Are We Going Back in Time? Introducing the Odd New iPod Shuffle for the Streaming Era

The Apple iPod Shuffle is a special device for a lot of people – it was not only way more portable than other iPods, making it perfect for taking to the gym or going on a run, but it was also a lot more affordable, bringing the great iPod to plenty of people who couldn’t get one before the Shuffle’s release.

The Shuffle, however, is a victim of the times, with music streaming taking over and few users still plugging their device in to their computer to update playlists to be played on the Shuffle. There is, however, an iPod Shuffle-like device that is built for the music streaming era.

The device is from Mighty Audio, and is aimed at connecting to Spotify so that users can shuffle their Spotify playlists. Apart from the colors, it looks quite similar to the iPod Shuffle too, featuring volume controls, “next” and “back” buttons, a play/pause button, and a clip enabling users to clip the device to their clothes, bag, or something else. Of course, while it looks like an iPod Shuffle, the colors also make it look very close to an officially-branded Spotify product, although it’s important to note that it’s not. Mighty Audio has even had to change the colors so that they weren’t an identical match.

The idea, however, is a pretty cool one. Sometimes running or taking a smartphone to the gym isn’t the best idea, and smartwatches have been a little slow in adopting support for music streaming services.

While it doesn’t have a display, the device itself runs a modified version of Android under the hood, and whenever the device is on, that modified version of Android is running the Spotify app. Not only that, but because of the fact that the device runs Android, it could eventually tap into other music streaming services, including Apple Music. The company is reportedly in talks with Pandora.

The device can also couple with the user’s smartphone through the companion app. What this basically does is it allows users to download and play songs on the device for up to 30 days at a time.

Music listening is based on playlists, and while this would be a little frustrating, considering the device is aimed predominantly at people working out, it might not be so bad. Not only that, but while the device has a headphone jack, it also can connect to Bluetooth headphones, which is something that the iPod Shuffle never was able to deliver on.

It charges via a USB-C, and can reportedly deliver up to five hours of music playback on a single charge. It has 2GB of onboard storage, which is enough to store up to 48 hours of music – so unless you work out for more than 48 hours you should be fine.

According to the makers of the device, the device is drop-proof and water resistant, so while this isn’t the music player for swimming with, if you happen to get it a little wet it should be fine.

The Mighty is currently being funded on Kickstarter, with a funding goal of $250,000. At the time of this writing it had reached $97,899, so the campaign still has a long way to go. If you’re interested in getting the device for yourself, you can head to the Kickstarter page and pledge $79 or more, however there are pledges under $79 for those who want to fund the campaign but don’t necessarily want the device itself. Mighty works with the iPhone 4 or later, as well as Android 4.4+.

The idea certainly is a cool one, and it will be interesting to see whether or not it can actually take off. With the advent of wearable devices and other small and very portable devices it would be easy to assume to that the era of the iPod Shuffle is well past being over. This device, however, has one thing over other wearables – it’s much cheaper.

If this device were a few hundred dollars, I would go ahead and say right now that it would never take off and that users would be better off buying a smartwatch. At this price, however, the Mighty is a steal, and enables users to take their music streaming service out of their smartphone and into their workouts without having to carry around a smartphone at every moment of the day.

Learn More: How Apple Helped Prove Music Makes You Happier, Less Irritable, and More Intimate