Kern AK100

Disclaimer: iRiver supplied the demo unit for this review.Everybody is talking about the new Astell & Kern from iRiver. I don't know who came up with the branding...

Positive feelings building, I proceeded to give my friend Sem the Momentum for him to listen to his AK100. His comment was “Good, but still lacking dynamics.” I was pretty surprised, but he was right. Even with a relatively easy to drive Momentum, the...

Dec, 2012

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