MP3 gamers are making a comeback – I examined 15 to search out one of the best | Devices

An MP3 participant? In 2025? Am I going to be masking Betamax and MiniDisc gamers subsequent?

No, this isn’t a retro piece from the Filter. You could also be studying this no less than three years after Apple decided the iPod business was too niche to be worth bothering with, however MP3 gamers – or digital audio gamers, as they need to extra precisely be referred to as – are seeing a small resurgence, regardless of the domination of Spotify, Apple Music and the like.

“In the past few years, since Covid, we’ve seen way more people looking to get a new MP3 player,” says Chris Laidler, workplace supervisor of Advanced MP3 Players, an Edinburgh retailer specialising in audio gear.

The causes are, primarily, threefold. First, there’s the pleasure of utilizing one thing tangible: a nostalgia for gadgets with a single objective, devoid of notifications and apps. More importantly, although, there’s a need to have a music assortment once more – one thing led by the music-loving algorithm in your mind, fairly than one outsourced to know-how. “It’s their collection, rather than a playlist they’ve subscribed to,” says Laidler, they usually personal the music and aren’t merely “leasing it from Spotify”.

Finally, there’s a sound-quality side. Yes, your cellphone can play music, however it’s a reasonably insignificant a part of its each day duties, and for audiophiles, it reveals.

“When you think about it, the DAC [digital-to-analogue converter] that’s in [your phone] is only going to be one tiny component of the thing,” says Laidler. In fashionable high-end MP3 gamers, alternatively, “the entire infrastructure is designed for [delivering] as accurate music recreation as possible.”

These arguments gained’t be compelling to everybody, however when you do take your music significantly and really feel such as you’ve been listening an excessive amount of on autopilot, getting a brand new MP3 participant might be simply what it is advisable get out of a musical rut.

At a look

Why it’s best to belief me

MP3 gamers and me go means again. Ahead of beginning college, I purchased a 20GB Archos Jukebox. With its blue bumpers on each nook, it wasn’t an iPod-style looker, however it made all of the 32MB (sure, megabytes!) gamers on the time look flimsy (even when it did little for my already restricted campus cool issue). When these bumpers failed to guard the interior arduous drive from one too many falls, I switched to a Creative mannequin, earlier than lastly accepting Apple’s dominance of the market with an iPod nano.

I’m additionally the proud(ish) proprietor of an imported Microsoft Zune. That won’t make the case for me on grounds of style, however it does no less than present that I’ve put the hours in. More importantly, I’ve been reviewing tech for greater than a decade now, most of it extra complicated than an MP3 participant. I in all probability ought to have began with that time, however it tells its personal story: I’m fairly geeky relating to my digital music assortment.

How I examined

I sourced 15 fashionable MP3 gamers from the likes of Sony, Agptek, Majority, Shanling, iBasso and FiiO – which can not all sound that acquainted, such is the area of interest we’re coping with. While gamers can go for greater than £1,000, I used to be eager to check mainstream gadgets, with the best priced at £649 and the bottom at £30.

I supplemented this with two previous Apple fashions through Backmarket, the place preowned tech can get a second life fairly than changing into e-waste. Neither made the checklist, nonetheless, for causes I’ll get to later.

I listened to a number of music in several environments. I turned conversant in my previous assortment (out and about, and whereas linked on to my Cambridge Audio AXA25 hifi). To get essentially the most out of the high-end gamers, I borrowed a few high-end FiiO headsets from Advanced MP3 Players: the FH75 wired in-ear screens, and the over-ear FT7 headphones. These provided a substantial enchancment over my very own considerably drained headphones.

All the whereas, I diligently made psychological notes in regards to the look, really feel, battery life and value of every system, relative to its value. File high quality can be an element, in fact, and to that finish, I not solely performed MP3s, however lossless Flac variations of the identical observe.

The greatest MP3 gamers in 2025

Best MP3 participant general:
Activo P1

If you’ve carried out sufficient studying on the subject of digital audio gamers, you’ll have undoubtedly come throughout the Astell & Kern model … after which probably realised its merchandise are out of your worth vary. Enter Activo: a sub-brand from the corporate, which guarantees to ship a number of what audiophiles need for significantly much less value.

