I want to get less reliant on my phone and go out more without it. One of the big use cases for my phone is music.
I have a lot of local music files and I would like to transfer them to a mp3 player. I would prefer something offline that I can drag files too. Also Bluetooth would be a plus so I can continue to use my earbuds.
Something easy to navigate would be ideal too. Basically like what iPods were like with a small screen where you can navigate easily and see album artwork.
If you’re an audio nerd but don’t care to much about a “premium” look/feel, the Fiio Retro Mini hit the bill for me perfectly. Only $70 and has balanced audio out.
The screen is tiny and controls are a bit awkward, but couldn’t beat it for the price. My only complaint is no gapless playback. There’s about a 1/4 second gap.