The audiophile iPod Shuffle replacement of your dreams is coming from the best budget music player maker, based on this leak

• Leaked images show a super-compact Snowsky digital audio player
• Fiio says yes, it supports microSD storage
• Specs and pricing are still secret but expect it to be very affordable

Snowsky, which is the more casual sub-brand of budget audiophile break-out star Fiio, appears to be planning the launch of a new and extremely compact audio player that's closer to an iPod nano or even an iPod Shuffle than many of today's best Hi-Res Audio players.

A new leak on Weibo (via Notebookcheck.net) shows a device labelled with the Snowsky logo and the words Echo Nano, and it appears to be a smaller version of the current Echo Mini. That latter device is styled to look like an old-school audio cassette but the new Nano looks more like a vape.

The player shown in the leaked image is small and kind of cuboid, with what appears to be a monochrome display on the side and a 3.5mm headphone jack and control wheel on top. It looks very 2000s, in a great way. The physical does remind me more of the Fiio's stuff than Snowsky's such as the Fiio BTR17 DAC/amp, or the Fiio JM21 music player.

FiiO Snowsky Echo Nano: what we don't know

Another image (above) posted to Reddit gives a better if blurry idea of what the player looks like, but as yet we don't know what's inside that rather nice-looking case.

We don't know pricing or availability yet, but given that the Echo Mini retails for $49 in the US and £49 in the UK I'd expect this new model to be very low priced: it's a much simpler product.

Specs are still a secret, although a Fiio representative appears to have confirmed that the new device will support microSD cards.

I've got high hopes for this, because FiiO is very good at delivering high quality audio from very modestly priced hardware: recent product launches include the aptly named Snowsky Tiny, an extremely small hi-res DAC designed for smartphones.

And the aforementioned Echo Mini has been attracting very positive reviews for its warm and involving sound. If Snowsky can deliver decent battery life and hi-res audio for a low price, it could well have a hit on its hands.

The best music players for all budgets

➡️ Read our full guide to the best hi-res music players
1. Best overall:
Activo P1
2. Best budget hi-res player:
Fiio JM21
3. Best step-up hi-res player:
Astell & Kern A&norma SR35

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