Although cassettes haven’t experienced the same resurgence in popularity as records in recent years, this form of physical media is also on the rise.
MusicWeek reported that cassette sales were up 204.7% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, and several companies have attempted to serve this growing market – one of which is We Are Rewind.
I recently got my hands on its WE-001 – my first experience of using a portable cassette player. Suffice to say, I was pretty excited to try it out, especially as it’s been decades since I’ve even been near a cassette!
The WE-001 feels well built, while the 404g (approximate) weight means it’s the best part of 200g heavier than than the iPhone 17 Pro Max (233g). I had concerns it would be burdensome to carry around, and the 14.8 x 8.8 x 3.3cm frame wouldn’t fit into my fleece pocket.
It slipped in nicely, however, and while I knew it was in there, I didn’t feel dragged down. Plus, I felt confident that it wouldn’t fall out of my pocket if I made any sudden movements.
I had been given a cassette of Roxette’s Look Sharp to listen to. Instead of rewinding it back to the start, I hit play right away. This meant I caught the end of Shadow of a Doubt before it launched into Listen to Your Heart, the final track on the tape and a song I hadn’t heard for years.
Once Listen to Your Heart had finished, I was treated to the enjoyable snap of the tape coming to a sudden halt. I then took out the WE-001’s supplied pencil, which I assumed was for manual rewinding (I've since discovered it can also be used for taking up the slack of unravelled tape).
I'm still unsure whether this is due to the method itself or my novice winding skills, but it seemed as if it would have taken me about a week to get it all the way back to the start using the pencil.
Fortunately, I soon discovered the deck’s rewind button, so back in went the tape and down went the somewhat-stiff-feeling switch, and in mere moments it was fully rewound. Or, so I thought…
I had been watching the tape play through the circular window on the WE-001’s front, so I pressed down the button with two arrows pointing to my left, assuming it was rewind. But, after turning the tape deck around and realising this was the correct orientation, I realised I had pressed fast-forward instead.
So, after Look Sharp failed to return to my eardrums, down went the actual rewind button, and the tape began its journey back to the start – albeit too late to save my pride.
For someone whose portable listening career began with MP3 players, sitting and watching that cassette rewind felt like an eternity. Still, I soon began to appreciate the therapeutic whirring sound, and the quiet satisfaction of watching the tape move from one spool to the other via that viewing window.
I then listened to the entirety of Look Sharp through a pair of AKG K72, which I connected via the WE-001’s 3.5mm headphone input. Adjusting the volume to my desired level via the dial on the side also felt like a more precise process than using the buttons on my iPhone.
Roxette’s breakthrough album sounded what you’d expect of late ’80s pop rock: bouncy and uplifting; and a solid amount of detail came through. On the second play of Listen to Your Heart, for instance, the strings on the outro sounded particularly beautiful.
The WE-001’s presentation sounds a touch geared towards the top end at times, and with no EQ settings available to make tweaks, some may feel a little aggrieved. But bear in mind that my only frame of reference is a tape I have never heard before, so for all I know, Look Sharp is supposed to sound that way.
Thanks to Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity, the We Are Rewind deck is suitable for those who prefer a wire-free headphone experience or playback through a Bluetooth speaker.
The one I received also came with a WE-C60 blank cassette, on which audio from an external source can be recorded via another 3.5mm input.
To listen to what you’ve recorded, you will need to stop the cassette, rewind it, and then play it back. While I didn’t make use of this feature, I can certainly see the appeal of recording directly from the radio or making a mixtape.
So, would I buy one?
Undoubtedly, there isn’t the same level of convenience that you get with modern music players; but to brand tape decks as inconvenient wouldn’t be fair either. At £129, the WE-001 seems like a decent piece of kit too, while the Serge Orange finish is very stylish.
What I really like about it, however, is something that you only get from analogue listening formats.
My love for records, for instance, doesn’t stem just from their audio quality, or the format’s inherent collectability – it’s the experience.
For me, going into the record shop, browsing through its collection, picking a record out, taking it home, removing from the sleeve, lifting the turntable’s dust cover, placing the record on the platter and lowering the tone arm are hugely important aspects. All that happens before the unmistakable sound of any hisses or pops grace your eardrums too.
Tape players feel almost like the portable equivalent of that. You’re interacting with a tangible music format, and the hiss is there between songs; this all adds to the format’s unique charm.
When listening to a tape, that’s all you're doing, too. You’re not scrolling through social media, or looking for the next song to queue up on whatever music streaming platform you use. You can head to your favourite park on a sunny day and take a deep dive into what an artist is really about.
Yes, you can do this with a smartphone or another type of modern music player, but it’s something that is missing far too often from the streaming experience, in my opinion.
So, to bring you back to my earlier question, would I buy one? Yes, I probably would!
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