This new music player is like a hi-res iPod nano, but with microSD storage and you wont believe how cheap it is

Date:
Fri, 19 Dec 2025 19:00:00 +0000

Description:
A very tempting new option from our favorite budget audiophile brand

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Fiio has become our favorite budget audiophile brand, thanks to products like the Fiio FT13 headphones , the Fiio BTR17 DAC/amp , and the Fiio JM21 music player .

It's the last one that's most relevant here, because Fiio's sub-brand Snowsky has just unveiled a new super-cheap hi-res music player that looks like a cross between an iPod nano 6th gen and a MiniDisc player, and costs just $80
/ 80.

It's called the Snowsky Disc, appropriately enough, and while Snowsky's info calls it a "CD inspired" design and I can see it it's the resemblance to other bygone music players that got TechRadar's audio team talking. My colleague Becky Scarrott immediately recalled her much-beloved Sony Network Walkman MP3 player, which came in almost the same shade of pink. (Image credit: Fiio)

Despite its small size and price, there's great tech in here. It promises around 12 hours of battery life, and you control it using the touchscreen on the front.

There's a dual-DAC architecture (Fiio hasn't mentioned what the DAC is yet, but we've asked for more info), Wi-Fi including Apple AirPlay support, a
3.5mm port with SPDIF, a 4.4mm balanced output, USB-C audio output, LDAC higher-res Bluetooth, and perhaps most importantly a microSD card slot for storage enabling you to take up to 2TB of music files anywhere with you.

That'll be especially easy because it's so small Fiio hasn't said exactly
how small yet (again, I've chased for information). Still, I've done some
very scientific comparisons of the USB-C port's size in the images, and the Snowsky Disc appears to be basically the same width as my iPhone 16 Pro , and a little thicker.

That will make it around 72mm or 2.8 inches wide and tall between the iPod nano 6th gen I mentioned above and an iPod mini. In fact, that's basically
the size of a MiniDisc.

I love the look of this, and if it sounds good, it could easily become the
new budget pick in our guide to the best MP3 players .

Fiio has shown three colors so far black, turquoise, and pink and it goes
on sale in January. That's a bit of a shame it would have made the perfect last-minute Christmas gift if it were out now, though you could always look
to Snowsky's cassette-inspired Echo Mini MP3 player instead if you want something like this.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/audio/portable-media-players/this-new-music-player-i s-like-a-hi-res-ipod-nano-but-with-microsd-storage-and-you-wont-believe-how-ch eap-it-is


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