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Majority Folio: Two-minute review
Given that vinyl records often feel like they belong in the Smithsonian, actually using them for music can seem like a scary proposition, and what doesn’t help is how fiddly and delicate some of the best turntables can seem. Newbies to the vinyl game can find many reasons to stay away, but I’m here to offer one good reason to come over: the Majority Folio.
This record player – for amplification and speaker are both onboard, squirrelled away into the base – is here to downplay those reasons, and make listening to your collection (relatively) simple.
This is the joint-third turntable from British audio company Majority, following the Majority Moto 2.0 and releasing simultaneously with the pricier Stylo.
Like its predecessor, the Folio is an inexpensive turntable, and it also totes a built-in speaker, which means you don’t need to buy a separate one (or indeed any phono stage or pre/power amplifiers) to hear your music. These facts alone make the device really easy to buy for people scared to take the plunge.
But beyond that it’s easy to set up and use, and won’t be scary for new users to experiment with. And once you decide to flesh out your hi-fi setup, the Majority Folio’s support for many outputs and inputs means that unlike many cheap vinyl players, it actually can remain a central part of your kit and won’t need to be replaced any time soon.
You may want to upgrade things though, because the Folio’s speaker doesn’t actually sound that great; it’s fine as a starting-off point, or for people who aren’t already too used to the fantastic audio that high-end kit can put out, but it retains all the issues of its predecessor in that it lacks a solid, weighty and impactful low-end and doesn’t provide quality audio overall.
Another gripe I have with the Folio is that a few design choices show a lack of precision. The dust cover doesn’t fit perfectly, and the turntable’s wooden surface showed up bumps and scratches really easy. These didn’t affect playback, but it’s still not ideal.
One novel feature I need to bring up in the introduction is that you can plug a USB stick into the Folio and rip/record your vinyl record onto it. This can be great for digitizing your record collection, but you could also use it to create your own mix-tapes (you can split the recording and break it up by track, changing vinyl while you do) or re-record your favorites at a shifted pitch… for some reason. It’s a feature with admittedly limited appeal, but I can see it being a game-changer for some music creators.
Majority Folio review: Price and release date
- Announced on April 12, 2025
- Sells for £169.95 (roughly $220, AU$340)
- No US or AUS availability
The Majority Folio was announced on Record Store Day, which was April 12, 2025. It went on sale shortly afterward.
You can buy the turntable for £169.95 (roughly $220 / AU$340), although it’s only available in certain regions, including the UK. Majority’s turntables don’t tend to go on sale in the US, and while they do in Australia, the Folio isn’t currently offered in the region.
That price puts the Folio as one of the more affordable turntables on the market, a great budget buy for people who don’t have the big bucks to invest in a fancy home hi-fi system but want something solid to play vinyl.
Majority Folio review: Specs
|
Dimensions |
41.2 x 32.3 x 14.2cm |
|
Motor |
Belt drive |
|
Platter |
Die-cast metal |
|
Phono preamp |
Yes |
|
USB |
Input & recording |
|
Bluetooth |
5.3 |
|
Speeds |
33, 45RPM |
|
Stylus |
AT3600L |
|
Extras |
45RPM adapter, RCA cable, rubber mat, replacement belt |
Majority Folio review: Features
- Easy to set-up and use
- Range of connection options
- USB recording feature
The Majority Folio seems designed as a plug-and-play dream; thanks to having its own speaker you don’t need to fuss over connecting other devices or extras, and simply plugging it into a power point is your first and last act to get it running. Well, you’ve got to add the record too, and it’s not an automatic turntable so you’ll need to place the needle yourself; the record begins to spin as soon as you lift the arm.
Despite having its own speaker, and therefore being less reliant on external speakers to work, the Majority Folio offers quite a few connection options. You can pair to nearby Bluetooth speakers or wireless headphones with Bluetooth 5.3 (to transmit your vinyl wirelessly for playback, thus bypassing the Folio’s inbuilt speaker), play via an AUX cord, output music from a USB stick or plug in other devices with RCA, and so the Folio can stand alone or be the nexus of a hi-fi set-up. Most of these options let you output the vinyl music, but also use the device’s speaker for other inputs.
In somewhat of a novelty, you can plug a USB stick into the Folio and record your vinyl recording onto it. It’s a neat way of digitizing your music, especially with the ability to split a recording (ie, break it up by song), although the quality isn’t exactly stellar. If you change the playback speed of a record, this is reflected in your recording, but tweaking the volume isn’t.
Majority Folio review: Sound quality
- AT3600L cartridge in play
- Build-in speaker lacks quality
- Output sounds a lot better
At the end of the arm is an AT3600L Moving Magnetic Cartridge, a piece of kit Majority has used before. And there’s no shame in that, especially not when the first two letters stand for Audio-Technica; this is a fine-tuned piece of kit. We’ve seen it grace plenty of other budget options and it provides fun audio, if lacking some high-fidelity flair of higher-end options.
One of the unique selling points of the Majority Folio is that it comes with its own speaker as part of the package; if you’re at the first step of your home audio journey and don’t have a hi-fi set-up, you can use the Folio out of the box…
… although I’d recommend against it, if you can avoid it. Music from the built-in speaker sounds a bit tinny, lacking deep bass or crisp treble, and that’s not just true of phono playback but for Bluetooth playing too. I couldn’t help but feel that lots of the depth, detail and nuance that the vinyl format provided, was lost when played through the main speaker. As I write this, I’m listening to Bowie’s Space Oddity, and it’s hard to make out much of the song besides the vocals, strings and cymbals.
