Quick Summary
The Shanling M0 Pura looks like a 6th gen iPod nano but has the Hi-Res music capabilities of a modern player.
It's available now for £129 / $129 / €129.
There's a renewed passion for retro these days, not only in gaming but audio. Vinyl continues to be on the rise, CDs are making a comeback, and even cassettes are proving popular once more.
However, there's one category of old school music tech that is really trending right now – the humble iPod. While our phones have the ability to stream millions of songs at the tap of an app, a growing number of music lovers are turning to more basic devices.
Shanling is certainly tapping into this with its latest Hi-Res Audio player. Although it has the ability to play high-resolution tracks (PCM) at up to 32-bit/384kHz, it just so happens to look just like a 6th gen iPod nano.
The M0 Pura even comes in different colours, while the 1.54-inch colour touchscreen keeps things simple. It also weighs just 35.8g, so is about as pocketable as they come.
Another handy added feature is that is can double as a USB DAC when connected to a smartphone and wired headphones through the 3.5mm jack, allowing iPhone owners to eke more from their handsets. And as it also supports Bluetooth 5.0, it can be linked to wireless headphones and speakers, too.
That includes operating as a Bluetooth receiver, so you can stream music to it from your phone, then listen using wired headphones at the other end – again making use of the internal dual Cirrus Logic CS43131 DACs.
You'll have to provide your own storage if you want to house tracks on the M0 Pura itself, but microSD cards up to 2TB are supported, so that should be easy enough to sort. File formats accepted include FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF, APE, MP3, AAC, OGG and DSD.
Available now from the likes of Amazon, the Shanling M0 Pura costs £129 / $129 / €129.
