Digital audio files are the backbone of modern music listening – whether you like it or not. Groaning as your own floorboards may be under the weight of your prog-rock vinyl collection, it’s still digital audio that populates your CDs, fills out your computer’s music library and serves your streaming services of choice. Special as physical media may be, digital doesn’t equal bad. But it can, sometimes.
Those “sometimes” are when mainstream streaming services sacrifices audio fidelity and preservation of artist intent in favour of a sleeker, cheaper user experience. More broadly, streaming as a solution for listening to music is just another means of preventing you from actually owning what you’re listening to. In a subscription society where nothing is yours, wouldn’t you like to regain some agency?
This is precisely what’s driving a meaningful resurgence in demand for standalone MP3 players. Rather than delegating responsibility to the impersonal melange of apps that is the smartphone, we’re increasingly looking own our music – and the active, mindful means by which we listen to it. There’s also, inarguably, a retro-chic element to all this; fond memories of the OG iPod, coupled with the iconic product designs of the turn of the Millennium, make a perfect backdrop for a newer, techier return to cultivating and enjoying a digital music library.
If you’re ready to get back in touch with your curatorial brain, you’ll find a variety excellent MP3-playing devices in this guide – from iPod-adjacent nostalgia-tuggers to high-performing digital audio converters.
To get you started, my top goes to the FiiO M21 – a media player than has a lovely touchcreen, Android functionality and four high-quality DACs.
If you want a little more context on digital audio, how it works and what matters the most, you’ll find an extensive buyer’s guide below the listings – including some handy FAQs and a glossary of terms.
Best overall
Audio: ★★★★★
Battery: ★★★★½
Storage: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★★
FiiO is knocking it out of the park at the moment. The Chinese hi-fi brand has been pumping out a huge variety of forward-thinking audio products in the past few years, from clever portable CD players and cassette players to high-quality DACs, butter-smooth planar in-ears and yet more besides.
It should come as no surprise that FiiO’s MP3-playing tech interventions are just as high-quality. Of the many different options in FiiO’s roster, I think the best all-rounder is this: the FiiO M21.
The M21 sits in a more affordable corner of the MP3 player category’s mid-range, with a compelling feature-set to match. It seems more smartphone than media player, with a bezel-less 750 × 1334 touchscreen, WiFi connectivity and Android operating system functionality – but look beneath, and you’ll find a much more focussed set of circuit-y innards, most notable among them being the four Cirrus Logic CS43198 DACs that handle your library with the grace it deserves.
As for the contents of your library, the M21 can handle up to 32-bit/768kHz – a frankly ridiculous ceiling that ought to hammer home the prodigious capability of this MP3 player. The 64GB of internal storage, and micro-SD expandability up to 2TB, make the FiiO M21 more capacious than most PCs, and its various output options – from 3.5mm to 4.4mm balanced, from coax to two-way Bluetooth – make it more connectible too. All this in your pocket, and for less than a mid-priced smartphone. This might be the best bang-for-buck media player on the market right now.
Best mid-range
Audio: ★★★★★
Battery: ★★★★★
Storage: ★★★★½
Overall: ★★★★★
Look who’s back! Sony was a mainstay of the portable-media back in the 80s, with its irrepressible range of era-defining devices sold under the Walkman name. From cassette to CD, Sony was an industry leader – and it’s back with a Walkman for the modern age.
The Walkman brand has been revived with a handful of portable media players, but the flagship is this – the NW A-306, a mid-range media player with some darn impressive internals and a legacy-enshrining approach to design, both within and without.
There’s a lot to love about the Walkman NW A-306, but my favourite thing about it is the long battery life. It’s double that of most other media players, at up to 32 hours; combine this with high-fidelity performance up to 32-bit/384kHz, and Bluetooth connectivity including aptX HD and LDAC, and you’ve a device that does wireless right without sacrificing longevity.
There’s so much more to the A-306 than this, but it’s testament to this MP3 player’s peerless mid-range chops.
