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Robin stahlbaum
Reviewed in Canada on February 7, 2025
it's fun .. bit over priced
Mark Rotondella
Reviewed in Australia on May 10, 2021
Nice device but for the price how it is packaged is ridiculous. This is an expensive delicate item. Mine came from the other side of the planet. The inbuilt speaker was weaker than i expected. Yes I know that is not how it is meant to be used but still.
Andy
Reviewed in Australia on February 5, 2021
Bought this as a gift, but the device's own package (not the envelope it came in) was half-torn open. It was delivered in a soft-envelope with no other protection, which is surprising considering the price. I haven't tried the device yet, presumably it works. But be careful buying this if you expect to give it as a gift, because it does not present well at all, unfortunately.
Customer
Reviewed in Canada on February 15, 2021
This is actually the coolest thing ever. I have not put it down since receiving it. Easy to learn and very addictive. My only concern is the lack of casing. It’s literally just a chip board with a screen and buttons/knobs. Time will tell if this is an issue, until that point this pretty much a perfect little device.
Darkness
Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2020
So first of all, if you were like me and this is your first foray to this kind of thing : the guide printed in the cardboard container is useless. The manual in 3 different language is slightly more useful, but its also as confusing. Go to the website and find the fully illustrated guide, thats what you need.The problem is, the thing is loaded with demo patterns etc that is meant for you to remove and re-write over before you start. Which in the guide is like step 5, or 6.If you just kind of press buttons according to the short guide, the thing would make all sorts of demo noise, and you'll accidentally add even more noise and effects to it, and before long you'd be totally, loss.If you just press chords button, you'd be like nothing is happening. There is no reason for you to know that the volume was 0.Etc etc. All in all, great device, bad included manual, but that said, the online manual is good, and the youtube tutorial by ricky tinez will explain the thing to you , the whole thing, in 15 minutes . Have fun!
Maarten
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 22, 2020
This review is about the PO-20 Arcade.They may look a bit odd and minimalist, but they sound incredible and provide a lot of fun for the creatively minded. If you are a beginner to electronic music, the PO may somewhat puzzle you, but in the hands of someone with even a little bit of experience, these provide hours of fun and even some serious musical capability.The PO-20 totally takes me back to my youth when I used to own an Atari. The rich 8-bit quality of the square wave arps superbly re-create the atmosphere of that era, but with a modern twist. The chord sequencing is inspired. Very clever indeed, hats of to Jesper Kouthoofd and his team for producing something remarkable. I love the way the chord sequence changes the arps and baseline, even without turning up the drone. The side chain compression simulation on the drone sound is a very cool sounding modern twist.I am also astounded by the very expansive sequencing capability. You can store 16 x 16 step sequences and link them into a chain of up to 128 patterns, that is whopping 2048 steps! The chord sequence of up to 128 "bars" (from a choice of 16 cleverly chosen chords) is independent from this so the options are virtually limitless. Each sound has two parameters that can be sequenced too.I love the fact that I can sync my PO to my Korg Volcas and other synths. Very easy to set up, plug in and select SY2, that's all there is to it!The only bit of criticism I have is about the packaging. I get that this is all part of the overall minimalist design of the product, but does not protect it enough when sent. Especially the knobs are vulnerable as they stick out of the packaging. My first one arrived with one of the knobs smashed in. This is partly because Amazon did not properly packaged it (just stuffed it into an envelope, which got crushed between heavier boxes). The replacement came in the same rubbish packaging, but all works fine. I disagree that the unit is vulnerable to damage. Of course there are always those that treat their kit like Casey Neistat, but then of course nothing is safe from damage.Highly recommended, seriously thinking which one I want next!
Brendan
Reviewed in the United States on June 7, 2019
So the device has had no issues since I bought it and I did feel it was a little fragile outside of the PO case I bought for it.The overall fun I’ve had it with it has been well beyond the price point. You can very easily create some sequences and entire songs on this thing. I really love the punch-in FX and the side-chained chords you can add. Unlike other pocket operators, this one really has all the sonic capabilities you need to create something full sounding without having to sample other sounds.
Rob Zimmerman
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2017
This little device is loads of fun. It comes preloaded with 16 patterns, which can be erased and over written once you understand how to program them. The sounds it makes are fun to play with, easy to manipulate, and they sound pleasing to the ear, assuming you like, bleep-bloop, chiptune-esque sounds. It has a number of effects to apply to the sounds as you play, as well as the ability to set and adjust chord progression through your composition. I have had the Pocket Operator Arcade for about a week and I am still learning about it, but I would say that I am very pleased overall, and will be trying out the other models Teenage Engineering has to offer.One important note, though, it is a small device, and as far as durability of this thing goes, it is basically a circuit board with buttons and knobs. I can't see it holding up if you plan to travel and don't take special precautions. This isn't a criticism, but more of a forewarning. So if you're going to carry this little guy around, you want to think ahead, or spend the extra money and purchase a case for it. It's a great price at $60-ish dollars, so $20-$40 more for a well-made case isn't a bad investment, I highly recommend getting a protective case. If you don't like TE's cases, there are a number of custom and third party options out there.Have fun.
MVIVID
Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2016
I think the company did a fantastic job creating this really amazing product. I think the construction is very interesting! I love the display, the sounds, the buttons and dials. I think it's a really unique product with a great deal of application. I'm not a music, I'm a designer and purchased it for its great design and retro throwback. For someone like me, it was entertaining for a short while, but very quickly I realized I don't have much use for this. The product isn't cheap, and within a 2 days I realized I'm not the audience for this product. My co-worker who also purchased one is in a band, and has further use of integrating some of the sounds in with some of his songs, but for myself I found that I got bored rather quickly. If your not really into music, or making music, then this just won't have much use to you—and for the price it's rather expensive as just "a thing to have". The reason I didn't give it the full 5 stars was the lack of understanding. It was tough to learn the product. It came with a very simplified "manual" (a single sheet of folded paper), that ran through the basics, but to actually get to a place where your making music ON PURPOSE, took some time. A few hours later I mostly understood which buttons did what, and could intentionally make sound choices. The other reason was the poor rubber case fitting. I had an issue where a metal piece on the back which acted as a stand, would get in the way of the rubber case completely being able to surround the device. So essentially there's a small bit of it where the case is slightly pushed out. Both my friend and I assembled separately, but both had the same issue.
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