This Tiny Retro-Inspired Gadget Can Breathe New Life Into Your Wired Headphones

The little amp looks like a miniature Walkman and is more affordable than you might think.

Published January 23, 2025

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FiiO is on a hot streak to start the year. The Chinese hi-fi brand has already announced the affordable JM21 portable hi-fi player, the S15 music streamer, and the gorgeous K17 headphone amplifier. And now it’s at it again … only it’s with something a bit different (and smaller) this time.

FiiO Snowsky Retro Nano

A tiny hi-fi upgrade

The FiiO Snowsky Retro Nano is a tiny portable DAC/amplifier designed to boost the audio quality of your wired headphones. It has dual Cirrus CS43131 DACs and 3.5mm unbalanced and 4.4mm balanced jacks, allowing it to support various wired headphones.

The Snowsky Retro Nano can be used wired or wirelessly. It can connect to your device (smartphone, laptop or tablet) via USB-C or Bluetooth. The latter is pretty neat as it essentially makes your wired headphones, wireless.

When connected via USB-C (aka “dongle mode”), the little amp can play the highest-quality audio — it supports PCM sampling up to 16-bit/96kHz. However, it’s no slouch when using Bluetooth, as it supports higher-resolution codecs such as AptX, AptX HD and LDAC. (AptX Lossless is a notable omission.)

80s nostalgia

Obviously, the Snowsky Retro Nano has some old-school charm. It looks like a tiny Sony Walkman and even has a nearly one-inch display that can show an animation of a small cassette tape playing.

On top of the device are physical playback controls for skipping tracks and adjusting the volume. It even has a removable, rechargeable battery — despite appearances, it’s not a normal AAA battery — that promises 7.5 hours of juice, which feels pretty old-school too.

A more “new age” feature is that it’s compatible with FiiO’s companion app, which allows you tweak various audio settings.

Price and availability

The FiiO Snowsky Retro Nano costs $60 and comes in two different finishes: blue or white. You can purchase the little Bluetooth amp on Amazon right now.