Why we like it
While £399 represents a big outlay, it’s nowhere close to as dear as some fashions and nonetheless affords a number of bang on your buck. The dual-DAC construction supplies high-resolution audio, aided by its Digital Audio Remaster upsampling tech, loads of pre-programmed filters and a built-in EQ to switch 20 frequencies to your tastes.

File help is robust, and it has 3.5mm and 4.4mm balanced audio ports for wired connections, together with Bluetooth 5.3 for wi-fi playback. It may even work as an exterior DAC on your pc when you like.

It comes with 64GB of inside storage, and you’ll increase it with microSD playing cards of as much as 1.5TB. It makes use of Android – which I at all times fear detracts from the purpose of a devoted MP3 participant – however it’s a extremely pared-back model targeted on music. The Google Play Store is right here, however it’s actually solely current to permit you to set up Spotify, Tidal or no matter your streaming poison is. It’s intuitive, clean sufficient, and never attempting to imitate your cellphone: you gained’t end up distracted by social media nonsense.

It’s a disgrace that … it doesn’t have extra devoted bodily playback buttons. That and its chunky measurement nearly made me give the cheaper £346.80 Sony NW-A306 the nod, however Activo’s smoother, pared-back model of Android and extra 4.4mm output gave it the sting.

Capacity: 64GB inside, expandable as much as 1.5TB
Screen: 4.1in LCD, 720 x 1,280
Connectivity: 3.5mm, 4.4mm, Bluetooth 5.3
Weight: 155g
Supported file varieties: WAV, Flac, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, DFF, DSF, MQA
Battery take a look at (wired earbuds): 15hrs 30mins

Best finances MP3 participant:
Snowsky Echo Mini

I examined fairly a number of finances gamers, and generally there was a component of getting what you pay for, with iffy interfaces, truncated filenames and skinny, reedy audio. For about £50, the FiiO Snowsky Mini avoids all these traps whereas leaning into the allure of retro fairly properly, even when its design could go over the heads of these underneath the age of 35. That’s proper, it seems to be like a cassette tape, and the color display will even present one taking part in while you’re listening to music, when you like.

Why we like it
You will not be conversant in the Snowsky model, however you might need heard of its guardian firm, FiiO, which is likely one of the larger names in fashionable transportable digital audio. The Echo Mini has clearly realized from its sister merchandise, offering a far richer soundscape than that provided by some other finances system I examined. It’s additionally the one low cost providing to incorporate a 4.4mm balanced port together with the usual 3.5mm one.

The interface is primary however moderately intuitive, with bodily buttons alongside the highest to regulate playback. You can select from a handful of EQ presets and filters within the settings, too. Navigating through bodily controls and a largely text-based interface could really feel dated within the age of smartphones, however it matches in with the retro vibes and ensures a distraction-free setting – except you turn out to be transfixed by the tape participant animation, that’s.

For the worth, I solely actually have two complaints. The first is that as a result of it’s not linked to the web, you must replace its software program the old style means: by downloading the firmware to your desktop, to pull and drop. The second is that, whereas it has a microSD slot to complement the 8GB of inside storage, it maxes out at 256GB, which can be too little for indecisive music followers.

It’s a disgrace that … its text-based interface will not be to your style.

Capacity: 8GB inside, expandable as much as 256GB
Screen: 1.99in IPS, 170 x 320
Connectivity: 3.5mm, 4.4mm, Bluetooth 5.3
Weight: 55g
Supported file varieties: MP3, DSD, WAV, Flac, APE, M4A, OGG
Battery take a look at (wired earbuds): 10hrs 30mins

Best mid-range participant:
FiiO JM21

If you need good sound high quality however resent paying smartphone costs for a devoted audio participant, the FiiO JM21 is a good compromise, because it is available in at simply £179.99. For that worth, it’s remarkably totally featured, and it sounds nice.

Why we like it
FiiO is aware of find out how to make a very good MP3 participant, and it’s spectacular how a lot of the model’s high-end high quality filters right down to its entry-level product. The JM21’s dual-DAC chipset delivers a pleasant detailed sound, whether or not you’re listening through 3.5mm cable or balanced 4.4mm connection. And whereas it runs Android, you possibly can swap to a extra primary audio-only view through a drop down, providing you with the selection between a distraction-free setting and one thing extra totally featured.