Best compact
Audio: ★★★★½
Battery: ★★★★★
Storage: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★½
FiiO is one of the more prolific brands in hi-fi at the moment; the Chinese brand is extremely adept at taking cutting-edge developments in audio tech and scaling them to wallet-friendly consumer products. It’s also something of a leader in this new, generalised thrust towards tactile audio experiences, from natural-sounding planar headphones to an ever-expanding range of DAPs – amongst which you’ll find this stick-thin little number, the Snowsky Echo Nano.
The Echo Nano hearkens back to a halcyon age of early MP3 players, an age in which USB-stick designs were popular and on-board memory rarely exceeded 512MB. In fact, that’s exactly the case here, where half a gig of built-in memory tides you over until you get a microSD card (up to 256GB) to store your music on. The comparisons end there, though; an OLED screen, engaging UI (particularly that eye-catching rotary controller knob) and high-fidelity DAC make this a fantastic modern-day MP3 player.
Conspicuously absent from the Snowsky Echo Nano is any form of Bluetooth connectivity; you’ll need a wired set of ‘phones or a USB-C dongle to use this. However, the Echo Nano is also usable as a USB DAC, so you can benefit from its fidelity even when using your laptop or PC.
For something this small and this inexpensive, the FiiO Snowsky Echo Nano is a great device – and its compact form factor makes it an excellent exercise or out-and-about buddy.
Best retro
Audio: ★★★★
Battery: ★★★★½
Storage: ★★★½
Overall: ★★★★½
Shanling’s another big name in Chinese consumer hi-fi, and another frequent flyer here at Louder; it’s a common sight in our guide to the best portable CD players, for one. No surprise, then, that Shanling’s also in the MP3 player market too – and with an insanely high-powered, small-format device that looks a little bit familiar.
The Shanling Q2 takes cues from the original Apple iPod, with its distinctive touch-sensitive wheel for navigating menus and controlling audio. But the Q2 outstrips the iPod in almost every other conceivable way. For starters, a quad-DAC architecture feeds both a 3.5mm output and a 4.4mm balanced output for audiophile headphones. On top of this, there’s two-way Bluetooth support for aptX HD and LDAC, amongst other codecs; wireless losslessness awaits, whether you’re listening to files or routing audio from elsewhere straight through the DAC.
The Q2 takes a microSD card, which can be up to 2TB in size. It also has Wi-Fi connectivity and on-board support for the streaming service TIDAL, in case you have an itch that your present audio library can’t quite scratch. The cherries on top are the touchscreen, the 13.5-hour battery life, and the fetching orange you can get it in.
Best high-end
Audio: ★★★★★
Battery: ★★★★
Storage: ★★★★★
Overall: ★★★★½
Astell & Kern is an audio industry leader for all things high-spec, and has been for more than a decade. Its run of excellent DAPs continues with the PD5, a device with specs that vastly exceed its size. The PD5 is a small, lightweight piece of digital-audio kit, with an octa-core DAC that lends it some unbeatable dynamic range – listenable via a 3.5mm out, a balanced 4.4mm out or your choice of Bluetooth codec.
One of the more compelling features hidden in the PD5 is EnviroTune; a built-in microphone listens to your surroundings while you listen to music, and makes minute frequency-range adjustments to account for any ambient noise interference. It’s clever, practically to the point of needlessness. There are countless other top-shelf features hidden in here too, including a number of DAC filters that handle hi-res audio differently, to different sonic ends.
As for user interface, there’s a comfortably sized touchscreen and a physical rotary encoder on the side – all the better for navigating the various connectivity, audio and even streaming options on-board.
Streaming is possible on the PD5, and especially so with Qobuz Connect (a handy native streaming option for Louder's current favourite streaming service). There’s a great deal to like here if you’re an audiophile, which is excellent considering the high price that such a small device commands.
