FiiO To Unveil New Products on March 16
Well, it seems it’s that time of the year again and FiiO is prepping to lift the covers off of a whole slew of new products – a total of 7. This event will be kicking off on Saturday the 16th of March at 15:00 (07:00 GMT, 02:00 EST), at the Guangzhou Baiyun International Convention Center.
For the last couple of days FiiO have been leaving a few clues across their social media accounts to hint at some of the products that they’ll be introducing.
So then, let’s have a look at a few of them.
The illuminated FiiO logo and the integrate shirt-clip is a give away here…we’re in for another ultra-portable Bluetooth receiver to join the BTR1, BTR1K, uBTR, and BTR3 family.
OK, this is a bit of a weird one. Clearly, this is a new DAP…but the fact that it’s being shown underneath the surface of some body of water certainly suggests that it sports some kind of water-proofing. However, this is VERY unlikely to be the case.
Instead, what we do know is that this device will feature a new, more powerful platform that FiiO have been working on. So, expect a snappier UI thanks to a pretty serious processing hardware overhaul.
The above image was the clue which alludes to a new set of IEMs. If you know your metals, then you’ll know that the metal in question here is Beryllium. As this is used for dynamic-drivers, this points us to a new hybrid IEM which features such a driver. Chances are that we’re likely looking at a new flagship for FiiO’s FH-series.
The next image that was sent out talked about a single device that boasted the feature-set of multiple other devices. Likening it with the BTR1K suggests that this new player will feature two-way Bluetooth functionality, most likely including the LDAC format. Then we see a picture of an older iPod Nano 6G, which is probably intended as a clue to the size and the addition of a touch-based interface. And then lastly there’s the strange mention of “a smartwatch with music playback”.
This could mean a couple of things. Perhaps FiiO has a strap accessory that’ll allow you to wear this new player like a smartwatch. As we’ve seen smartwatches become more health-focused in terms of step-counting etc, maybe this new player will have that too. Or, the far more unlikely possibility, is that it might have a built-in GPS for tracking your activity. But again, the latter seems extremely unlikely.
To some degree it seems as though FiiO might have Shanling in their sights, and maybe this new player is intended to go head-to-head against the little M0.
The above image is the final one we’ll be having a look at as it is arguably one of the most interesting. For a while now we’ve seen more companies starting to adopt the 4.4mm balanced connector, but the availability hasn’t quite matched the demand yet. So it seems that FiiO are catching up and have listed to the request of their users. It’s quite likely that we might even see this 4.4mm connector implemented in the first device mentioned in this article.
That’s it for now. Mark your calendars for the 16th and let’s see what FiiO has been cooking.
