Activo P1 Review

In this article, we review the Activo P1, a new DAP from A&K’s sister brand, selling for just $429.

Disclaimer: Astell&Kern sent us the Activo P1, for the purpose of this review. We’re going to give our honest opinion, as always.

About Activo

While Astell&Kern has become one of the most renowned luxury brands in the audiophile world, it’s less well-known that they are just one of the many subsidiaries of the mighty Dreamus conglomerate.

• And while the A&K name immediately resonates with high-end DAPs, thanks to legacy devices like the A&K 100 or more recent models like the Ultima SP3000 and Futura SE300, the story is different for mid-tier players. In this segment, brands like FiiO or iBasso tend to overshadow Astell&Kern, with models like the M23 or DX170 offering a much better performance-to-price ratio compared to options like the SR35 or SA700.

And this is where Activo steps in with the P1: a premium brand offering the A&K sound in a more affordable, simplified device. Activo is positioned as “Premium sound for your lifestyle,” blending high-quality audio with everyday usability.

Promise kept? That’s what we’ll find today.

Design & Build Quality

Casing

Nowadays, there are lots of great-looking players available – at every price-point – but all were inspired by Astell&Kern design, to some extent, and there is a good reason for that: A&K remains the benchmark of high-end players, each generation defining the trend for years to come.

Yet, the Activo P1 doesn’t aim to be a masterpiece like its bigger sibling. Instead, it takes a more straightforward approach with a clean, almost understated design -combining a silver aluminum body with a white silicon top. A style more in line with its iRiver roots, back when the Korean brand’s main competitor were Cowon and Creative, before the almighty iPod took over. In fact, it even reminds me of the Zune player, and anyone who’s owned Microsoft’s famous device will likely feel the same, appreciating Activo for this nostalgic nod.

As usual, build quality is absolutely flawless, with no gaps and impressive attention to details everywhere your eye can see, and your hands can touch. Sure, the newcomer remains a far cry from the SE180 I bought a while ago, or the CA1000T we got for review, but to be completely honest: if I had to choose only one device on the go, I’d pick the Activo P1 100% of the time. The touch, the weight, the size; the P1 completely nailed it and I had nothing but pleasure operating with the device on a daily basis.

It’s not entirely perfect though – nothing is in this cruel world – the P1 display suffering from unbearably large bezels, in an era where brands like Apple boasts razor-thin margin, across the screen. But, that’s clearly me nit-picking and, in this price range, I think the P1 would be the perfect counter part to FiiO’s M11S black austerity.

Not a luxury DAP, but a very nice premium one.

Layout

Unlike the CA1000T, the Activo P1 doesn’t aim to be the pillar of your audiophile system, and more of a daily companion on the go. To do so, the brand gave the player a classic I/O, enhanced by some quirky features that are more commonly found in chi-fi devices than in Korean players, as we’ll see later one

On top, you get:

• 1x 3.5mm TRS output, compatible with almost everything
• 1x 4.4mm Pentaconn, the standard of balanced output, first introduced by Sony and now available on almost all and every audiophile source/amp, like the PA-10

On the opposite side, you have:

• 1x USB-C, the most versatile port you can get nowadays, supporting fast charge (PD3.0), USB-out, USB-in AND DAC-in with any digital source – or almost
• 1x micro-SD port to expand the internal storage (64Gb)

On the side:

• (left) volume +/- buttons
• (right) power on/of, and a play/pause button

Talking about that, let’s carry on and check the screen.

Screen

Looking at numbers only, the Activo P1 screen’s isn’t impressive by any mean. It’s 4.1” wide only, sports an outdated 720p resolution and isn’t really bright even when pushed to the max.

Head to head with the iBasso DX320 (my daily driver) or my “old” A&K SE180 which embeds a vivid, sharp 5” 1920×1080 IPS screen, the P1 only tops at 1280×720 and looks a bit dull out of the box. Thankfully, the new UI gives an excellent counter part, the black and white UI compensating for the lower contrast in a surprisingly effective way.

Responsiveness is very good too, thanks to the better CPU, and compared to the CA1000T the difference is night and day, the Activo UI leaving the original A&K UI to the dust, and whatever the app I tried to launch, I never encountered any issues nor freeze – which is insane for an A&K.

So far so good!

The review continues on Page two, after the click HERE or by using the jump below.

The review continues on Page two, after the click HERE or by using the jump below.

Page 1: About the brand, design, layout

Page 2: UI & Usage

Page 3: Specifications

Page 4: Sound performance