Best design
Audio: ★★★★½
Battery: ★★★★
Storage: ★★★★
Overall: ★★★★
Korean outfit Activo is not a brand with much to its name, products-wise – but in a handful of releases, it has carved out some significant space for itself as a purveyor not just of quality audio products, but of strikingly cool audio products too. This is the Activo P1, a digital audio player that gives many heavy-hitter devices a run for their money and looks amazing doing it.
The core of the P1, hailing from the minds of Astell & Kern, is the Teraton Alpha sound module, that powers some seriously bank-breaking DAPs. This sonic tech minimises noise and maximises dynamically-rich amplification – and it can be found right here in the P1, for a fraction of the price it usually commands.
There’s a lot of praises to sing about the internals, but for me the P1 stands out through its exterior design. The chassis is a fetching minimal aluminium design, with buttons on each side for ease of operation and a stunning screen. Even the UI is thought-through with minimal flourishes. As far as aesthetics go, the Activo P1 is best-in-class.
How to choose the best MP3 player
If you’re considering getting a new standalone MP3 player, but you have no clue where to start with today’s crop of tech-forward DAPs, read on for tips on what to look out for.
First, you’ll have noticed that many of the new dedicated digital audio players available today – Sony’s new Walkman range inclusive – look uncannily similar to a piece of tech you probably already have. The Android-powered touchscreen-slab format has extended from smartphones to DAPs; this may or may not be a good thing, depending on what you’re after.
These smart DAPs are hugely versatile, combining dedicated audio circuitry with the same computational power and internet connectivity as a bog-standard smartphone. Not only can you keep a capacious digital audio library of your own, but you can often download and interface with streaming services too, in case there are any unfilled gaps in said library. You could even WiFi stream from one device to another.
But this kind of connectivity isn’t quite what everyone’s after. You might, for instance, want a dedicated MP3 player precisely to leave that kind of connectivity behind; to focus purely on the music you have, and nothing else. There’s a DAP for everyone, including some simpler devices that put your music collection front and centre. What appeals more to you?
Audio fidelity
Another of the big reasons to consider a separate DAP for listening to music is the quality of audio you’re guaranteeing yourself in the process. Smartphones don’t have the space for high-spec audio conversion and amplification architecture, meaning rote performance with respect to sound and dynamics. Dedicated audio players are a different breed, often with dual-, quad- or even octa-stage amplification circuitry designed to maximise sonic performance.
As for digital-to-analogue conversion, the key numbers to look for are bit depth and sample rate. Bit depth describes the dynamic range of a recorded file, and sample rate the density of information per second; high bit-depth and sample-rate files, i.e.: 32-bit/96kHz, would want to be received by a DAC capable of handling them. For the average consumer, though, audio fidelity isn’t as much of a dealbreaker as it can be made to seem. 16-bit/44.1kHz is already considered functionally lossless to the average human ear, and that’s CD-quality.
If you are after a commuting DAP, you won’t want to think hard about fidelity past, perhaps, the quality of the headphone amp built-in. If you’re serious about your audio library and your means of listening to it, things like bit depth and sample rate matter much more – as do more granular audio-circuitry considerations as addressed by high-spec brands like Astell & Kern.
Size
A less crucial consideration, but nonetheless something to bear in mind: how big are you comfortable with your MP3 player being? Most are on the more compact side, but the more you expect from your MP3 player, the larger it’s bound to be. Whether it’s more high-spec headphone amplification or smartphone-adjacent connectivity, these things need room. You might be OK carrying that extra bulk around for the sake of good audio; likewise, if you just want something that can play workout riffs for you while you exercise, you probably want something small and light enough to slip in your gym-shorts’ pockets or armband anyway.
Battery life
Another ancillary thought, but also something that can directly affect your listening experience, is of battery life. Again, the more stuff packed into a given MP3 player, the more power is required – and either the larger the battery, or the shorter the battery’s life from charge to charge. There’s no solid correlation between price, engineering and battery life here; some are cheap and short-lived, others are expensive and extensive. Ultimately, if you commute a lot, you might want to double-check that what you’re getting can last a full day’s listening first.
