FiiO Echo Mini, a cool retro-modern MP3 player

[PossiblyAxolotl]

Hey hi! So I got this cool lil DAP called the FiiO/Snowsky Echo Mini, so I thought I'd share some thoughts on it here since it's a neat thing.

It's a pretty cool thing, the audio coming out of the 3.5 jack sounds very good, I haven't tested the 4.4mm jack because I don't have anything for that though. The Bluetooth is a bit iffy though, sometimes sounding very compressed depending on the part of the song. Just keep that in mind, don't buy it just for Bluetooth. It's actually really light, but feels pretty sturdy and the ui looks very nice and clean too :>

It took me a while to figure out how to organize my files, cause when you play a song it shows the title and all the other info based on file metadata, but when you look through the song list it shows the actual filename instead so I thought I had to have a number before each song title, but it actually sorts them based on metadata song number while showing the filename which is a little odd. Also gets updates from time to time you install by dragging a file onto the built-in storage, like the one I installed today which adds new colour themes for the UI. Since I just keep my library as mp3's for listening to, it all (so far) fits on the internal storage with plenty of room left, though 8gb is not a lot if you use higher-quality formats or have a LOT of music.

I like this thing, definitely has some flaws but it's a neat little thing to carry around and I do really like it overall :3

[killerscreen]

I really like the look of this thing, I'm vaguely interested in looking for some kind of old-style mp3 player (especially portable ones) to buy, so I had to look it up myself. I'm actually really surprised that it's a new device done in the style of a retro one, I don't think I've ever seen anyone do anything like that before? It totally fooled me, I thought it was something from the 2000s. I don't really need the Bluetooth, so that's quite fine. I think I'll keep this one in mind so thanks for sharing

[candycanearter07]

OMGOMG OMG THAT LOOKS SO COOL! This would be a dream product for me! I am so annoyed at how limited the VLC app is on my phone and I adore the asthetic of it!!! It's also WAAAY cheaper than I thought it would be! The only downside I see is that it doesn't seem? like theres any way to upload files via usb, and also that you have to buy it through aliexpress..

[PossiblyAxolotl]

OMGOMG OMG THAT LOOKS SO COOL! This would be a dream product for me! I am so annoyed at how limited the VLC app is on my phone and I adore the asthetic of it!!! It's also WAAAY cheaper than I thought it would be! The only downside I see is that it doesn't seem? like theres any way to upload files via usb, and also that you have to buy it through aliexpress..

You can upload via USB! That's how you access the internal storage :) AliExpress is a little weird, but you can probably also find it on Amazon. I don't mind Ali too much tho cause it is their official storefront rather than a random sketchy search result but that's completely fair

[IndigoGolem]

Looks good. I'd given up on finding a good every day carry music player and switched to CDs when i can and silence when i can't. How's the UI on that thing? Playlist settings? Battery? Is the screen visible in sunlight?

[tarraxahum]

Well funny seeing this pop up right now, considering I just ordered this player recently :D Have yet to receive it though, having trouble with delivery. Will report back when and if I get it at last.

So far the only thing I've seen people complain about is that apparently if you have a lot of songs it takes some time to click through all of them manually with the buttons, but considering that I'm upgrading from a small 2012's Walkman that has even less buttons and UI to speak of I'm sure I'll be alright  Oh and also some don't like that it doesn't have a touch screen, but eh... I think I'm too old to have those expectations of a retro styled player

Glad to hear they are adding more UI colors btw, I'm nothing if not a color customization liker.

I heard it doesn't have any playlist creation mechanic apart from favoriting songs, but I think if I really need one I can just mess with metadata manually on my PC. Again, the player I have now doesn't have those either, plus my "playlists" are usually just albums anyway.

[tarraxahum]

Okay hello I am back! Been testing this player for a minute and can throw a few thoughts in.

First of all, I do love the way it feels in my hand and the tactile button control is very satisfying (touch screens who?). I also bought new headphones for it (3.5 jack also, but still more expensive than my old ones), and together the sound improvement is very noticeable. Can't tell you what percentage is the player and what is headphones tho :D Plus my library is mostly FLAC now.

Interface was very easy to navigate, at least to me, 'cause I never really lost the affinity for the old-school navigation. As I suspected, people I mentioned in my previous post just haven't tried holding the button down instead of slowly clicking through all the songs one by one.

Now, the only thing I'm having trouble with is the shuffle. This thing is kinda weird with the way it shuffles music. As far as I understand it uses "true shuffle", aka instead of creating a queue it just randomly decides the next song and doesn't really remember what it played already, potentially putting the same song every five minutes. But in my case it also kind of... has favorite songs, I guess?? There are a couple that it insists on putting like, every three songs, and however much I like them I am tired of skipping.

No idea what 'causes that behavior (why these songs in particular???), hopefully maybe shuffle gets improved in future updates. Very peculiar. Surely the queue shuffle can't be that hard to code if my small MP3-player from 2012 that barely has a screen could do it?