The construct is pleasant, too. Its slim profile means it weighs a lightweight 156g, and the bodily buttons are evenly cut up between the left and proper sides, making it simple to play, pause and skip tracks and modify quantity with out wanting. If you’re inquisitive about devoted transportable music gamers, however don’t wish to lay our a fortune, that is an affordable however spectacular approach to discover out what all of the fuss is about.

It’s a disgrace that … the 32GB of inside storage gained’t go far, particularly as plenty of that’s devoured up by Android.

Capacity: 32GB inside, expandable as much as 2TB
Screen: 4.7in TFT, 750 x 1,334
Connectivity: 3.5mm, 4.4mm, Bluetooth 5.0
Weight: 156g
Supported file varieties: ISO, DST, MQA, DSD, DXD, APE, ALAC, AIFF, Flac, WAV, MP3, OGG, WMA, AAC
Battery take a look at (wired earbuds): 11hrs 30mins

Best high-end participant:
iBasso DX180

The time period “high-end” is clearly relative, however given most individuals don’t wish to break into 4 figures for transportable audio, I’ve chosen to pitch it between £400 and £650. And, of all of the gamers I examined in that bracket, the iBasso DX180 affords one of the best steadiness of options, sound high quality, worth and design.

Why we like it
The DX180 sounds nice, with its quad-DAC chip offering a beautiful sound through 3.5mm or 4.4mm balanced. On prime of that, it’s merely a pleasant participant to carry and play with: substantial, however not hefty. Pleasingly, you possibly can open the again to switch the battery, must you discover it’s not lasting so long as it used to – a giant plus for sustainability.

It runs Android 13 and has a chip able to doing so with out slowdown. I’d desire one thing extra bespoke, however it’s actually solely used for choosing out an album or playlist. After that, the buttons on the aspect take over, letting you play, pause, skip or modify the quantity through a quantity wheel. The benefit of Android is that you may obtain no matter music streaming apps you prefer to accompany your personal assortment.

It was a detailed name between this and the Shanling M5 Ultra, which prices the identical however doesn’t include any onboard storage (you provide your personal microSD card). I had a minor choice for the sound of the M5 Ultra (and I most popular its music-first implementation of Android), but the DX180 is lighter, runs cooler and lasted nearly three hours longer in my battery take a look at, giving it the sting.

It’s a disgrace that … its UI is pure Android, making it seem to be a cellphone (minus the cellphone!).

Capacity: 128GB inside, expandable as much as 2TB
Screen: 5in, 1,920 x 1,080
Connectivity: 3.5mm, 4.4mm, Bluetooth 5.0
Weight: 206g
Supported file varieties: APE, Flac, WAV, WMA, AAC, ALAC, AIFF, OGG, MP3, DFF, DSF, DXD
Battery take a look at (wired earbuds): 13hrs 28mins

The better of the remainder

Shanling M0 Pro

Best for: a compact participant

If you had been a fan of the diminutive iPod shuffle (and later iPod nanos), then you definately’re in luck. Shanling makes a terrific various for the 2020s, full with a tiny 1.54in touchscreen to navigate nonetheless many songs you possibly can match on a microSD card of as much as 2TB in measurement (there’s no inside storage).

Considering its tiny body, the sound high quality is excellent, though you’re restricted to both 3.5mm wired or Bluetooth 5 headphones. Weighing simply 36.8g, it’s the definition of transportable – although if navigating a tool so small feels like a nightmare, that’s as a result of it type of is. The 240 x 240 display is straightforward sufficient to learn, and adjusting quantity through the wheel is definitely a bit enjoyable, however shifting between menus isn’t intuitive – it’s the definition of fiddly. Still, if portability is your final goal, you gained’t discover higher than this.

It didn’t make the ultimate minimize as a result of … the dimensions and form stay too fiddly to advocate to most individuals.

Capacity: no inside storage, expandable to 2TB; display: 1.54in LCD, 240 x 240; connectivity: 3.5mm, Bluetooth 5, 4.4mm adapter accessible individually; weight: 36.8g; supported file varieties: WAV, Flac, WMA, MP3, OGG, APE, AAC, ALAC, AIF, DSD, M3U, CUE, AC3, DXD, DTS, M4A; battery take a look at (wired earbuds): 11hrs 6mins

Majority MP3 Go

Best for: exercises

You could determine that the Shanling M0 is completely suited to exercises, however right here’s an choice that improves on it in two essential methods: worth and bodily buttons.