Storage (and storage potential)
Finally, there’s storage. Since you’ll be loading up your digital music library to your MP3 player of choice, you’ll want to make sure it can handle the size of said library – plus some room for its inevitable expansion. If you’re an audiophile that’s committed to FLACs or other such hi-res files, you’ll need more space than the rest.
We’re past the days of relying solely on built-in storage; most DAPs on the market have slots for a microSD card, on which you’d be uploading your library for ease of maintenance. Storage potential’s still worth looking into, though, as there’s a limit to how voluminous a card you can put into a given DAP. The FiiO Snowsky Echo Nano can only read microSDs up to 256GB in size, while Shanling’s Q2 can read 2TB microSDs.
Many of the best MP3 players have some modicum of onboard storage for their operating system and app downloads; it’s nice to have some fan favourites loaded up in case you forget you were updating your library!
Glossary
24-bit/32-bit
These numbers refer to the bit depth of a given digital audio file.
44.1k/48k/96k
These numbers refer to the sample rate of a given digital audio file.
aptX HD
aptX HD is a Bluetooth codec created by Qualcomm; it preserves high-fidelity audio while transmitting it wirelessly.
Balanced
Balanced audio connections utilise phase cancellation to minimise noise induced in a length of cable; some audiophile-friendly MP3 players have balanced jack inputs, enabling the use of this low-noise alternative to standard “unbalanced” wired headphones.
Bit depth
Bit depth describes the dynamic range of a digital audio file. In brief, the number refers to how many ‘steps’ in amplitude there are between minimum and maximum. CD-quality audio files are 16-bit, but 24-bit is the standard for lossless audio – and some DAPs are capable of playing 32-bit files, with a functionally infinite dynamic range.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a form of wireless communication that uses high-frequency radio waves for the FM transmission of data. It's the predominant method of listening to music wirelessly.
Codec
A Bluetooth codec is a specific way in which data is packaged for wireless transfer, and unpackaged at the other end. Different codecs seek to solve different problems – some might prefer lower latency, while others (like LDAC or aptX HD) might prefer preservation of audio fidelity.
DAC
DAC stands for Digital-Analogue Converter; DACs are the modules that convert digital files like MP3s into analogue audio, which can then be amplified and sent to your headphones. The quality of a DAC can dramatically impact the resulting analogue audio from a given file.
DAP
DAP stands for Digital Audio Player; an MP3 player is a DAP.
Hertz
Hertz is the measurement of cycles per second, used to describe audio sample rates and frequency ranges.
LDAC
LDAC is a proprietary lossless Bluetooth codec designed by Sony; it stands for Lossless Digital Audio Codec.
MP3
MP3s are types of audio file, among the most common you’ll come across in building a digital library. They're compressed audio files, and hence are lossy; still, there are high-fidelity MP3s that many cannot discern from higher-fidelity lossless files like WAVs.
Sample rate
A digital audio file’s sample rate is how many ‘slices’ of audio it contains for each second, measured in Hertz. CD-quality audio files have a sample rate of 44.1kHz, but modern audio files are capable of much higher sample rates.
SBC
SBC stands for SubBand Coding, and is a form of Bluetooth codec. It's the most basic audio codec going, and hence not the hi-fidelity audio experience many MP3-player buyers are looking for.
WAV
WAV files are uncompressed audio files; WAV stands for Waveform Audio File.
FAQ
What features should I look for in an MP3 player?
The features you need to look for in your next MP3 player are predicated on your own wants and needs as a consumer; runners wanting to pound tarmac to their favourite sounds will be looking for a very different product in comparison to calm-commuting audiophiles.
Most modern MP3 players share the same core feature-sets, though. For instance, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a digital audio player that doesn’t have some form of Bluetooth connectivity, unless you go super-budget. Likewise, the vast majority of MP3 players on the market today aren’t just MP3 players; they are DAPs (Digital Audio Players), that can also handle other digital audio formats, FLACs and WAVs inclusive.
