Hi-Fi Choice: Chord's Poly 2 Is A "Brilliant, Affordable Mobile Music Machine"
Posted by The Sound Organisation on Apr 5th 2023
Chord Electronics is no newcomer to the mobile listening industry. Chord Electronics has had great success with products like the Mojo, Poly, Hugo, 2go, and 2yu. Recently, Chord Electronics has been focusing on bringing in the second generation of these products to much fanfare. After a successful launch of the Hugo 2 and the Mojo 2 DAC, Chord Electronics has brought out a substantial firmware update they have dubbed the "Poly 2".
The Poly 2 is a portable music streamer/player that combines with Mojo to wirelessly stream from connected devices and playback from its Micro SD, all with smartphone control. It enables hi-fi sound quality at home or on-the-go and can be a serious upgrade to your normal mobile devices music quality. With a nice set of cans (or IEMs if you prefer) you can playback that rivals your home system, even while you're out and about. Just think of passing the time during your next transit ride or waiting room visit with excellent music.
"Chord’s Mojo/Poly portable DAC/streamer currently dominates the head-fi market, giving superb music on the move that can also be used as a table-top digital source component. At the price, this dynamic duo sounds far better than it has any right to, giving away little in sonics to more expensive products that aren’t nearly as versatile."
Hi-Fi Choice auditioned the Poly 2 and was impressed with the more streamlined set-up and control scheme. To make things easier for users, Chord Electronics released a substantial firmware upgrade to the original Poly, allowing current owners to upgrade to the new "Poly 2" underlying software system. With the upgrade installed, not only is the Poly/Mojo combo easier to use, but the superb sound quality is untouched (if not improved).
The idea of the new firmware update was to make the Poly more versatile and easy to use – and in this, Chord Electronics has unequivocally succeeded. It makes the Mojo/Poly 2 a more stable, usable and less frustrating pairing – while keeping the same sublime sound intact. In effect, the two are a brilliant, affordable mobile music machine, reaching parts that few other rivals can.