5 iPod Alternatives That Users Swear By – BGR

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After launching it in 2001, Apple officially discontinued the iPod in 2022, although the last model was released in 2019. The discontinuation of the iPod lineup meant an end to dedicated music players from the company. Part of the reason why Apple discontinued the iPod after 20 years is that most people listen to music on their phones. Although the iPod is dead, it doesn’t mean that the market for dedicated music players is. There are companies that are still making and selling iPod alternatives that you can buy if you still crave having a dedicated device for listening to music. You’ll find a variety of options available, but it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Before you regret your purchase, we’re here to help you make an informed decision by giving you the best iPod alternatives on the market that are loved by several users. Whether you’d like to upgrade from your old iPod or are looking for your first-ever dedicated music player to listen to music like in the old times, we’ve got you covered. All the products we’ve discussed have solid ratings and reviews from users online, and excel at the one core functionality they were intended for — listening to music.

The AiMoonsa MP3 Player has a variety of handy features that make it one of the best iPod alternatives. You can play different audio formats as it supports both lossy ones (like MP3 and WMA) and lossless formats such as APE, WAV, and FLAC. It comes with either a 64 GB or 128 GB microSD card, which allows you to store thousands of songs. But if you need more storage, you can get a microSD card with a larger capacity, up to 256 GB. You can listen to music wirelessly via Bluetooth, over the traditional 3.5mm headphone jack, or play directly via the device’s built-in speakers. The AiMoonsa Music Player is compact and portable as well, weighing just 70 grams with a 1.8-inch screen. While it’s mainly a device for playing music, it does come with other features such as a voice recorder, FM radio, and an alarm.

You can also read e-books on this device, although with such a small screen, you’re better off using a tablet or smartphone. It also has a built-in file explorer, which is really handy for managing your offline music library. The player has earned a 4.0 rating on Amazon with over 9,000 reviews. Some love it for its simplicity, portability, and functionality, and others for its great price. For the latter, one Amazon review notes how this player “does everything an expensive iPod does for a tiny fraction of the price.” It makes it easy to load your music from a PC, but the main caveat is that you can only have up to 5,000 songs per folder, and it doesn’t organize files properly. The 64 GB variant of the AiMoonsa Music Player costs just $29.99, while the 128 GB model is $38.99.

Another iPod alternative you should consider is the Agptek 64 GB MP3 Player, which has earned a 4.2 rating with over 1,400 reviews on Amazon. It comes with 64 GB of built-in storage and, even better, has microSD card support up to 128 GB if you wish to store more tracks. There’s support for a variety of audio formats, including MP3, APE, FLAC, WMA, WAV, and AAC, and you can listen to music wirelessly via Bluetooth, a wired connection, or directly through the built-in speakers. This player has a sleek design with a 2.4-inch screen and handy buttons for navigation and control. It includes a 500mAh battery and uses a USB-C port for charging.

There are several extra features, such as an FM radio, photo viewer, voice recorder, and e-book reader. The 7th-generation iPod was considered lightweight and easy to hold, measuring 4.8 inches and weighing 3.10 ounces. Agptek’s MP3 Player is a bit smaller at 4.4 inches and lighter, weighing just 3.06 ounces.  Users say it’s “super lightweight,” pretty good, easy to set up, and durable. The only catch is that it doesn’t support user playlists and is prone to scratches. You can buy the Agptek 64 GB MP3 Player from Amazon starting at $30.99 in purple, pink, orange, green, black, blue, and black-red.

The JadeAudio FiiO JM21 is a hi-res music player that comes with two built-in digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and two amplifiers for the best sound quality. The internal storage is just 32 GB, but it has a dedicated microSD card slot. It supports a variety of hi-res formats, such as FLAC, DSD, WAV, and ALAC. Unlike the other options we’ve discussed previously, this model comes with a 4.7-inch touch screen display – slightly bigger than the 7th-generation iPod’s 4-inch screen. It runs a custom version of Android 13 and allows you to install any music streaming service of your choice, along with other Android apps. The FiiO JM21 is lightweight and portable, measuring just 0.5 inches thin and about 5.5 ounces in weight.