The former is an apparent bonus, and £30 is kind of the cut price for this participant. While it gained’t blow anybody away sound smart, it punches above its weight, and it’s priced so competitively that you simply gained’t be too devastated if it doesn’t make it out of a specific intensive health club session alive.

More importantly, it has tactile buttons fairly than a touchscreen, that means you possibly can pause and bounce between tracks with out sweat getting in the best way. The sports activities clip means it should keep firmly hooked up to your garments, although do observe that it doesn’t have any type of waterproofing, so it’s greatest to maintain it coated when you’re an all-weather runner.

It didn’t make the ultimate minimize as a result of … whereas its sound is nice for the worth, this isn’t the participant to show Spotify streamers into believers.

Capacity: 16GB inside, expandable as much as 128GB; display: 1.54in IPS, 240 x 240; connectivity: 3.5mm, Bluetooth 5; weight: 33g; supported file varieties: MP3, Flac, WAV; battery take a look at (wired earbuds): 33hrs 30mins

What in regards to the iPod?

As talked about above, I sourced a few iPods from Backmarket. The iPod Nano was crushed by the Shanling M0 Pro above, whereas the iPod Classic bumped into a distinct drawback: it had been modified.

Apple by no means produced a model bigger than 160GB, however the mannequin provided by Backmarket had a backplate labelled 256GB. A verify of the serial on Apple’s web site revealed it was initially 160GB. When requested about how a modified piece of {hardware} may have been accessible for unsuspecting consumers to buy, the corporate defined that it “rigorously vet[s] sellers” with only one in three candidates accredited.

“We have zero tolerance for counterfeit items. When sellers first start selling on our platform, they are limited to just five sales per day. Everything is meticulously checked, including their customer feedback, comments, and delivery performance. Once they are allowed to sell without restrictions, they continue to be closely monitored. At the slightest issue, their sales are limited again, and if they don’t improve after the problem is identified (with help from our lab), they will be excluded from the platform.”

The firm added that “if customers suspect that they have purchased a counterfeit device, they are encouraged to contact Customer Care”.

Obviously, we couldn’t publish our findings about an MP3 participant we consider to have been modified right here. And there are causes you would possibly wish to avoid iPods, no matter this cautionary story.

There are too many compromises with an iPod, from the tough reliance on iTunes to the necessity to convert into Apple-friendly file codecs akin to AAC and ALAC. Plus, in fact, you’re counting on a 3.5mm headphone jack, with most iPods not supporting Bluetooth connections. The ultimate iPod Nano did, if you’ll find one, as did the iPod Touch vary, though the latter is simply too near an iPhone for my liking.

If you’re useless set on an iPod Classic, one choice is to purchase a intentionally souped-up model with the options that all of us want Apple would supply. Player Mods specialises in upgrading iPod Classics with optionally available Bluetooth, extra storage, bigger batteries, USB-C charging and even an AirTag, so it gained’t get misplaced. Each of those upgrades prices a reasonably penny, in fact, however if you wish to reside up to now with the mod-cons of the current, there’s no higher means to take action.

What it is advisable know

What are lossless and lossy audio information?

Back within the days when music participant capacities had been measured in megabytes fairly than gigabytes, file measurement was all vital, resulting in the recognition of the MP3. By lowering audio constancy, the recording measurement might be slashed from 600–6,000 megabytes per hour to 14.4–144 (relying on pattern fee).

Lossless audio information – akin to Flac or ALAC – retain all details about a observe, taking part in the music as initially recorded. However, if in case you have a giant music assortment, your restricted cupboard space will replenish sooner.

So is lossless higher if in case you have the area? Objectively, sure, however in fact, you could not really be capable of inform the distinction between a high-quality MP3 file and a lossless observe, regardless of the distinction in file measurement.

Don’t consider me? Ask Apple’s personal Eddy Cue. “The reality of lossless is: if you take 100 people and you take a stereo song in lossless and you take a song that’s been in Apple Music that’s compressed, I don’t know if it’s 99 or 98 can’t tell the difference,” he mentioned in an interview with Billboard. “For the difference of lossless, our ears aren’t that good.”

