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Best MP3 Players for 2024 [CNET]
Our Experts
John Falcone Senior Editorial Director, Shopping
John P. Falcone is the senior director of commerce content at CNET, where he coordinates coverage of the site’s buying recommendations alongside the CNET Advice team (where he previously headed the consumer electronics reviews section). He’s been a CNET editor since 2003.
Expertise Over 20 years experience in electronics and gadget reviews and analysis, and consumer shopping advice Credentials
- Self-taught tinkerer, informal IT and gadget consultant to friends and family (with several self-built gaming PCs under his belt)
Basic budget MP3 player (Update: Currently Unavailable)
SanDisk Clip Sport Plus
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Some of us may remember what it was like to listen to music without staring at your phone. While it may sound strange to not have that accessibility for some generations, there is something special about how one could get lost in the music for a while without the distractions of popups and other items we regularly contend with when we listen to music on our phones. While MP3s are now considered an “old” way to listen to music, they’re still available and they can give you that connection to your favorite artists without interruption.
Maybe you have one too many subscriptions already, so why pay for one more when you already have a music library of thousands of MP3 files sitting on your hard drive? Or maybe you’ve meticulously crafted iTunes playlists, like mixtapes of old, that you don’t want to rebuild or transfer to another service. Maybe you have rare, one-off live tracks that don’t exist on mainstream services. (Phish fans, I’m looking at you.)
The good news is that if — for whatever reason — you want a dedicated device for storing your music on, there are still plenty of MP3 players to choose from. We’ve rounded up all the best ones for you.
What to do instead? Get a used iPhone or a new iPhone SE — and just use it on Wi-Fi. The latter will cost you $429 (for 64GB of storage), but you’ll get a device that can run the latest version of iOS, and it can pull music from iTunes (on Windows) or Apple Music (on Macs). It works seamlessly with Bluetooth headphones and speakers, but you’ll need a pesky Lightning adapter to use old-school headphones. And, because it’s got the App Store, you can also opt for alternate services like Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube and the like (so long as you can access a Wi-Fi hotspot), in addition to or instead of the Apple Music app.
You can get most refurbished models for less than $200, though this is still way too much to pay for a “music player,” in my book. It’s the most capable and flexible option here, especially for those who are already in the Apple services universe or refuse to leave their iTunes-based MP3 library. It’s also a nice fallback portable MP3 player option for kids if you don’t want an iPad, which starts at around $329 but isn’t pocketable.
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The iPod Touch was the last dedicated music player in Apple’s lineup, but it was officially discontinued in May 2022. You can still find used models but don’t expect them to be supported for much longer.
What to do instead? Get a used iPhone or a new iPhone SE — and just use it on Wi-Fi. The latter will cost you $429 (for 64GB of storage), but you’ll get a device that can run the latest version of iOS, and it can pull music from iTunes (on Windows) or Apple Music (on Macs). It works seamlessly with Bluetooth headphones and speakers, but you’ll need a pesky Lightning adapter to use old-school headphones. And, because it’s got the App Store, you can also opt for alternate services like Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube and the like (so long as you can access a Wi-Fi hotspot), in addition to or instead of the Apple Music app.
You can get most refurbished models for less than $200, though this is still way too much to pay for a “music player,” in my book. It’s the most capable and flexible option here, especially for those who are already in the Apple services universe or refuse to leave their iTunes-based MP3 library. It’s also a nice fallback portable MP3 player option for kids if you don’t want an iPad, which starts at around $329 but isn’t pocketable.
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Nowadays the real Apple Watch can act as a sorta-kinda iPod, at least for Apple Music subscribers. Just sync some playlists to the Watch, and you can enjoy digital music (not to mention podcasts) on a set of wireless headphones, even if the iPhone is nowhere nearby. Get an Apple Watch SE for less than $250 for basic music playback, or go for an Apple Watch Series 8 or Apple Watch Ultra if you want more nonmusic features. Note that recent Apple Watch SE sales have seen the prices of the 40mm version drop to as low as $200 and the larger 44mm model dip below $230.
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Once upon a time, people strapped iPod Nanos to their wrists and called it an Apple Watch of sorts.