It promises up to 12.5 hours of battery life and supports a variety of Bluetooth codecs, including AAC, aptX, aptX HD, LHDC, LDAC, and SBC. One reviewer describes the FiiO JM21 as an affordable player with great sound that can rival pricey high-end players. Multiple users praise the sound quality of this device, and one user even says it has a better amplifier than the iPod. Another user says it’s one of the best players they’ve ever had and says it’s perfect for anyone who wants a “relatively cheap, high quality, intuitive, portable music machine.” However, several users feel the battery life could be better. Additionally, the included quick start guide isn’t that helpful, and the display isn’t the best. Overall, it has a 4.2 rating on Amazon with over 300 reviews, and retails for $179.99.

The HiBy Digital M300 is another hi-res audio alternative to the iPod, thanks to the use of Cirrus Logic’s CS43131 – a 32-bit digital-to-analog converter (DAC) capable of delivering superior sound with low power use. It can play lossless audio and is compatible with a wide range of audio formats, including MP3, WAV, APE, FLAC, DSF, OGG, AAC, and OPUS. This player includes 3 GB RAM and 32 GB of storage and has a microSD card slot that supports up to 2TB of storage. There’s also a 4 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant if you need more built-in storage. The screen measures 4 inches, and it runs Android 13. Being an Android device, you can install a variety of apps, including music streaming services. It charges via USB-C, and you can play music via the built-in speaker, over Bluetooth, or through your wired headphones using the 3.5mm headphone jack.

In terms of the footprint, the HiBy Digital M300 is lightweight as well, weighing about 4.8 ounces. A 2,000 mAh battery powers this device, and HiBy says it can last up to 29 hours per full charge. One Amazon reviewer says it’s a “great player,” while another narrates how it was the perfect replacement for their dead iPod Classic. Multiple users also love its sound quality. However, some users note it has poor battery life, and the screen isn’t bright enough for outdoor use. This player has an average rating of 4.1 with over 550 reviews on Amazon. The HiBy Digital M300 is available on Amazon for $159 for the 32 GB variant or $199 for the 128 GB option.

Another iPod alternative that you should consider is the HiFi Walker H2 MP3 Player. It has a DAC capable of 32‑bit/384kHz decoding, which means it can play lossless audio. The HiFi Walker H2 supports a variety of audio formats, including lossless ones such as WAV, FLAC, APE, and AIFF. Besides Bluetooth, you can play music via the built-in speaker or via a wired pair of headphones by plugging a 3.5mm cable. It’s also a handy audiophile gadget you can depend on, as it can also function as an external DAC. The screen measures just 2 inches, and it promises up to 10 hours of playback. For storage, you can insert up to a 512 GB microSD card — it doesn’t have built-in storage.

The HiFi Walker H2 has earned a 4.1 rating on Amazon with over 430 ratings. Users love it for its high-quality sound both as a DAC and a music player, and one even describes it as an “audiophile’s secret weapon.” One user loves that it doesn’t run Android; it’s distraction-free with no Wi-Fi support, and it “checks all the boxes.” The build quality is also solid, and multiple users recommend this as the perfect replacement for the iPod. However, several users highlight issues with persistent Bluetooth connectivity. You can buy the HiFi Walker H2 from Amazon for $123.99 for the 64 GB variant or the 128 GB version for $139.99.

All the iPod alternatives we’ve listed are from Amazon. We’ve scoured the site for audio players that are in stock and have solid ratings of at least 4.0, with at least 250 reviews. We also checked 5-star reviews for each product to ensure that the majority are not from Amazon Vine users. We considered the users’ sentiments about the product across a variety of factors, such as ease of use, value for money, sound quality, connection options, and storage. 

Another key consideration in our selection process was price. We made sure to include products across different price points so everyone has an option that fits their budget.