You might be inside that 1%-2%, in fact, and NPR created a quiz where you can test yourself. But even if in case you have magic ears, you’ll probably want to make use of wired headphones, as only a handful of devices support lossless audio over Bluetooth on the time of writing.

What’s the distinction between an inexpensive MP3 participant and an costly one?

If you’ve shopped round, you’ll know that MP3 gamers can value anyplace between £30 and a number of other thousand kilos. So what’s the distinction?

It mainly comes right down to apparent issues akin to construct high quality, the DACs powering them (manifested in sound high quality) and the number of outputs supported. Cheaper ones are often restricted to Bluetooth and three.5mm outputs, whereas costlier ones will cater for extra unique outputs.

“We sell players that have XLR outputs on them, so a hell of a lot more powerful output on these things,” says Advanced MP3 Players’ Laidler. “You couldn’t put something like that into a cheap player, because they just wouldn’t drive it.”

But don’t despair: based on Laidler, after a sure level, pricing turns into much less about sound high quality and extra about discovering the tuning that fits you and your private style. He compares them to high-end cameras: “They all cost a lot of money, but they’re not capturing the exact same image.” Naturally, as a retailer, he doesn’t use the phrase “diminishing returns”, however I really feel comfy utilizing it right here.

Beware how simple it’s to get caught chasing that good sound. “At the audio trade shows, people come in with their little notebooks, and they go around each room making notes about the character of each player and the price,” says Laidler. “But then you see these same people come back the next year, and you ask them, ‘Oh, which one did you end up going for?’ and they’re still deciding.”

3.5mm vs 4.4mm balanced: what’s the distinction?

While 3.5mm ports are ubiquitous, some gamers on this checklist have a further 4.4mm balanced enter. Generally talking, 3.5mm cables aren’t balanced, whereas 4.4mm cables are. Unbalanced cables ship a full stereo sound picture on a single sign wire, however balanced supplies two sign wires, each carrying a replica of the sound. This means much less interference and, consequently, theoretically cleaner playback.

The distinction is refined, so it’s not important for everybody. The backside line is that both often sounds higher than Bluetooth, benefiting from the MP3 participant’s built-in DAC. The apparent downside is that you simply’ll be again to the unhealthy previous days of untangling cables every now and then.

MP3s vs smartphone streaming: which is healthier for audio high quality?

In concept, lossless streaming over Apple Music, Tidal or – as of this week, Spotify – beats an MP3.

That’s as a result of, as outlined above, MP3 is an inherently lossy format. A streamed lossless file in contrast with a neighborhood Flac, nonetheless, must be a useless warmth, assuming you’re utilizing the identical audio gear. “It comes down to ownership of your own music, rather than quality,” says Laidler.

There’s a “but”, nonetheless. The query is particularly about “smartphone streaming”, and smartphone makers now not embrace a headphone jack for wired output, nor stress an excessive amount of in regards to the high quality of the onboard DAC. High-end MP3-player makers do.

In different phrases, whereas the information could sound the identical in similar circumstances, a smartphone will typically reproduce the audio worse than a high-end MP3 participant with a top quality DAC included. Some MP3 gamers additionally embrace streaming software program, so you possibly can have one of the best of each worlds.

Buying a refurbished MP3 participant

Given that MP3 gamers aren’t as well-liked as they was once, there are many preowned fashions to purchase, however you have to be conscious of the dangers. First off, there’s the counterfeit and modification drawback. If even a professional firm like Backmarket can inadvertently promote a modified iPod Classic, then shopping for from particular person sellers on eBay, Vinted and the like is clearly a big gamble.

However, even when you deliver a professional retro MP3 participant out of retirement, there are issues to keep in mind. “A lot of those devices from the original MP3 player boom are going to only play MP3 files and don’t have the capacity for playing high-res audio or lossless files,” says Laidler. “The vast majority are going to be out of warranty, so the company that originally built them won’t touch them if something goes wrong.

“But as a nostalgic thing, I think they’re great. We still have an iPod Classic rattling around in the office because we just can’t bring ourselves to part with it. Really, it’s just nice to have it around.”

Alan Martin is a evaluations author who has been placing merchandise – together with telephones, gaming gadgets and wearables – by means of their paces for greater than a decade. He has a rising and unsustainable vinyl behavior