Shipping Q4 2027? Let me know then. Even if it ships on time, that's like a year ahead, and who knows what else will be available by the time (it's not like there's not a thriving niche mp3 player market).
This feels like a new company trying to capitalize on the trend and looking to fill a minimum order.
While you're saving that $250 over the next year, feel free to indulge on any of the dozens of equivalent products already on the market at the $35 price point.
What does this offer over, say, an Innioasis <a href="https://www.innioasis.com/products/y2" rel="nofollow">https://www.innioasis.com/products/y2</a>? What Bluetooth codecs does it support; will I be able to use LDAC/LDHC/AAC/AptX HD/etc.? Is "Sudo OS" something I can hack and play with?
Maybe it’s me being old but I don’t understand why I’d want this device for 249$.<p>I know some younger gens are looking for phoneless experiences, but for that price you can find old devices and simply recycle their usage. There are enough roms aimed and making a “dumb” mp3 player and include 3.5” and decent audio.<p>So I wonder if I miss something. The fomo here is messing with me.
Even more, chinese sites are chuck full of such players for a fraction of the price in all dimensions, on/offline, tactile or touch, with quality DACs.
Yep, just get some older mp3 players and done. No need dumb touch screens.
Maybe it's me being old but I've seen the <who would buy this thing> argument ad nauseaum.<p>I'm happy about this product, I was just looking for something like this not long ago.<p>There'a market for everything. Accept that and move on, particularly if you have <i>no horse</i> on the race.
Looks like a scam. You have to pay 50$ to reserve and ships in Q4 2027.<p>By then most of people would forget they even paid for this and also you won’t be able to dispute the 50$ with your payment provider because the dispute window has passed.
This feels like a new company collecting orders for a minimum run. I wish them luck. Those rivets on the back are a deal breaker for me.
Reminds me of the Tangara mp3 player: <a href="https://cooltech.zone/tangara/" rel="nofollow">https://cooltech.zone/tangara/</a><p>My friend got a Tangara from their "Kickstarter" and I think it's pretty cool. Plus it's open source and you can just make your own.
+1 for Tangara. It's kind of underpowered and crashes sometimes when doing too much at once, and I wish the scroll wheel felt a bit better, but hey it's all open source and I made some mods (printed a case, added some resistors to lower the noise floor).
I do like my Tangara, though I use an ancient Sansa Clip more just because it's so much smaller.
I still have an iPod in my car and I still have a big collection of music but I've stopped collecting music. I haven't bought/downloaded anything in years because there is so much good streaming out there. I mostly switch between nts.live 1 and 2, dublab, and dublab Germany. When there's something annoying on one channel there is almost always something good on another.
It doesn't seem to list what it supports. How do I get music on here? What kind of codecs are supported?
You can also just buy an iPod in 2026, they are still well supported on Mac and PC. You can get them with new batteries quite cheaply. You can even get 30-pin Bluetooth adapters for them.
I though $50 seems like a fair price for what you'd get. And then I saw it was only a deposit. A retail price of $250 seems way over the mark for what it is.<p>Who would be the market for this product?<p>Its expensive so its up market, but all of those buyers would already have phones and would be unlikely to bring another device just to have music that their phone is already exceptionally good at providing.<p>it's unlikely to be runners or bikers or other endurance athletes as they'll already have their phone or if they use a watch have music on their watch so they don't have to bring a phone.<p>Phones already do a great job of offline with downloaded music and movies so that doesn't seem like the right crowd.<p>Most kids get a hand me down phone with no cellular to start with from their parents so that doesn't seem like a good fit.<p>now i feel like I'm writing the hacker news dropbox review where i say its use case is already easy to do and the product will go nowhere;)<p>But seriously, who would be the target here?
Nostalgia? Maybe not even, as you could buy a second hand iPod off eBay. Maybe for people that only use dumbphones and want still the possibility of listening to music?<p>Curious to see how much they sell, I suspect not much
><i>A retail price of $250 seems way over the mark for what it is.</i><p>There are, in 2026, dozens of models of mp3 players selling from around $120 to even up to $400 or so, from brands from Chinese OEMs to Sony, including a few that mimic the iPod interface. From iPod style to expensive DAC ones with impendance tailored to high end headphones.<p>><i>But seriously, who would be the target here?</i><p>People interested in mp3 players.<p>People who want to focus on music listening, and not have a constant distraction device at hand when doing it.<p>><i>Phones already do a great job of offline with downloaded music and movies so that doesn't seem like the right crowd.</i><p>Seems like you've missed the whole "back to focused use device" trend going on for the last few years and that general niche.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00lLrwHQPns" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00lLrwHQPns</a><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaTRhWazMPs" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaTRhWazMPs</a><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFVo1bmUXzw" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFVo1bmUXzw</a><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viU9JhIsbl4" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viU9JhIsbl4</a><p><a href="https://www.audiophileon.com/news/hd-music-player-top-10" rel="nofollow">https://www.audiophileon.com/news/hd-music-player-top-10</a><p><a href="https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/portable/best-portable-music-players" rel="nofollow">https://www.whathifi.com/best-buys/portable/best-portable-mu...</a><p><a href="https://www.techradar.com/news/best-mp3-players-techradars-guide-to-the-best-portable-music-players" rel="nofollow">https://www.techradar.com/news/best-mp3-players-techradars-g...</a>
I use and maintain an "ipod" in the form of an old pixel 3 with 128 GB of memory that has no SIM card and no software installed except for VLC.<p>It stays in airplane mode. It has a real headphone jack.
Presumably Apple has a patent on the clickwheel? But maybe that just expired given the first iPod is now 25 years old.
Just use an old iPhone as your music player. You probably have one in a drawer somewhere
One the picture depicts a really fat device. Feels like you will have a brick in your hand.
Nice, I was just searching for something like that!
At first, I read “Suno” and thought it was a music player that lets you listen to music generated just for you. “Play me some music about a breakup between two sailors,” and there you go — the perfect album for the occasion.
THere's already a player that looks like classic iPod and even supports loseless playback out this year, Shanling Q2.
ipod of 2026 ships q4 2027.. is that a typo on the shipping date?
There already is Shanling Q2 which looks like iPod, but also has lossless.
This is all nice but, aren't there patents on some of the features visible?
If only it would run off a single AA battery.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_PMP300" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_PMP300</a>
What DAC/amplification circuitry does it use? Does it support bit perfect playback the same way my iPod/sansa clip/computer do? Or is everything crushed to 48khz like a smartphone?<p>Why does it appear to be riveted together? Wouldn't Phillips screws or a snap together design (guitar pick to open) be more practical?<p>Is "Sudo OS" a euphemism for "Android but extra locked down", the same way Rabbit R1 was?
Asking the important questions. At its core it's a DAP. If it offers nothing better than a smartphone, I don't see why I need another piece of glued together junk that could go unsupported anytime just for whatever sentimental value iPod has. Not to mention 64 GB is <i>nothing</i> if you're listening to lossless.
It has a microsd slot, so I don't think the 64 GB limitation is that bad.
^^^ This. I would urge anyone who got tangentially excited about this whole thread to:<p>1. head to eBay and search for used iPod Classics<p>2. give Rockbox some love
I suspect they're all just renderings and they didn't want to commit to a drive type.<p>As to the being "crushed" to 48Khz, there is zero chance you can tell the difference.<p><a href="https://xiph.org/video/vid2.shtml" rel="nofollow">https://xiph.org/video/vid2.shtml</a>