FiiO Snowsky Echo Nano Portable Digital Audio Player

The FiiO SNOWSKY ECHO NANO is a pocket-sized time machine: a 33.5g metal music player that reimagines the classic Y2K MP3 player for a new era. A fingertip scroll wheel, a 0.91-inch OLED screen and a dedicated Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC play your own music from a microSD card, including FLAC up to 24-bit/192kHz and native DSD256, with no apps or notifications to distract you. Plug it into a phone or computer and it doubles as a USB DAC, and it is Hi-Res Audio certified.

Sleek form, metal construction

The housing is 6-series aluminium-magnesium alloy, CNC-carved for a refined feel and good wear resistance, and measures about 84 × 23 × 14mm: small enough to slip into any pocket, but solid in the hand.

A fingertip scroll wheel

A metal multi-function wheel sits in the top of the chassis. Scroll it to change the volume or move through settings, with precise tactile feedback so you can control it by touch alone, one-handed, keeping your focus on the music. Beside it, the power button wakes the screen with a single press, locks the wheel with a double press and switches the player on or off when held. On the side, a confirm button plays and pauses, and two navigation buttons skip, fast-forward and add tracks to your favourites.

A crisp, efficient OLED screen

The 0.91-inch self-emissive OLED display shows track information and lyrics sharply and clearly, and because OLED uses so little power it helps the battery last longer.

A dedicated DAC for hi-res sound

Inside the compact chassis, a Rockchip processor handles playback and a dedicated Cirrus Logic CS43131 DAC decodes the music, faithful to the original recording. A dedicated audio-grade crystal oscillator helps give pin-point imaging and clarity. On high gain the 3.5mm output gives 125mW per channel into 32Ω, with a 129dB signal-to-noise ratio, distortion as low as 0.0003% and a 0.7µV noise floor; low gain suits sensitive earphones. FiiO recommends headphones of 8Ω to 150Ω.

Plays almost any file

It plays DSD64, DSD128 and DSD256 (DSF and DFF), WAV, FLAC and APE up to 24-bit/192kHz, and MP3, M4A, OGG and WMA. Load your library onto a microSD card of up to 256GB, formatted as exFAT or FAT32 (NTFS isn’t supported).

A USB DAC for your phone or computer

Thanks to USB Audio Class support, the ECHO NANO doubles as an external sound card: connect it to a phone, tablet or computer with a cable to bypass the device’s own audio and use the CS43131 instead (up to 16-bit/48kHz in this mode). Its UAC charging setting lets you choose regular, PC or phone mode, so it doesn’t drain your phone’s battery.

In-line controls, EQ and more

With CTIA headphones you can play, pause, skip tracks and change the volume from the cable’s remote. A 5-band dynamic EQ (±10dB) with six presets and a custom setting, channel balance in 0.5dB steps, two gain levels and a sleep timer let you set it up your way. The 360mAh battery gives about 7 hours from the 3.5mm output and charges in about 2.5 hours, and the firmware updates over USB.

Good to know

• The ECHO NANO is for wired headphones: it has a 3.5mm output and no Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
• Keep it scratch-free with the transparent clip case.
• Want Bluetooth, a bigger screen and a 4.4mm balanced output? See the SNOWSKY ECHO MINI.
• In the box: ECHO NANO, USB cable and quick start guide.