So, what sets one MP3 player apart from another today? Cheaper MP3 players are less likely to support lossless Bluetooth codecs like AptX HD or LDAC, which would be a major turn-off for the more active listeners among us. Likewise, more expensive MP3 players are likely to support a broader range of file type; if you’re that one person that likes their audio files in Ogg Vorbis, you’ll need to shop accordingly.
Most modern DAPs above the entry level take more after smartphones than old-school MP3 players, in that they are Android-sporting, WiFi-equipped devices with a full touch-screen surface. These players can often access the Play Store too, meaning you can use streaming services (and even social media, if you so choose) alongside your digital library.
If you want a completely connected DAP experience – including being able to download music on the fly – something of this stature will be more up your street than the cheaper local-only devices. Likewise, if the whole point of getting an MP3 player was to get off the grid and away from the apps, this might push you towards something with a more minimal, conventional control surface.
If you have an extensive digital library, there’s a practical consideration for you to keep in mind: the max capacity of the MP3 players you’re considering. This isn’t the max internal memory of the device, but the max size of external SSD it can ‘see’. More audiophile-oriented devices tend to be able to receive micro-SD cards up to 2TB in size, but more affordable options can be restricted to as little as 128GB
Why do I need an MP3 player?
Given that a great many new MP3 players/DAPs look, smell and taste a lot like smartphones, why shouldn’t we just use our smartphones for accessing our digital library? There are a few good reasons for choosing a standalone MP3 player over your daily-driver smartphone, the first of which is connectability.
Dedicated MP3 players have the architecture to enable different kinds of audio output. Where smartphones have largely (and controversially) jettisoned the 3.5mm stereo out in favour of full wireless, DAPs retain that wired connection option – and often offer even more, in the form of a 4.4mm balanced audio connector or even a coaxial output for home hi-fi. This makes modern MP3 players far more accessible and versatile for listening experiences, a far cry from the jack-of-all-trades approach smartphones tend to take.
Looking deeper into the DAP, you’ll also find internal architecture that favours audio; by virtue of that same jack-of-all-trades approach, smartphones tend not to break the bank on DACs, also often relying on Android-inherent audio drivers and hardware interfaces that won’t set any worlds on fire. DAPs are designed ground-up for listening, with DACs and amplifier arrays that go beyond the off-the-shelf hardware used in products of a broader focus.
The final reason is a bit more immaterial, as it goes more to the act of listening than it does the quality of any audio. Smartphones are noisy things that make for a noisy mind; ever pick your phone up to do something, only to find yourself on social media or replying to an email and having completely forgotten what you were about to do? DAPs are more focused devices, which encourage active engagement with listening as an experience.
By separating music from your smartphone, you’re making music a considered thing, and improving your experience accordingly. Which is why you might reject the smartphone-adjacent DAP design altogether, in favour of something a little more traditional. Brands have cottoned on that people don’t necessarily want the kitchen sink when it comes to a DAP – and that, in fact, the best MP3 players are often designed to do just that.
This is why a few of the entries in my guide above look a little more like the MP3 players of old, with a small screen and a tactile control surface. They have the same high-spec audio infrastructure, but without a chassis that feels like you want to scroll Instagram for three hours.
What’s the difference between Bluetooth codecs?
Bluetooth codecs are the unique ways in which data can be parcelled up for wireless transmission, then properly put back together at the other end. Different codecs suit different purposes, be they low-latency transmission or high-fidelity performance.
SBC is a standard Bluetooth audio codec, and a lossy one at that; the most basic Bluetooth-equipped devices will offer this alone, to the detriment of your wireless listening. The best MP3 players will be able to work with numerous Bluetooth codecs, including some that enable the transmission of lossless audio – namely, Qualcomm’s AptX Adaptive or AptX HD, or Sony’s LDAC. Lossless, as used by brands to describe these codecs, simply means audio reconstituted after transmission is at or above CD quality, i.e.: 16-bit/44.1kHz; aptX HD, for instance, can achieve 24-bit/48kHz fidelity.
