Fiio X3

The original FiiO X3, released in 2013, was built for high-resolution and lossless playback, handling files such as FLAC, APE, WAV, and other formats at up to 24-bit/192 kHz. That was its main pitch against phones, which at the time mostly played compressed MP3s. It used a physical button-and-wheel control scheme with a small color screen rather than a touchscreen.

There is no internal storage to speak of — music lives on a microSD card, and cards of up to 128 GB were the commonly supported capacity at launch era. Swapping cards effectively gives you an unlimited library. This kept the player's price low compared to storage-laden rivals like the iPod classic.

The X3 sat in the middle of FiiO's 2013–2014 lineup: below the flagship X5, which had dual microSD slots for twice the capacity, and above the entry-level X1 that arrived in 2014 with fewer outputs and a lower price. The X3 offered both a headphone output and a line-out for connecting to external amplifiers. All three targeted budget-conscious audiophiles priced well below premium players from Astell & Kern.

Yes, FiiO released the X3 second generation (X3II) in 2015, with a redesigned body, an iPod-style touch wheel, and updated internals including DSD playback support. The second generation also added a coaxial digital output the original lacked. Used first-generation units remain popular as cheap digital transports.