This affordable new high-resolution music player is the iPod replacement I’ve been waiting for
- Dual DACs and support for microSD up to 2TB
- 13mm slim and 165g
- $149 / £139 / about AU$277
FiiO is the best Hi-Res audio player for most people, but as much as we love the FiiO M23 – and we do, which is why we gave it four and a half stars in our review – with a recommended retail price of At $699 / £649, it’s quite expensive too. So we’re quite excited to see a new Android-powered FiiO portable player with a much lower price tag: just $149 in the US. For those of us of a certain audio era, that’s iPod Nano money.
As you can see from the images, it looks good, and with a thickness of only 13mm and a weight of 165 grams it won’t endanger your pocket or bag. But while it fits perfectly in your pocket, there’s nothing light about the specification.
FiiO JM21: main features and availability
The FiiO JM21 has dual CS43198 DACs, 3 GB of internal RAM and 32 GB of internal memory, expandable up to 2 TB via microSD. It is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 680 and has a 4.7-inch display. You can use it as a DAC with Mac or Windows computers, with support for sampling rates up to 384 kHz/32 bit.
There’s a standard 3.5mm jack and a 4.4mm balanced output rated at 700mW+700mW, and the player also has SPDIF, USB and line audio outputs. There is dual-band WiFi with DLNA and AirPlay, and Bluetooth is version 5.0 with SBC, AAC, aptX HD, LHDC and LDAC.
The JM21 has FiiO’s own music app and support for all major hi-res streaming services. The underlying software is Android 13 with FiiO’s own interface on top.
In addition to its small size and light weight, the JM21 has an impressive battery life, with up to 12 hours of playback time and two-hour fast charging.
That’s a serious spec for a very small price. If you want to get your hands on one, it will start shipping from the end of January – and we hope to get your hands on it for the first time at CES 2025.
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