[fairyrune]

Now, the only thing I'm having trouble with is the shuffle. This thing is kinda weird with the way it shuffles music. As far as I understand it uses "true shuffle", aka instead of creating a queue it just randomly decides the next song and doesn't really remember what it played already, potentially putting the same song every five minutes. But in my case it also kind of... has favorite songs, I guess?? There are a couple that it insists on putting like, every three songs, and however much I like them I am tired of skipping.

this is such an odd choice!! normally shuffle does take into consideration what has already been played. i wonder if any reviews have mentioned this before; i had a quick look but can't see anything, but maybe someone's had the same problem as you. kind of a let down if this is something that can't be fixed, i find not having a good shuffle option drives me crazy because i will memorise exactly what songs come in which order. then if i hear those songs outside that context... my brain gets confused expecting certain songs will follow!

i've been thinking about a mp3 player to use as i want to move away from spotify and other streaming services, so this topic is much appreciated. i think there's a difficult balance to get between the charm and the clunk of old tech, and something like this seems like a great start.

the only other disappointment would be the bluetooth compression, but my headphones thankfully have the option of being either wired or wireless. i suppose if i think it's very bad, i can choose to plug it in. i'll definitely be putting this on my list of potential candidates regardless.

[PossiblyAxolotl]

Now, the only thing I'm having trouble with is the shuffle. This thing is kinda weird with the way it shuffles music. As far as I understand it uses "true shuffle", aka instead of creating a queue it just randomly decides the next song and doesn't really remember what it played already, potentially putting the same song every five minutes. But in my case it also kind of... has favorite songs, I guess?? There are a couple that it insists on putting like, every three songs, and however much I like them I am tired of skipping.

Oh, that is really strange. I've never noticed that cause even before getting the player I was starting to get more and more into listening to an album through, but that's definitely a really weird choice! I wonder if it's something that could be brought up to FiiO for a future firmware update?

[tarraxahum]

Okay so FUNNILY ENOUGH as I was typing this response I opened up FIIO's website and discovered that they literally uploaded a new firmware update today and one of the fixes is "Optimized the shuffle playback logic". Upon installing it and quickly checking it does look like they fixed the issue! Talk about timing :D

I wonder if it's something that could be brought up to FiiO for a future firmware update?

I guess people did! Good to see the devs clearly listen to feedback, too!

i wonder if any reviews have mentioned this before

I haven't seen anything either, but to be honest even when I looked the problem up I only found like one or two Reddit threads about it. Really curious if not many people who got it are using shuffle at all or maybe some of them only got it as a cool new thing but haven't walked around with it enough to notice? I kind of doubt it was a random bug kind of thing, considering.

Haven't tested the update enough to see if it makes a fixed shuffle playlist you could memorize now or if they just taught it to remember what it played already though. Will report back if you're interested! :D

I'm personally happy to say that since they fixed the repeat issue I have zero qualms with the player now

[wris]

Oh, glad to see this thread! Glad to hear the player is good. I ordered one of these in August, but don't have it yet. Due to stock issues, it's ALLEGEDLY only shipping this week.

Waiting over two months for my package. Well, I did ask for the retro experience...

[fairyrune]

Okay so FUNNILY ENOUGH as I was typing this response I opened up FIIO's website and discovered that they literally uploaded a new firmware update today and one of the fixes is "Optimized the shuffle playback logic". Upon installing it and quickly checking it does look like they fixed the issue! Talk about timing :D

oh, that's fantastic news!! maybe i'll ask for one for my birthday, then. always important to have offline copies of songs anyway, and it'd be saving my phone battery wouldn't it

i hope they have more colours, though... i could only find this on amazon (yuck), and only pink is available. i don't mind pink at all, but it seems nothing else is available. :') where did people get theirs if they have them?

[grubbyfox]

Oooh it's so cute and funky looking! Gosh that is a good looking device!

How big is it in your hand, could you post a pic?

I recently got myself a "cheap-o" MP3 player. It's a sort of "knock off" brand (I mean, it's a brand but they usually have sort of lower budget things that may or may not work all that well hahah)

But I just loved the look of it and it was pretty neat and small.


IMAGE OF IT, I DIDNT WANT TO PASTE A LARGE IMAGE LMAO


I had a pic of it in my hand, but I realized I couldnt upload it in the post itself so ugh the effort xD

[PossiblyAxolotl]

I guess people did! Good to see the devs clearly listen to feedback, too!

That's awesome! I like that even as a a "retro" device they still release actual quality of life updates for it; they still kept some of the good parts of modern tech while not being too overbearing like the other glowing rectangle in my pocket.

i hope they have more colours, though... i could only find this on amazon (yuck), and only pink is available. i don't mind pink at all, but it seems nothing else is available. :') where did people get theirs if they have them?

They officially sell it on AliExpress which is a bit odd but that's where I got mine! I got a bunch of welcome deals at the time so it costed me in total $60 CAD, but I'd also keep in mind it's likely far more expensive if you're in the US because of tariffs.

How big is it in your hand, could you post a pic?

Here's some pictures attached to this of me holding it as well, currently between classes so I have some time to post this :>

[grubbyfox]

oooh thanks for the pics! it was smaller than I expected, which is a plus for me cause in the pics it looked almost kinda clunky xD i'm def keeping my eye on it. It looks like a better option than the one I bought, hah but taxes/import taxes etc would price me out of this device for now I think. I just bought a cheap-o one for now