Why are MP3 players coming back?
MP3 players are making a comeback for a number of reasons, ranging from the higher audio quality of dedicated DAPs against modern smartphone tech to a growing distaste for subscription services as a sole source for music. The various reasons are covered in more detail in my piece about the rise of the MP3 player, but in brief: the return of DAPs is similar in some ways to the return of the vinyl record.
At the turn of the millennium, digital music libraries were the future, and the early-noughties arrival of consumer MP3 players was a revolutionary step towards bringing a breadth of music to our pockets in a way cassettes and CDs never could. But technology fast strode past the novelty of pocketing gigabytes worth of Steely Dan bootlegs, as smartphones entered the scene and the streaming age began.
Despite the sheer convenience of streaming services, there’s still an appetite for reviving the personal digital music library; doing so circumvents the fickle, expensive and sometimes unethical nature of streaming services, while ensuring you never lose access to the music you love.
Artists pull their catalogues from platforms, and rare or specific masters of classic records are often unavailable online. Owning your music means you can listen to it on your terms, in the quality of your choosing. And, again, the best MP3 players are far better at playing music well than your smartphone is.
Are MP3s better than streaming?
Having an MP3 player with your own music on it is touted as being better than streaming (by people like me) – but why? There are broad reasons, as we discovered in the last question, but what about brass-tacks audio quality?
Well, streaming services receive audio in all manner of file-types, from MP3s to WAVs. It is almost certainly the case that the audio they’re sending is higher quality than your common-or-garden MP3, particularly if it’s one of the high-resolution streamers like Qobuz or TIDAL. It’s what you receive that matters.
Different streamers have different processes for streaming audio – and some of those processes are lossier than others, meaning the audio gets compressed, altered or otherwise reduced in its journey to you. Most streaming services are clever with this, but the only guaranteed way to get the audio you want in the condition you want it is to own it outright, in the format and fidelity of your choosing.
With this in mind, owning a 320kbps MP3 and listening on your MP3 player is, collectively, going to be a better listening experience than a lossy audio stream from Spotify to your smartphone. And all the better if you level up into the world of FLACs!
Why you can trust us
⚡ Louder was established in 2017 and founded on long-running brands including Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Prog (launched in 1986, 1998 and 2009 respectively)
⚡ Over 80,000 products reviewed on site, from music listening tech to albums and box sets
⚡ Our reviewers are all passionate music fans who draw on decades of testing experience
Louder’s reviewing team consists of music fans, musicians and professional product testers, who between them have accumulated decades of product reviewing experience, writing thousands of words on music listening gear across thousands of reviews on Louder. Our tests also inform our buyer's guide - just like this one.
As lifelong music fans, we're serious about the tech we listen to our favourite artists on. We want them to sound incredible, giving us all the detail those bands intended us to hear, and deliver the perfect balance of bass, mids and highs. We're looking for pure immersion in our chosen sounds, whether it's a classic '70s rock album, or a cutting-edge noise band.
And we test MP3 players with albums we know inside and out, and that we've listened to on a variety of systems already, so we know exactly what we should be hearing and when we're being short-changed by lackluster audio.
Meet the expert
James Grimshaw is a freelance writer and music obsessive with over a decade in music and audio writing. They’ve lent their audio-tech opinions (amongst others) to the likes of Guitar World, MusicRadar and the London Evening Standard – before which, they covered everything music and Leeds through their section-editorship of national e-magazine The State Of The Arts. When they aren’t blasting esoteric noise-rock around the house, they’re playing out with esoteric noise-rock bands in DIY venues across the country; James will evangelise to you about Tera Melos until the sun comes up.
Latest updates
28/09/26: The guide has been redesigned, with the majority of content completely rewritten. We've included new MP3 players to the main product list, added a brand new FAQ section, a section dedicated to the best way to choose a new MP3 player, and we've also added a glossary detailing the key terms you might come across while shopping for a new MP3 player.
