Ask Engadget: Best tiny MP3 player for exercise enthusiasts?
By Darren Murph 
posted April 10th 2009 1:03AM
posted April 10th 2009 1:03AM
No need to twist your dial -- you really have just stumbled upon this week's episode of Ask Engadget. You know, the place where you can send in your question to ask at engadget dawt com and hope to see it plastered for the world to have a think on. This week we've got one from J.S., so we'll let him take it from here:"The new iPod shuffle is so small you can simply clip it onto your shirt while running or working out. However, I'd never buy it because of two reasons: iTunes and the fact that I'd have to get a new pair of headphones that has the Shuffle controls or use the subpar included ones. So, what's the best small (close to Shuffle-sized) MP3 player for a gym rat like me that doesn't require iTunes?"
We've no doubt that legions of you fitness freaks can chime in here, so next time you take a breather, drop some knowledge in comments below.
sansa clip
small, oled screen, good battery life, drag and drop file management,
CHEAP
Sansa Clip all the way. Even a Sony Walkman A series, with the best sounding headphones out of box. Also has drag + drop and battery takes forever to deplete.
I agree on the Clip. I used it to train for a half-marathon and it was perfect. Plus you can pick them up from http://woot.com for cheap just about once a month.
Thirded... Sansa Clip's are incredible for the price/size.
Sansa Clip, fourth'd! Small, cheap, and it has all the features that you could possibly want in that sort of a player.
Exactly, something that is "Disposable" is best.
My aunt has a really nice primary MP3 player. However when she goes to the gym, she does not want to worry about her expensive device being damaged. So she has whatever cheap and refurbished player that MicroCenter has available. She has lost 2 in the past 8 months, and is only out $12.00 each.
You only need 2 gig or so to get through a workout. However you can get 4gig players for less than $20.00.
Sansa clip is an awesome player with excellent audio quality and seamless support with Rhapsody subscription tracks. The display is bright and readable and the form-factor is excellent for the gym.
Its biggest flaw is the somewhat brittle clip, which broke on mine after about a month. :/
I totally disagree. Sony Rolly all the way.
( do I really have to put the "end sarcasm" marks at the end of my post?)
Sansa Clip +1
iRiver t7
Why is it better than Sansa Clip? It has USB plug built-in, so no cord needed, and it works like a usb stick (mass storage device). It's about the size of a USB stick. Another major advantage is that it allows you to browse your music by the directories (which VERY FEW players can do, NONE by Sansa). For example, instead of creating playlist, you can simply throw files in different directories (much faster, and you can do it on any computer, no need for your player, etc.)
One more vote for the Clip. I paid $30 on Amazon for the 1GB last year but it died about a month ago. Luckily Wal-Mart has (or had) the 8GB Clip for $50! Needless to say I bought an 8GB Clip. Talk about a sweet deal.
Couldn't agree more. I have a 4GB and love it! You need no propriety software which is nice too.
I'd just pick up a $20-30 cheapo one. GO to somewhere like micocenter - mp3, aac, and wma support is pretty common - with a screen, 1-4gb, an sometimes micro sd expansion. Drag and drop. A few of my friends have had some like this - they are built cheap (should last a year if you take care of it), but for the price, who really cares. The player is probably cheaper than your headphones, but it will work fine.
Not only does the clip live up to all the praise above its a really tough little bugger I have dropped mine so many times and it still plays just fine. I primarily use it when riding my bike
I'm also going to recommend the Sansa clip, but not because it needs any more comments suggesting it, but to let you know you can pick them up refurb at TigerDirect for $18.99.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4472405&Sku=S153-7016%20RB
+1 for Sansa Clip
Talk about good timing. I just came back from a long run with my Sansa Clip (and Sony MDR-AS50G headphones). It's cheap (Get 2 GB for running), light weight, has a screen, and sounds great.
definitely the sansa clip!
I have a clip and ipod touch. I love the clip for its small size and FM tuner.
i agree, the sansa is a great player. got one for my son, then suddenly everyone in the family had to have one. blows away any ipod based on simplicity, features, and especially price. To make things better, you don't have to install any crapware like itunes.
My mom asked for a small mp3 player for Christmas to use when she works out. It came down to the sansa clip, zen stone, and ipod shuffle. The clip won hands down for its better screen, battery life, and the addition of an fm radio. I picked a 4gb from best buy for $45. She loves it.
I love my Sansa Clip more than I love marshmallows. And that's only the 2GB version.
Sansa clip is by far the best. Plays FLAC, good sound quality, drag and drop, and is cheap. I have purchased four of them so far. Three of them I got for $16 on woot.com. Can't beat the quality for the price. All of that and you get a decent LCD to see what you are doing.
Sansa Clip = instant win.
+1 Sansa Clip.
Load it from Rhapsody, and Off.You.Go!
I'll throw in for the Clip. I don't use it to play music for myself, but we use a 1GB model to play our hold music at work. Just keep it plugged into power and it works great...we've had it running 6 weeks straight, never has any issues whatsoever. It's very small and light, too. And cheap...I think we picked it up at Wal Mart for $40 6 months ago in a pinch, I am sure you can find bigger for cheaper now.
The only downside to the Sansa Clip is lack of AAC support. But I've taken a pass on iTunes in favor of Amazon, so it's not a deal breaker for me.