Nowadays the real Apple Watch can act as a sorta-kinda iPod, at least for Apple Music subscribers. Just sync some playlists to the Watch, and you can enjoy digital music (not to mention podcasts) on a set of wireless headphones, even if the iPhone is nowhere nearby. Get an Apple Watch SE for less than $250 for basic music playback, or go for an Apple Watch Series 8 or Apple Watch Ultra if you want more nonmusic features. Note that recent Apple Watch SE sales have seen the prices of the 40mm version drop to as low as $200 and the larger 44mm model dip below $230.
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The Mighty Vibe is the closest modern equivalent to the iPod Shuffle (the screenless iPod that was beloved by runners for weighing next to nothing and just spooling off songs from their favorite playlists). It’s also a great gadget loophole for sleepaway camps with “no screen” rules. The catch is that this model only works with Spotify Premium and (thanks to a recent firmware update) Amazon Music, both of which can be synced wirelessly.
The Vibe can store upwards of 1,000 songs in its music library, and — unlike the old Shuffle — it supports wireless and wired headphones. But it charges through the headphone jack via a proprietary cable, rather than more ubiquitous Micro-USB or USB-C connectors. The five-hour battery life is so-so, as is the price tag of over $120, which feels higher than what you want to pay for this MP3 device product in an era of $30 wireless headphones and $200 smartphones. More expensive options in the range include the Mighty 3, with eight hours of battery life, and the Waterproof Mighty Vibe, for swimmers although that’s currently out of stock.
Yes, the products above are really the only ones I can recommend in this category with any degree of enthusiasm. They aren’t the only options. If you’re looking for a bargain basement option (under $50), a serious high-end alternative (starting at $350 and going to four figures) or some interesting workarounds, read on.
This 4GB “player in headphones” model uses Aftershockz’s patented bone-conduction technology. It’s also fully waterproof, and retails for about $150. (Note that CNET hasn’t tested these hands-on.)
If you have an old phone — or you buy a new one without service — you’ll have access to the full realm of app-based music services and any music files you care to upload. Something like the $190-ish Samsung Galaxy A03S (shown above) fits the bill nicely since you can drop in a microSD card that you’ve preloaded with tunes.
Update: Samsung Galaxy A03S linked below is currently unavailable
Sony is still making new Walkman models.
Sony/Screenshot by CNETAudiophiles have long looked down on digital music because the sound quality was notably inferior for golden-eared listeners with distinguishing tastes. The development of lossless file formats (such as FLAC) and cheap ample multi-gigabyte storage have made portable high-fidelity music a reality.
At this point, there are really only two major players in the high-end portable music space: Astell & Kern and Sony (where the Walkman brand still lives on). We’ve used earlier versions of each brand, but not the current models.
- Sony Walkman music players line starts with the NW-A306 released in 2023 (really!), for $348.
- Astell & Kern players start at $1000, and are strictly for true enthusiasts.
If you’re the sort of person who has hard drives full of uncompressed music audio files — and can hear the difference between that and comparatively low-resolution MP3 and AAC files — then, by all means, pair up one of those players with your wired headphones of choice.
Nearly all of the streaming music services now offer lossless or high bit-rate options; that’s nearly all the big players, from Tidal and Qobuz to Amazon and Apple. (Spotify HiFi, weirdly, remains a no-show.)
If you like what you hear, consider upgrading to a decent headphone DAC (that’s “digital to analog converter”) like the Audiofly Dragonfly and a serious pair of wired headphones. Then you’ll have a solid audiophile option that’s good for the road, without the need for a standalone music player.
If you’ve got a digital music collection that includes one-offs and live tracks that aren’t available on the mainstream services, you can upload them to online services, where they can live alongside subscription tracks and be shared among multiple devices (including smart speakers).
YouTube Music, formerly known as Google Play Music, offers this service at no additional cost for up to 100,000 tracks.
Apple users can opt for iTunes Match, which lets you upload your own digital music to live in tandem with Apple Music tracks. Once available for $24 a year, the service now appears to be bundled in as part of an Apple Music or Apple One subscription.
If you opt for either of these options, make sure you keep a local backup of your files, just in case these services go away.
Note that Amazon shuttered its “MP3 locker” service in 2018.
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