Hott CD204 portable CD player review

Key Takeaways

Retro tech lovers are giving CDs a try once again — so, you’re going to need a CD player to participate.
EQ presets like jazz and rock enhance the modern features of the Hott CD204, but the bass boost option is not recommended.
Priced at $70 on Amazon, it’s a reliable choice for those seeking a simple, portable CD player with anti-skip protection.

Audiophiles have known for quite a long time that CDs are timeless and deliver great audio for cheap. In the age of streaming, CDs have fallen by the wayside, but with the resurgence of an interest in retro tech, lots of people are again giving CDs a try. There are quite a few CD players on the market, and among them is the Hott CD204.

This portable CD player is nondescript and unassuming, but then again, you don’t really need anything fancy out of a CD player. I tried out the Hott CD204 to see how well it performs and if it should be your next portable listening staple.

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Hott CD204 CD player

$38 $70 Save $32

The Hott CD204 is a lightweight, portable, and easy to use CD player. With anti-skip protection and EQ presets, it mixes the new with the tried-and-true very well.

Pros

Lightweight
Multiple EQ presets
Easy to use

Cons

Pricey for what it is
Comes with bad earbuds
Bass boost preset is atrocious

Price, specs, and availability

Portable, light, and simple

The Hott CD204 is available for purchase on Amazon for $70. The matte black CD player is about the size of any standard one of its kind, weighing in at a very light 8.4 ounces — with AA batteries inside — and measuring 5.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches.

The device runs either with two AA batteries, which are not included, or it can be powered by plugging it into a power source with a USB-C cable, which is included in the box. It only takes wired earbuds or headphones, and doesn’t have any wireless connectivity like Bluetooth, so you’ll need to make sure you have a pair of wired headphones to use with the device. The CD player also comes with a 3.5mm aux cable, so you can plug it into a speaker system in your home or your car.

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While the Hott CD204 is a very simple CD player that looks and acts a lot like ones you could buy 20 years ago, it does have a few extra features that modernize it. Namely, it has a few EQ presets to choose from, and it also has anti-skip protection, so moving it around won’t impede on your listening.

Hott CD204 CD player

Brand: Hott
Bluetooth: No
Weight: 8.4 ounces
Battery: AA (not included)
Dimensions: 5.5 x 5.5 x 1 inches
Ports: 3.5mm aux, USB-C

What I liked about the Hott CD204 CD player

The device mixes the modern with the tried-and-true very well

Hott CD204 on a patio table alongside over-ear headphones

For those looking to embrace retro tech more, the Hott CD204 has the same vibe as a CD player from the early 2000s. There is nothing excessively modern about it, other than the fact that it has a few extra features like EQ, anti-skip protection, and can be powered by USB-C. This device is hardly distinguishable at first glance from a CD player you might find in a drawer in your parents’ basement.

All of that being said, I do really enjoy the features that are more modern — the EQ presets are especially nice. The presets included are bass boost, pop, jazz, rock, and classic. I enjoyed the jazz and rock presets the most, since the jazz preset brightens up treble in a way that makes horns and percussion sound lovely while not overwhelming bass frequencies, and the rock option boosts bass in a way that doesn’t impede on other higher frequencies. The pop and classic presets don’t do a whole lot for me, since they’re both quite similar to the default sound profile, with classic having a slight bass boost, and pop sounding a bit more flat. The bass boost EQ preset is especially atrocious, though, with bass so loud and muddy it masks other frequencies in the music.

This device is hardly distinguishable at first glance from a CD player you might find in a drawer in your parents’ basement.

As I mentioned above, this CD player has anti-skip protection, which ensures that your music doesn’t skip or buffer when you’re in motion. I found that it worked really well, and I didn’t have any issues while walking around with the CD player in my hands or in my tote bag, nor did I have any issues when I shook the CD player, just to test its limits.

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Lastly, the fact that the Hott CD204 is so lightweight does make it really portable, at least in one aspect. CD players are kind of bulky by nature, since they’re always a bit bigger than a CD and can therefore not fit in any pockets, but at the very least, the fact that it’s light makes it easy to carry around or throw in my bag. It’s more than I can say for the CD player I used growing up, which was bulky and heavy in comparison.

This mix of simplicity, retro charm, and slight modernity made the Hott CD204 a lovely device to use.

This mix of simplicity, retro charm, and slight modernity made the Hott CD204 a lovely device to use. I listened to an array of CDs from my teen years, and used the CD player with a variety of different headphones, ranging from Sony MDR-EX15AP earbuds to Sony WH-1000XM4 over-ear headphones, and always had a great time using the CD player. There were no hiccups or malfunctions along the way, making it a very reliable option in my opinion.

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What I didn’t like about the Hott CD204 CD player

While the CD player is great overall, there are a few small caveats

Hott CD204 on a concrete surface with a CD inside, on top of a CD case

The biggest problem I have with the Hott CD204 is that it’s expensive for what it is. There are many other CD players available online that are much more affordable, or at similar prices that have more features. One example is the Arafuna CD player I reviewed previously, which is $5 cheaper and has built-in speakers and a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. For $70, I would expect some more features, or at least better build quality than cheap plastic housing.

Another small issue I could identify is that the earbuds that come with the device have a very tinny quality to them, with some faint static noise as well. The earbuds come with just the ear tips attached to them and no other sizes, so they don’t fit in my ears properly, and make an unpleasant clicking noise when I gently try to insert them back in my ear.

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For $70, I would expect some more features, or at least better build quality than cheap plastic housing.

Lastly, as mentioned when I went over the EQ preset options, the bass boost preset sounds pretty awful. It goes beyond just bass boosted into overwhelmingly bass and sub-bass heavy, to the point where the quality of the bass frequencies is reduced in favor of volume, leading to a muddy sound that lacks any clarity. It’s so loud that it masks higher frequencies in the mid and treble range, making any track I listened to with it unenjoyable. Thankfully, this preset is simply an option, so you can easily avoid ever using it.

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Should you get a Hott CD204 CD player?

Hott CD204 on a concrete surface outisde beside a garden

Anyone looking for a reliably good, simple, and lightweight CD player will be able to enjoy the Hott CD204. In my time using it, I didn’t run into any major issues, the only caveats being the earbuds it comes with — which isn’t a problem if you have other wired headphones — and the price. But if you can get it on sale, I’d say it’s a much better option. It can go on sale for as low as $38, and in that case, I would recommend it with no hesitation.

Otherwise, the Hott CD204 is a lovely device to listen to CDs at home or on the go. It satisfies my love of retro tech without being too outdated. It’s a lot lighter than my old CD player from my childhood, making it a lot more portable, and I like that it’s matte black, since matte black truly goes with everything.