Fiio's Snowsky Disc is like a retro iPod inspired by the CD

(Image credit: Fiio)

We’ve had waves of nostalgia for vinyl and cassettes. Is 2026 going to be the year of the CD? Audio brand FiiO seems to think so, judging by the design of the Snowsky Disc.

This is FiiO’s latest digital audio player — itself a bit of a tech throwback to many — whose design is inspired by the CD.

At its centre is a perfectly round touchscreen, where you can access playback controls and view album artwork.

FiiO has more priors in this area than just about any other audio brand. Not only does it have the cassette-inspired Snowsky Echo Mini and Nano players in its line-up, FiiO even makes a Bluetooth-enabled portable CD player, the FiiO DM13.

But let’s get back to the main event, the Snowsky Disc. This thing is not near the size of an actual CD, thankfully.

FiiO hasn’t released full specs yet, but a bit of tech sleuthing on our part suggests it’s around a 99mm square, and around 12mm thick. We can tell because standard headphone jacks and USB-C sockets are all roughly the same size. An actual CD is a 120mm diameter disc.

Fiio Snowsky Disc multiple rendered views.

Specs we do know include that its battery lasts up to 12 hours, it has a balanced 4.4mm output as well as a classic 3.5mm one. And that smaller socket can even be used as an SPDIF digital output.

When you just stick in headphones, audio is converted using a dual DAC with a 280mW power — a lot for headphones. And you plug in a microSD card to get your tunes loaded. Cards of up to 2TB are officially supported. Massive.

The Snowsky Disc has Bluetooth for a wireless connection, and can stream tunes using the LDAC standard for super-high quality results. Although then you won’t actually be using all of the Disc’s own audio tech, of course.

It’s actually kinda ridiculously capable when you dig deeper. The Snowsky Disc can be used as a higher-quality audio interface for your laptop or PC, by plugging it in over USB. And it can output over USB too, making it a high-quality portable source for a high-end hifi system. This ain’t no ordinary MP3 player.

On the fluffier side, it has “retro sound effects” aimed at emulating the tone of ye olde audio gear, too.

The FiiO Snowsky Disc is out in January and will cost £80. Its anodised aluminium body comes in multiple colours, with black, pink and a green-blue expected to come to the UK.

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Andrew Williams has written about all sorts of stuff for more than a decade — from tech and fitness to entertainment and fashion. He has written for a stack of magazines and websites including Wired, TrustedReviews, TechRadar and Stuff, enjoys going to gigs and painting in his spare time. He's also suspiciously good at poker.

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