AK Junior: The Full Write-up

Thanks once again to SKM Singapore for helping to send a review unit of the AK Junior and here will be my full thoughts on the AK Junior after spending about a week with it.


I will share first on what I like, and what I like to see improvements on later on.

Firstly, the AK Junior gives a premium finish and a pocket friendly design. The edges are a little sharp, but nothing unbearable so far. It would be much nicer to use the case where you can buy it in Singapore for $59. If I was left-handed, it would be much easier for me to change the volume with my thumb - it just feels a little awkward trying to change the volume with my right hand. It is a great way to change volume though instead of the usual slow plus/minus buttons on most DAPs currently.

Audio quality wise, decent I would say - pretty good clarity and balanced sound while lacking the liquid smooth signature found on the higher end AK players. The bass feels loose and lack control but acceptable at the current price point of $699.

I did encounter an issue about three times over a week of having the player as my daily commuting DAP, it happened to me when I wanted to turn the screen on to see what song I'm listening to but it refuses to bulk. I spammed the power button to no avail but music was still playing with the screen off - volume couldn't be controlled and nothing else for me to do except to hold the power button to reset the player.

How can this be the case for a high end brand like AK? I certainly hope to see it rectified as soon  as possible in the coming firmware updates. Another issue is the low end processor being used in this, I understand that they have to cut the cost somewhere but for a touchscreen device in 2015 to lag this badly sometimes - it really brings me back to when I first use an Android phone almost a decade ago on Android version 2.1.

Biggest changes I think the AK Junior needs:
- Less laggy UI
- Screen off issue

As a conclusion, I would get this player if portability was my number one concern. I would still choose this rather than forking out $400-500 for a iPod (any series). Drag and drop is the way to go and definitely being able to use this as a DAC itself is also a plus point by itself - I'm really drawn to Wolfson DAC ever since my iPod Video 5.5G which was sent for iMod by Redwine Audio. I would still treat my iBasso DX100 as my daily driver after this - but the battery life definitely needs some saving. I'm currently hitting around 3-5 hours per charge on my DX100.