Ipod shuffle. Not the current gen though.
Most people have ipods and already are syncing on a regular basis with itunes. When you are running, shuffled songs are often the preferred method. Load it up with songs you love to run to and get going. Smaller is always better in this application
Bleh, i like how you completely ignored the whole "no ipod shuffle" b/c of the whole itunes thing.
iPod shuffles suck because they dont have screens, and the newest one sucks the most.
I totally agree. When I'm working out I don't need a screen to look at, I know what's on the player. The bundled headphones are actually a perfect length, just long enough.
aww yeah totally, love the shuffle
I especially love when the charger breaks every few weeks from the slightest pressure.
but you can't beat that sleek look, it looks so cool attached to my thick black glasses, neon American apparel hoodie, and $4000 fixed bear bicycle
@max
Don't forget to mention what you're smoking...
@Albert
You my friend are just another in a long line of idiots who think that every mp3 player should have a screen. Accept the shuffle for what it is, it never has and never will have a screen, just like people need to accept that different is not always better or worse. it's just different. I must have the prototypical apple ears, because I got my shuffle(my 1st ever apple device) and the earphones fit snug, even when running. I just don't like the whole look and feel of the clip. I forget the exact model, but I had and old sansa, only 1 gig, it had a really tiny screen, a clip, came with a silicon case, and had great earbuds. it was $50, but that was like 5 years ago. No question Sansa is a nice little(or maybe not so little) brand, but I think they lack that sexy look, but this isn't about ipods, so i guess i have nothing useful to say.
Agreed. I bought a 2nd gen shuffle last month and use Winamp not iTunes to transfer stuff to it. I would have probably bought something else if I couldn't have avoided that piece of crap software.
how is the new shuffle doing in the market? i doubt many people are buying it.
what the shuffle really needs is somehow have visual interface, like an eyewear or implanting a chip in our bodies so that we have a GUI in our eyes, kind of like the beginning of 'Stranger than fiction'. lets hope apple does this for its next shuffle, otherwise shuffles are going to fail like now.
@chizenguy
It's more than just a DAP having to have a screen, it's also how much Apple are charging for the "privilege" of not having a screen. Why pay more to get less product when there's cheaper DAPs out there which cost less and have both shuffle and a screen? I'd take a Sansa clip any day which costs a lot less, has a screen, shuffle and sounds better.
And don't start with the how good it looks bollocks. Not only do looks mean sod all when a DAP is in your pocket 95% of the time (even if it's out 100% of the time, get over yourself instead of worrying about how other people look at you/your stuff), the shuffle doesn't have anything in the way of looks to look good, it's just a rectangle.
DUDE. Did you NOT notice how he SPECIFICALLY said that he didn't want iTunes?!
Wow I feel pretty stupid now for skimming that post and replying without much thought. To be honest, there's tons of options out there that don't use itunes. I used to have a little zen micro that used 1 AA battery and you managed as mass storage. Had a little clip/sleeve you could put on it and it worked perfectly. Comes it lots of different colors and is very cheap and reliable.
I love my little Sansa Clip. You can choose your color and size, plus the sound quality is amazing good. From the review i read, this little MP3 player has better sound quality them most PMP's!
I use a little 2GB Sansa Clip. Decent menu and controls, FM radio and the clip built right into it for easy use when exercising. The price was fantastic too.
I have a Creative Zen Stone Plus, and I have to say avoid it. It's not a terrible player, but there are a few little annoying things (slow display refresh when playing, long startup, occasional lockups).
I used to have a Sansa, and I loved it. I'd say try the Sansa Clip.
I agree Juan, I have the Zen Stone Plus and find it quite frustrating. The battery life isn't the greatest either.
Try Creative Zen Stone Plus with "Speaker" model. It's battery life is astounding, doubles that of Plus, 20 hours of playback with one charge. Cheap too...
Sansa Clip. Woot love these things too, very often has them for very cheap.
Yep. Woot rocks. Their refurbed iPod deals kick @ss too.
@who?, actually, for refurbed iPods the Apple Store is usually the best deal:
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/ipod?mco=MTE3Njc
There's generally free shipping on all of it, and they give you a 1-year warranty on it versus woot, which usually comes with no warranty at all (recently they have had 6-month warranties on a few). If the price is comparable, and it usually is, the Apple Store's a better deal.
@Niraj
They had the current generation iPod nano (8GB, any color) on there a couple days ago for $99 + $5 s&h.
Apple wants $129 for the same thing, and a 90 day Woot warranty is just fine with me. Refurbs are just about always devoid of defects (Apple doesn't certify them for resale without thorough testing).
99.99% percent of the time, there is no better price to get whatever is on Woot's site on any given day.
I've had a Sansa Clip for over a year now, and it's great. No proprietary docking cables, no proprietary management software, just drag 'n drop and go. Good sized screen if you're like me and occasionally want to pick out a specific song. Also, the battery lasts for days at a time on a single charge. As an added bonus, if you have an old Motorola RAZR phone charger, you can use that to charge the Clip.
Besides, it's only $50(USD) for a 2GB, which should hold all the music you'd need for a workout session.
There's nothing better in its size and price categories than the Clip - and if you're in the US, Wal-Mart is running 8GB models for 49.95 on clearance. I just picked one up and it's a great deal.
thank you, just picked one up this morning