5 budget MP3 players to replace your iPod Nano
With Apple finally discontinuing
the Nano and Shuffle in 2017, three years after killing the iPod Classic, many people
felt that the MP3/DAP (Digital Audio Player) era was finally coming to an end.
The short answer – it’s not true.
Unlike the compact Digital Camera
which has died a natural death, bowing to the equivalent (or increasingly, better)
cellphone camera, Digital Audio Players have survived the onslaught of smartphones.
They are no longer as cool as the
Walkman and Discman were amongst an earlier generation of youngsters, but they are
staples amongst a small but passionate community of audiophiles. Even Apple has
chosen to retain the iPod Touch in its product lineup, with options of 32GB or
128 GB capacity.
Quite a few friends have pinged
me after the demise of Apple’s mid-priced and budget priced DAP offerings,
asking for alternatives. Here is a list of products that you can look at,
across price points. Do note, that the devices listed here are Nano/Shuffle substitutes. There are more expensive Android based players out there, which can replace your iPod Touch in terms of functionality and user experience. However, I want to point out that all of these players would match, if not surpass the Touch, in Sound Quality.
Most, but not all of these, are
sold officially in India, meaning that warranty and service back up are available.
Some of the more expensive ones, are touchscreen devices. All of them offer a
few significant advantage over Apple’s offerings;
The Good:
- The ability to simply ‘drag and drop’ files without using any software. I have been reduced to screaming point by the clunky iTunes interface and I am sure many users feel the same way.
- They will play multiple music formats, including Open Source and Lossless ones – or even Apple’s proprietary codecs.
- They all feature expandable memory using standard SD cards. And with SD cards offering 256 GB, you get double the space you do on the highest capacity 128 GB iPod. You will literally, be able to carry your entire music library with you. If you do not wish to invest in an expensive high capacity card, you can still swap out cards easily.
- These players are dedicated to playing music, and the internals like the chip and amp are chosen without compromise for the best music playing experience. Without exception, any of these players will sound better than your smartphone or iPod, especially if you invest in a good pair of headphones.
- None of them run Android, instead they use proprietary firmware and interface, so the user experience can be subjective, downright unintuitive or even slightly buggy. If you are used to Apple, or even a modern smartphone, this can be a pain point.
- Many of them are non touchscreen devices and some people find it frustrating to go back to them in a touchscreen era.
- Unlike an iPod, you will not be able to download apps or browse or use these devices as anything other than a music player (but then, why would you want to? For that, you have a phone)
- You will need to insert an SD Card – which is OK if you own one, otherwise you need to factor it into your budget.
1)
The FiiO M3
FiiO is no stranger to audiophiles. The China-based company has
deservedly won accolades for its more expensive X3 and X5 players. Earlier, FiiO
used to manufactuer portable headphone amps – a niche offering, but one that
gave them a lot of buzz amongst people who value high end audio.
At around Rs.3600, the M3 is a budget player and you get
what you pay for – a non touch screen, no wi-fi or Bluetooth connectivity,
sound that’s better than a Nano but not up there with the real high end
players.
On the flip side – look at the price! For what the Shuffle
was priced at, you get a screen (gasp), expandable memory (double gasp) and you
can play most music file formats. You can also charge it with a standard smartphone
cable.
Of less importance to me, but proof of value for money – the
player has a premium metal body, and FiiO throws in earbuds and a charging
cable despite the low price.
Link to company website : here
2)
The FiiO X1-II (Second Generation)
You have to hand it to FiiO, for providing choice at the lower
end of the MP3 player price spectrum. Available for around Rs.8000 on several
sites in India, the FiiO X1-II is a substantial upgrade on the earlier version
of the same device. Notably, it features soft-touch buttons and a tactile scroll
wheel that actually works intuitively and well. On an earlier iteration of FiiO
X5, I had such a bad experience with the scroll wheel, that I gave up the device,
so it’s good to know that the company has worked on this feature.
The X1 has an expandable memory, Bluetooth connectivity and
a mature sound quality that has been praised by people who know what they are
talking about.
Link to company website : here
3)
The Cayin N3
Cayin is one of China’s oldest and largest high end audio
manufacturers – their portfolio includes sophisticated products like vacuum tube
amplifiers. It is understandable that you may not have heard of them till now,
because only recently has the company made a foray into mass consumer audio,
with a lineup of DAPs. The N3 is their latest and most affordably priced option.
You pay Rs.12,000 for the N3 and at this price point, you still
do not get either a touch screen, nor Android OS. That’s reserved for more
premium priced players! But you do get capacitive buttons with haptic feedback
below the screen, just like your smartphone. And you get Bluetooth ‘aptX’ which
is considered to be one of the better standards for wireless audio transmission.
In plain English that means, you can use Bluetooth earphones or connect wirelessly
to your car and the sound quality will be better than your phone.
The Cayin N3 has a rather strange design aesthetic combining
colored metal with a leather back, but overall it is a solidly well built player.
It’s also one of the few DAPs featuring the new USB C-type cable for faster
charging and file transfers.
The USP of the device, which has lured many audiophiles, is
that it can output a high quality signal to any receiver, meaning that it can
be hooked as a source to most high end equipment. To do this, you have to purchase the cable separately and it is
pretty expensive.
The N3 sounds exceptionally good for a player in its price
point and paired with a decent pair of headphones, you should experience audio
bliss.
Link to company website here
4)
The Sony AW 35
I confess that I am relieved that Sony is on this list,
which would not be complete without including the inventor of the Walkman and
the father of the modern MP3 player. The early generation Sony mobiles included
‘Walkman’ phones which excelled in their music capabilities.
At Rs.15,000, the AW-35 offers a stable and bug-free firmware,
a solid audio performance and good battery life – in short, the complete reliability
of a Sony product. In fact, out of this entire list, it’s the closest to an
iPod in useasbility while still delivering enhanced audio quality. The player
features a touchscreen, Bluetooth and NFC capability for pairing, so you won’t
feel like you are going back to the pre-smartphone era and struggling with
buttons!
The bummers are – a proprietary charging cable and a
sluggish User Interface. As you must have realized by now, the UI is the Achilles
heel of DAPs in the non-Apple world. Yet, Sony will offer a better user
experience than many of the other players on this list.
Link to company website here
5)
The Shanling M1
It’s not available in India, so you will have to buy it off
Amazon or Aliexpress. At $150, the M1 is actually a cheaper player than the Cayin
N3 and Sony A35, but once you add up the duty and shipping charges, it will end
up more expensive than both. I estimate that it would cost around Rs.18,000.
Like Cayin, Shanling is an old, reputed OEM manufacturer of
high end audio which has recently decided to launch its own consumer brand of
portable audio. The M1 is comparable to the FiiO X1 but is a better sounding
device.
It lacks a touch screen, but does offer Bluetooth connectivity
and expandable memory of upto 256 GB. While the UX is good, the hardware
implementation is a little buggy – it can skip what you are searching for (this
is the exact reason that I sold my FiiO X3 as well). Let me confess, no one could
implement the scroll wheel as well as Apple did. But you will be perfectly OK
navigating this device with the buttons as well.
The reason to buy is of course the audio quality which has
been praised for its clarity and precision. If you have been used to a phone or
a cheap MP3 player to listen to music, you will surely experience the
difference.
Link to the company website here
