Turntables — Philips Fidelio FT1

The Fidelio FT1 is a belt-driven turntable from Philips with a CD player built into the same plinth, so one unit covers both vinyl and discs. Its model code is TAFT1/10, the announced price is EUR 299, and shipping began in the first quarter of 2026. The chassis is made from recycled plastic certified to RCS standards, and the zero-waste packaging uses FSC-certified recycled cardboard.

Key specs that matter

The motor turns the platter at 33 1/3 or 45 rpm, with wow and flutter quoted at 0.75% at 33 rpm. A thick rubber mat covers the die-cast aluminium platter. The tonearm is a straight piece of extruded aluminium with an adjustable counterweight, and it holds a replaceable Audio-Technica ATN3600L moving magnet cartridge as standard. A phono preamplifier is built in. Discs load on a tray, and the single-disc drive accepts CD, CD-R, CD-RW and MP3 formats. Bluetooth 5.4 transmits with SBC, AAC and LC3 codecs. The unit measures 420 x 130 x 370 mm and weighs 3.7 kg. Power use is 5 W in operation and 0.8 W in standby.

Engineering and use context

Philips fits an anti-vibration mechanism, and an auto-stop function ends platter rotation at the end of a side. The adjustable tracking weight means the owner can fit a different cartridge later instead of being tied to the supplied one. Auracast lets the FT1 send vinyl or CD playback to several Auracast-compatible speakers or headphones at once, not only to a single paired device. A dimmable LED display shows the source and volume level, and in standby it works as a clock. Operation is by front panel buttons or through the Philips Entertainment app. The dust cover can be removed for owners who prefer to use the deck without it. On the rear, RCA outputs carry the signal to an amplifier or powered speakers, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack sits on the front for private listening directly from the unit. The supplied cartridge also sets the part number for replacement, since its stylus carries the same AT-3600L code. The plinth has a black glossy finish.

Pairing

With its own phono stage, the FT1 can feed an amplifier line input or a pair of powered speakers without an extra preamplifier. Bluetooth headphones and wireless speakers can take its output directly, and the front headphone jack works with wired headphones when no amplifier is present.

Alternatives

The Philips TAV9000D Tina is another belt-driven Philips turntable with 33 1/3 and 45 rpm speeds, a die-cast aluminium platter and Bluetooth 5.4.