Thankfully, as I’ve mentioned, the Folio has a range of connectivity options, and I’m pleased to report that music sounds better from headphones or other speakers. The low end has a lot more weight (even accounting for the toning of other devices), high-end is crisper and there’s a full-bodied midrange which adds to the sense of detail on a song. It’s not going to wow audiophiles who’ve tested top-end equipment, but I’d question how many such buyers have made it this far into the review anyway!
There’s nothing strictly wrong with the built-in speaker if you’re at the beginning of your home hi-fi journey, but it’s not something I’d rely on in the long run.
It’s worth noting that, according to the website and user manual, the Folio doesn’t support high-quality or low latency Bluetooth codecs. So I’d recommend buying wired speakers (see TechRadar’s guide to the best stereo speakers here) if you want to appreciate your music to the best standards.
- Sound quality score: 3.5/5
Majority Folio review: Design
- Chunky, thanks to built-in speaker
- Lots of dials, ports, switches
- Easily gains knicks
As you can probably expect from a turntable with a speaker built in, the Majority Folio is a little bit bigger than some rivals on the market, and it adds this heft in the height department. It’s 14.2cm tall, 41.2cm wide and 32.3cm length-wise. And if we’re going through dimensions, it weighs 3.7kg.
The device has a classy look, with a nice wooden finish, although this material quickly showed some marks and splintering on my review unit. An S-shaped tonearm is light and nimble, though looks a little too much like a Mechano set towards the needle, which blocked my sight of the needle from certain angles (and I’m bad at placing it at the best of times). The party is at the back though with an easily-manipulated counterweight and RPM toggle hidden away from the plate.
The table begins to spin automatically, as soon as you lift the needle, but the arm cradle wasn’t totally reliable at holding the limb in place; a few times I accidentally bumped the arm and the record began to spin of its own accord. A cradle with a slight edge would fix this problem.
Elsewhere on the body you’re getting an RPM adapter plonked to the side, and then on the right edge a headphone jack as well as dials for the volume, pitch and input method. It’s a little more cluttered than some other turntables I’ve seen, but I prefer ease of use with your many functions, toggles and switches in plain view.
That’s only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the Majority Folio’s buttons and dials. On the right edge there’s a USB slot as well as buttons for recording, splitting and Bluetooth pairing, while on the back there’s the range of connection inputs we’ve already discussed. Perhaps one of the benefits of a big body, is lots of room for ports and buttons.
Like most (but not all) alternatives, the Folio has a dust cover. It does its job but it’s a little wobbly, often not sitting straight on the turntable, and it quickly got quite scuffed up during my testing.
Majority Folio review: Value
Based on the price, specs and feature set, the Majority is a great entry-level turntable for people at the beginning of their hi-fi journey.
It’s a purchase comparable to those guitar starter-packs you can buy, which get you a budget amp, carry case and cables alongside a cheapie six-string; none of the kit is stellar, but you’re getting a nice easy package to get you started. The further you get into your hi-fi journey, the more you can augment your setup with extra speakers.
There are a few turntables on the market that are cheaper than the Majority, but most don’t have the speaker built in, giving this an easy value win.
Should I buy the Majority Folio?
|
Attributes |
Notes |
Rating |
|---|---|---|
|
Features |
A range of connection options, and easy to use. |
4/5 |
|
Sound quality |
Built-in speaker isn’t perfect, but there’s a fun sound in general. |
3.5/5 |
|
Design |
Its big size facilitates its many features; it shows its wear readily though. |
4/5 |
|
Value |
It’s great value for what you’re getting (and what you don’t need to get). |
4.5/5 |
Buy it if…
Don’t buy it if…
Majority Folio review: Also consider
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Majority Folio |
Audio-Technica AT-LP70XBT |
House of Marley Revolution |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Dimensions |
412 x 323 x 142mm |
110 x 400 x 330mm |
112 x 389 x 328mm |
|
Motor |
Belt drive |
Belt drive |
Belt drive |
|
Platter |
Die-cast metal |
Aluminium |
Plastic |
|
Phono preamp |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
USB |
Input & recording |
No |
No |
|
Bluetooth |
5.3 |
5.2 |
5.3 |
|
Speeds |
33 1/3, 45RPM |
33 1/3, 45RPM |
33 1/3, 45, 78RPM |
|
Cartridge |
AT3600L |
AT-VMN95C |
AT3600L |
|
Extras |
Dust cover, rubber mat, 45 adapter, RCA cable. |
Dust cover, felt mat, 45 adapter, 1m RCA cable |
Dust cover, felt mat, 45 adapter |
How I tested the Majority Folio
- Tested for three weeks
- Inputs include vinyl records, Bluetooth and USB
- Outputs include built-in speaker and wired headphones and speakers
I used the Majority Folio for three weeks in order to write this review, and through the whole process it was set up in my living room (which is also my dining room and kitchen; it’s not a big apartment).
I primarily listened to music from my large vinyl record library, though also used the speaker’s Bluetooth playback function and also listened to recordings I’d made with the USB recording function.
For most of the testing period, I listened through the build-in speaker, but for additional listening I plugged in some over-ear headphones and some wireless speakers to get a sense for the sound.
- First reviewed November 2025
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