This tiny retro games handheld hides big features for audiophiles, and at a very attractive price

AP30 Music Boy being played by a young boy — (Image credit: Hidizs)

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Although the AP30 Music Boy looks like a miniature retro gaming handheld, and comes with a built-in game, it has a hidden secret... it's not really a gaming handheld at all.

The clue is in the name. The Music Boy is actually a Hi-Res digital music player and USB DAC that can be used to clean up the audio from your phone or laptop. Its design is inspired by the Game Boy and handhelds from the 90s, but it has more in common with an iPod nano.

Soon to end a funding round on Kickstarter (via Yanko Design), the AP30 has a 2-inch IPS display with a 296 x 240 pixel resolution. supports Bluetooth 5.3 for music streaming, and comes with a microSD card slot for your lossless music files.

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It is Hi-Res Audio certified (up to 192kHz/24-bit), with the Cirrus Logic CS43198 DAC and RT6963 amp chip on board. You also get 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced audio outputs, plus USB-C for both charging and to use the AP30 as a processing DAC.

Its 1,200 mAh battery is claimed to last up to 12 hours when using the single-ended audio output to wired headphones. And the software even supports e-book reading, so you can check out your book files on your travels.

The gaming aspect is through the one preinstalled game, which is a block building puzzler in the style of Tetris.

There are two versions of the AP30 on offer – one plastic, one aluminium. They weigh 56g and 80g respectively. Multiple colour options are also available.

A magnetic protective case can also be found in the box, which will snap to the back of a MagSage compatible phone – such as an iPhone.

The Kickstarter funding round has just less than a week to go at the time of writing. It's raised more than 84 times the original goal, but there are some models left with early bird pricing.

You can get the plastic version from just £64 / $85 per Music Boy, and the aluminium model from £70 / $93.

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.