

And if you're willing to spend some serious dough to get your lossless audio in a portable player that works with your awesome headphones in this era of headphone jack-less phones, then yes, you probably want to consider a dedicated portable music player. In other words, the MP3 player in 2019 is a device for audiophiles. They aren't particularly rugged devices, with the exception of waterproof earphones with built-in storage, like the JBL Endurance Dive (Opens in a new window).įor the most part, the people who will actually benefit from a portable music player in 2019 probably all have a few key traits in common: They buy music files, they prefer high-quality file formats, they rarely use streaming services (except for maybe Tidal), and they likely have some very nice wired headphones. If you're looking for a gym-friendly music source, it's hard to make a truly compelling argument for MP3 players.

To quickly answer the question of whether you should buy a dedicated MP3 player, the answer is: Maybe. With smartphones and tablets occupying the space in pockets and bags that was once reserved for iPods, the MP3 player has adapted to become a very different beast for a very specific kind of user. But this once-ubiquitous device from the early aughts is now niche, to put it mildly.
#Best mp3 player with bluetooth how to#
