The snow is melting, the days are getting longer, and I can almost smell the springtime ahead. Soon, we’ll be cruising around town on ebikes and electric scooters instead of burning fossil fuels. For now, the weather hasn’t quite caught up, which is great for markdowns. Many of the best electric scooters are still seeing significant discounts. If you’ve been thinking about buying one, now’s the best time: prices are low, and sunny commuting days are just ahead.

Gear editor Julian Chokkattu has spent five years testing more than 45 electric scooters. These are his top picks that are also on sale right now.

Apollo Go for $849 ($450 Off)

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

This is Gear editor Julian Chokkattu’s favorite scooter. The riding experience is powerful and smooth, thanks to its dual 350-watt motors and solid front and rear suspensions. The speed maxes out at 28 miles per hour (mph), which doesn’t make it the fastest scooter on the market, but it has a good range. (Chokkattu is a very tall man and was able to travel 15 miles on a single charge at 15 mph.) Other Apollo features he appreciates: turn signals, a dot display, a bell, along with a headlight and an LED strip for extra visibility.

Apollo Phantom 2.0 for $2099 ($900 Off)

The Apollo Phantom 2.0 maxes out at 44 mph, with plenty of power from its dual 1,750-watt motors. It’s a gorgeous scooter, designed with 11-inch self-healing tubeless tires and a dual-spring suspension system for a smooth riding experience. But with great power comes great weight. At 102 pounds, the Phantom 2.0 is the heaviest electric scooter Chokkattu has tested, so I would only recommend this purchase if you don’t live in a walkup and/or have a garage.

More Discounted Electric Scooters

Traveling typically necessitates traveling light, so a mouse that adds bulk or requires constant charging can be a real hassle. Logitech’s G309 Lightspeed, priced at $49.99 (was $90), avoids these concerns by clever engineering, allowing it to function for hours on a single AA battery while being heavy enough to feel substantial in your hands.

You can even remove the battery entirely and use Logitech’s PowerPlay charging mat, which costs a little more but reduces the weight to 68g. That’s the type of lightness that a few dedicated gamers seek, without losing usability.

Battery concerns vanish in both setups, as one AA provides a whopping 300 hours of continuous wireless use in the rapid Lightspeed mode, or over 600 hours in the slower but still adequate Bluetooth mode. Most people won’t have to alter it in months, whether they play games every day or merely browse. If you’re travelling, you may either bring an extra AA battery or utilize Bluetooth and store the wireless receiver neatly inside the mouse to avoid losing it in transit.

The performance is also strong, as the HERO 25K sensor tracks your movements well even at high speeds of up to 25,600 DPI, and it does so without any fancy (and obnoxious) smoothing or acceleration. Clicks are nice and sharp with the optical Lightforce switches, a bit of a blend of the best of both worlds, so whether you’re gaming or performing precise work, you’ll get a rapid and solid reaction. There are also six customizable buttons for creating shortcuts or simplifying tasks, and the symmetrical design fits well in a variety of hands.

It’s also built tough, with the mouse being approximately 4.7 x 2.5 inches, and the design is simply utilitarian enough to get the job done. At around $49.99, it’s a really robust wireless gaming mouse without the expensive price tag.

Astell&Kern’s PD20 arrives as the clearest signal yet that the Korean manufacturer still sets the standard in the high end DAP category. For more than a decade, Astell&Kern has defined what a reference portable player should look like, feel like, and most importantly, sound like. With the PD20, the company is not chasing trends. It is extending its lead.

What makes the PD20 different is its integrated Personal Sound system developed with Audiodo, allowing the player to create a listening profile based on the user’s individual hearing characteristics. Personalized audio is not new. Wireless headphones have offered hearing compensation for years. But bringing true left and right ear analysis and correction to a dedicated digital audio player is new territory. Instead of delivering a fixed house sound, the PD20 reshapes the presentation around the listener, raising the bar for what a flagship DAP can do.

Personal Sound System Brings True Hearing Calibration

The PD20 features a Personal Sound system developed in collaboration with Audiodo. The player analyzes the listener’s hearing characteristics and applies independent compensation for the left and right ears, creating a personalized listening profile based on measurable data rather than preset EQ curves.

To enable accurate calibration, Astell&Kern includes dedicated earphones with the PD20 that work in tandem with an integrated hearing test. The process evaluates sensitivity across frequencies and builds a correction profile tailored to the individual user. The result is a sound signature optimized specifically for that listener’s hearing response.

For additional control, the PD20 incorporates a Sound Master Wheel that provides 160 step adjustment from -8.0 dB to +8.0 dB across Bass, Mid, and Treble bands. This allows for precise real time tonal refinement without interrupting playback, giving users both automated personalization and manual tuning flexibility.

Advanced Amplification Architecture 

The PD20 features a Triple AMP architecture with real time switching between three distinct amplification modes Class A, Class A/B, and Hybrid, allowing users to select the presentation that best matches their headphones and listening preferences. Each mode alters bias operation and output behavior to prioritize tonal richness, efficiency, or a balance of both, as outlined in the accompanying image.

• Class A Mode: Delivers a rich, high density presentation with minimal distortion, emphasizing tonal weight and a smooth, analog like character.
• Class A/B Mode: Prioritizes balance and efficiency, offering strong dynamic stability with clean, articulate detail across the frequency range.
• Hybrid Mode: Blends the tonal refinement of Class A with the efficiency and output capability of Class A/B, aiming for a balanced presentation that combines texture, control, and usable power.

Precision Bias Control for Class A and Hybrid Amplification Modes

A dedicated physical slide switch allows instant mode changes without diving into menus. In Class A and Hybrid modes, users can further adjust amplifier current across three selectable levels to better match headphone load and listening preference.

