iFi audio GO blu Air

The GO blu Air is a small Bluetooth receiver and headphone amplifier for wired headphones and IEMs: pair it with your phone, plug in your headphones and clip it to a bag, jacket or belt with the detachable magnetic clip. iFi splits the work over three stages: a Qualcomm QCC5144 chip only receives Bluetooth 5.2, a Cirrus Logic MasterHIFI DAC converts the signal and a twin-mono amplifier drives your headphones. The balanced 4.4 mm output gives up to 262 mW into 32 Ω, enough for many over-ear headphones, and the 3.5 mm output uses iFi's S-Balanced circuit, which iFi says halves crosstalk and distortion with sensitive IEMs. It receives LDAC, LHDC/HWA, aptX Adaptive, aptX HD, aptX, AAC and SBC, so it suits Android phones as well as iPhones. The ChronoDial turns for volume and presses for play and pause, XBass and XSpace are analogue bass and soundstage effects you can switch on, and a built-in microphone with Qualcomm noise and echo suppression handles calls. The battery lasts about 10 hours, the USB-C port is for charging, and it weighs 31 g.

• 4.4 mm balanced (262 mW @ 32 Ω) + 3.5 mm S-Balanced
• LDAC, LHDC, aptX Adaptive/HD, AAC over Bluetooth 5.2
• About 10 h battery, 31 g, magnetic clip