I picked up this cheap MP3 player, and it freed me from my phone so often, I wish I'd got it sooner

I didn’t realise how much I missed owning an iPod until I held something that felt exactly like one.

The Innioasis Y1 music player is pretty much as close to a carbon-copy iPod Classic as you can imagine — and when another member of the team recently dug their original out of an old shoe box, the whole team got jealous.

Here, in this dupe that launched in December 2025, you’re getting the click wheel navigation (right down to the optional clicky sound), a similar interface and comparable size and weight. I’m honestly a bit surprised Apple’s lawyers haven’t noticed.

In almost every meaningful way, this is a clone of the iPod Classic device Apple killed off over a decade ago — although it's true that the last surviving iPod Touch was only consigned to oblivion in 2022 (and some people are still trading those avidly, online).

The joy of Innioasis' tiny gadget isn’t only the muscle memory and nostalgia (even if that’s definitely a big part of its charm), though; it’s that it helps promote a different relationship with your music. It’s not promising the higher quality audio that other players charge thousands for, it’s more about being an affordable, fun and convenient way to listen to music offline and without distractions.

It looks exactly like an iPod – and that's the point

If you not-so-secretly yearn to have an iPod again, grabbing the Y1 is probably a better idea than attempting to sift through the world of refurbished iPods. With those, you’d still be buying old hardware, plus refurbished iPods are still pricey, and you may not get the convenience of Bluetooth or USB-C connectivity, depending on how they’ve been modified.

The Y1 is cheap – $60/£50 for 64GB of storage, or a tenner more for 128GB – it connects via USB-C and is as easy-to-use as it gets. You just connect it to your laptop, it shows up as a storage drive, and you then drag-and-drop your files onto it. Like many of us, I’ve got an old iTunes library gathering dust, so it was easy enough to pull that over.

You’ll obviously need to own your own tracks or go through the process of digitising your CD collection, but once you have, it can happily live on the Y1. There’s a 3.5mm audio jack here and some wired earbuds in the box (of dubious quality), but I’ve been using it mostly with a few of my favourite IEMs like the Meze Audio Alba, Moondrop Chu 2, and Sennheiser IE200. Wireless headphones work with it via Bluetooth, too, and I’ve had no trouble using my Beyerdynamic Amiron 300s and Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4s with this.

Leave your phone behind

The key benefit, though, is that the Y1 isn’t your smartphone. This isn’t necessarily marketed like some of the other top MP3 players aimed at hardware collectors and audiophiles. Those promise you perks such as Wi-Fi streaming, Apple's AirPlay, Tidal/Qobuz Connect, hi-res audio performance, and balanced 4.4mm or 2.5mm outputs.

There’s none of that here. This little device is about keeping things a lot simpler; there’s a lightweight interface that any iPod fan will instinctively know how to use, simple wired headphone or Bluetooth connections, support for a wide range of audio formats, and no Android OS or streaming apps in sight.

For me, it’s been ideal for listening while I’m reading. I’m a bit notorious for getting distracted by my phone mid-chapter, even when I’m hooked on a book, so I’ve taken to putting on background music like Max Richter’s Sleep or a film soundtrack while making my way through the Red Rising series.

I’ve also found the Y1 handy for music while I cook or do chores around the house, as those are other times when I’d rather my phone didn’t interrupt the flow. It’s great if you’d like to get stuck into an album without pausing it halfway through to doomscroll.In short, it’s absolutely perfect for those times when you want to put your phone in another room and go fully distraction-free. No messages, no alerts, no reminders, and none of the other irritants from your phone. And, unlike some other music players, there are no ads, forced software updates or clunky controls to reckon with, too.

The Y1 is ideal for kids

For all those reasons, this is a great pick if you’re after a child-friendly music player too. If you’re raising a music lover, this is a better option than so much of what else is out there, as a focused, single-purpose device for music, audiobooks or videos you might watch on a tiny screen.

It has a solid 35-hour battery life that seems pretty accurate in my three weeks of use, and it recharges quickly in around 90 minutes. It also weighs less than 65 grams, which makes it an even lighter product than the iPod nano!

Parents can hand this to kids with confidence that they won’t be able to make any random in-app purchases, that there’s no inappropriate content, that the volume doesn’t get too loud, and that it’s simple enough for them to learn how to use

The downsides aren’t total dealbreakers

It isn’t faultless, though. At this low price, you’d be surprised if it were. If you’re getting the Innioasis Y1 for yourself, you should know it’s not an ideal experience for music discovery or for staying on top of your podcast queue, since it has no app support. You’ll have to leave Spotify or Apple Music for another device.

There’s also no microSD slot, so you’re stuck with the storage you pick, and I have occasionally found it frustrating to dial in the volume. It tends to land on either a little too loud or too quiet. The Bluetooth is old-school Bluetooth 4, too, so you shouldn’t expect high-res codecs, plus it oddly doesn’t support audio over USB-C. And, lastly, it does just feel a little cheap and plastic if you compare it to an aluminium iPod, with its menus and interface being a bit unrefined and buggy.

None of this is actually disastrous, to be clear, especially given the bargain price. The Innioasis Y1 does the job that it’s designed for, and it does it well.

Ultimately, if you’re keen on the retro iPod experience but aren’t interested in spending loads on a modded one, this is the answer. It can hold thousands of songs in your pocket, has great battery life, the convenience of Bluetooth, and all the nostalgic iPod vibes I’d been missing. For $60/£50, I wouldn’t ask for much more, and I’ll genuinely continue using this little player for all those times I’d rather leave my phone in another room.

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