High: Maximizes output current for greater headroom and dynamic impact. This setting is designed to better control high impedance headphones, delivering a broader soundstage with strong drive and stability.

Mid: Strikes a balance between current output and efficiency, maintaining tonal density while preserving clarity and resolution. It is positioned as the most versatile setting for a wide range of full size headphones.

Low: Reduces output current to lower the noise floor and improve control with high sensitivity earphones. This setting is optimized for IEMs, helping reveal low level detail without introducing unwanted background noise.

Sound Lab Control

The PD20 is conceived as a true sound lab. Built around what Astell&Kern calls Sound Lab Control, the player draws inspiration from professional studio gear in both layout and operation. Dual top mounted wheels separate sound tuning from volume control, while dedicated slide switches manage amplifier mode and current selection. LED lighting provides real time indication of track bit depth and active operating modes, offering clear visual feedback during playback.

DAC: The PD20 is built around the ESS ES9027PRO in a Quad DAC configuration, with four DACs operating independently to reduce inter channel interference and improve signal separation. This architecture is designed to maximize channel balance, resolution, and overall dynamic performance. The PD20 can also function as a USB DAC when connected to a Mac or Windows based PC, extending its use beyond portable playback.

ESA Enhanced Signal Alignment: The PD20 incorporates Astell&Kern’s proprietary ESA technology, which focuses on minimizing group delay by precisely aligning frequency signals across the spectrum. The goal is lower distortion and improved clarity through more accurate time domain performance. 

Advanced DAR: Astell&Kern’s second-generation Digital Audio Remaster technology, first introduced on the flagship SP4000, is engineered to produce a more natural and refined presentation. Instead of routing the signal directly to the DAR engine, audio first passes through VSE (Virtual Sound Extender), where missing harmonics are algorithmically reconstructed to enhance tonal completeness. After this stage, DAR processing applies up-sampling for more comprehensive signal refinement. The combined process is designed to improve depth and immersion while preserving the integrity of the original recording.

Atmosphere Technology: The PD20 incorporates Atmosphere processing that expands beyond traditional 2-channel stereo. It creates a virtual 3-dimensional sound field from standard stereo content and offers four selectable presets: Subtle, Balanced, Immersive, and Echoic. Depending on the material and listener preference, users can tailor spatial presentation for music, orchestral works, or audio/video content.

Memory and Networking: The PD20 includes 256GB of internal storage and supports microSD cards up to 2TB. Connectivity features include dual-band 2.4GHz/5GHz Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n/ac), DLNA networking, USB digital-audio output, and USB-C for data transfer and charging.

PCM and DSD: The PD20 supports native playback of high-res PCM music up to 32-bit, 768kHz, and DSD512.

ReplayGain and AK File Drop: Replay Gain keeps playback levels consistent across tracks, while AK File Drop enables seamless, wireless file transfers from devices on the same network with no cables required.

Bluetooth Support: The PD20 incorporates Bluetooth with support for aptX HD, LDAC, and BT Sink mode. BT Sink allows the PD20 to receive audio from an external device over Bluetooth and operate as a Bluetooth DAC. This enables music streamed from a smartphone, tablet, or other source to benefit from the PD20’s internal DAC architecture and amplification stage.

Analog Outputs: The PD20 provides both 3.5mm single ended and 4.4mm balanced headphone outputs, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of headphones, earphones, and in-ear monitors.

Fast Charging: USB PD 3.0 fast-charging support allows the PD20 to reach a full charge in approximately 3.5 hours when used with its included charging cradle and a compatible USB-C power adapter.

Crossfeed: In headphone listening, where left and right channels are fully isolated, long sessions can increase listening fatigue. The PD20’s Crossfeed function blends a controlled portion of each channel into the other with a slight time delay, helping to center the sound image and simulate a more speaker-like presentation. Adjustable parameters include Shelf Cutoff, Shelf Gain, and Mixer Level, allowing users to fine tune the degree of crossfeed to match their listening preferences.

Display: The PD20 features a 6-inch FHD+ display that presents playback status and operational controls with clear visibility and responsive touch interaction.

Pro Tip: The PD20 will be Roon Ready, pending Roon testing and certification.

The Bottom Line 

The Astell&Kern PD20 strengthens the brand’s position at the top of the DAP category by introducing something genuinely new for dedicated players: integrated hearing based personalization. While custom sound profiles have existed in wireless headphones, bringing left and right ear analysis into a Quad DAC, multi mode amplification platform is a first for a reference grade DAP.

Add selectable Class A, Class A/B, and Hybrid amplification, adjustable bias current, second generation DAR processing, and extensive manual tuning, and the PD20 becomes a highly configurable portable source built for serious listening.

Priced just under $2000, it undercuts the SP4000 while offering a feature the flagship does not. The PD20 is for experienced headphone users who want reference performance with flexibility and control, and who understand that hearing is not universal. If the idea of a DAP that adapts to you makes sense, the PD20 is one of the most forward thinking players currently available.

For those wondering about the fate of the PD10, the PD20 is not a replacement. The PD10 remains a current model and continues in production alongside the new player.

The key difference between the two centers on DAC architecture. The PD10 is built around dual AKM4191EQ modulators paired with four AKM4498EX DAC chips in a dual DAC configuration, reflecting AKM’s separated digital and analog design philosophy. The PD20, by contrast, adopts four ESS ES9027PRO DACs in a Quad DAC layout, representing a different technical approach within the lineup rather than a generational shift.

Price & Availability

The Astell&Kern PD20 DAP will be available in late March 2026 through Astell & Kern Authorized Dealers, with a suggested retail price of $1,970 (£1799). 

For more information: astellnkern.com

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