Our phones are more than capable of doubling up as media players, but for those who are truly concerned about audio quality and the ability to playback lossless formats such as FLAC, then your phone is probably not the right device. There are several high-res media players in the market out there today, but if you don’t feel like breaking the bank, then the FiiO X3 might be the player for you.
Now before you’re wondering isn’t the FiiO X3 old news? It is, but this particular model we’re talking about is the recently launched second-gen version of the FiiO X3. In fact the device itself looks very different from its predecessor just based on its design alone. The new X3 will sport a four button/jog wheel control, a 2-inch display, and will support formats such as MP3, AAC, OGG, AIFF, FLAC, WAV, APE, ALAC, WMA, and DSD.
It does not come with built-in storage so users will have to insert a microSD card which can go up to 128GB. In terms of quality, it seems that the device does not disappoint according to the folks at CNET who tried it out with a variety of headphones, claiming that it blew past the iPod Classic in terms of performance.
With the FiiO X3 priced at $220 on Amazon, it seems to be a rather affordable device, at least compared to other high-res music players in the market such as the Sony Walkman NW-ZX2 which is priced over $1,000, or Neil Young’s Pono which is priced at $400.
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