Recommendations for cheap HD audio players with audiobook support wanted

[Doitsu]

Unfortunately, my SanDisk Clip Jam died. I've found some cheap Chinese players, but according to most reviews, they tend to ignore metadata entries, play tracks by modification or creation date or by filename, and don’t resume playback from where you left off, which makes them useless for audiobooks.

[Quoth]

It's curious. They all seem more expensive than my phone (I use Musicolet – it "remembers" file position). I had a tiny player and a large Archos years ago and I can't find any sane replacement for a small player with a decent UI.

Also such a thing with no WiFi would be good for grandchildren not allowed WiFi. They have a cassette and CD/DVD player!

Oddly no modern equivalent for cassette audio books (remember position when media in a different player). Cassettes are inferior to CD for music but far superior for audiobooks.

[haertig]

A couple of years ago I started a quest like you are attempting. A replacement for a SanDisk small MP3 player.

I found ... absolutely nothing. I bought a Chinese player that looked promising and was reviewed fairly well. A Ruizu X26. It was total crap. I could just imagine the Chinese designers sitting at their desks laughing their heads off as I struggled to use that horrid thing. The buttons wouldn't work when you pressed them, but they had a propensity to work when you didn't press them however. Trying to play audiobooks, the stupid thing would randomly decide to skip ahead in a file a few seconds here, a few minutes there, and sometimes all the way to the next file. Which was a random file as well, sometimes not even in the same audiobook.

I went back to using my smartphone running the Smart AudioBook Player app. That is a very good app, and one of the few that I quickly chose to buy the paid version of. Not because the paid version added anything that I needed or wanted, but just to support the developer who did such a great job creating the app.

I had wanted a small MP3 player instead because smart phones are just too big. Plus, I wanted something with physical buttons that controlled it that you could manipulate by feel. The Chinese make little devices that look like MP3 players, but they are actually "Random Operation Generators" that do whatever they want, whenever they want, with zero concern about what YOU are expecting them to do.

My advice: Just give up the small MP3 player journey now, for only darkness and madness await you at its end. Just put Smart AudioBook Player on your phone (it's an Android app, I don't know if they have an iPhone version) and learn to live with using a huge phone to listen to audiobooks that does not have physical control buttons. IIRC, Smart AudioBook Player can redirect some of your normal smartphone buttons to perform different operations, but I've never use that aspect of the app. I just use the touchscreen "virtual button" controls.

[rantanplan]

There's an aftermarket OS called Rockbox, which is mostly intended for music (obviously). But it remembers the last played track and position so it also works well for audiobooks. You can check it out here:
https://www.rockbox.org

Supported devices:
https://www.rockbox.org/wiki/TargetStatus

I use this with my Surfans F20, a (relatively) cheap HD-Audio DAP.

[Apache]

I have been using Smart Audiobook Player for a few years and love it. The paid version is a onetime purchase not a subscription. The onetime price also allows you to use it on all of your devices. Mine is on my phone and mp3 player.
Apache

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by haertig

A couple of years ago I started a quest like you are attempting. A replacement for a SanDisk small MP3 player.

I found ... absolutely nothing. I bought a Chinese player that looked promising and was reviewed fairly well. A Ruizu X26. It was total crap. I could just imagine the Chinese designers sitting at their desks laughing their heads off as I struggled to use that horrid thing. The buttons wouldn't work when you pressed them, but they had a propensity to work when you didn't press them however. Trying to play audiobooks, the stupid thing would randomly decide to skip ahead in a file a few seconds here, a few minutes there, and sometimes all the way to the next file. Which was a random file as well, sometimes not even in the same audiobook.

I have been using the Ruizu X52 clip mp3 player for almost four years, and I love it. Before I bought it, I had tried several other Sansa Clip clones, none of which worked well. The X52 has great battery life, which was a prime consideration, and variable speed playback. The clip did break off after a while, but I replaced it with a stick-on clip; otherwise, I've never had a bit of trouble with it.

[salamanderjuice]

Don't have one but tempted, the Innoasis Y1. A rip-off of the old iPod Classic with modern features. Claims to have an audiobook mode anyways.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by rantanplan

There's an aftermarket OS called Rockbox, which is mostly intended for music (obviously).

Except for some high-end audio players, it can only be installed on older devices that are no longer on sale.

Originally Posted by rantanplan

I use this with my Surfans F20, a (relatively) cheap HD-Audio DAP.

I wouldn't exactly call this model cheap. For the same price I could get a brand-new smart phone with similar specs.

Originally Posted by Catlady

I have been using the Ruizu X52 clip mp3 player for almost four years, and I love it.

Unfortunately, this model is also no longer available and it's unclear if other Ruizu models are suitable for audio books or sort audio book files by file name name or creation/modification date.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Except for some high-end audio players, it can only be installed on older devices that are no longer on sale.


I wouldn't exactly call this model cheap. For the same price I could get a brand-new smart phone with similar specs.


Unfortunately, this model is also no longer available and it's unclear if other Ruizu models are suitable for audio books or sort audio book files by file name name or creation/modification date.

Which is why I don't have an audio player. I'd like one. So I use my €200 phone (paper matt screen, long battery run time) and Musicolet. I've had two in the past, both dead now.

[Catlady]

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Unfortunately, this model is also no longer available and it's unclear if other Ruizu models are suitable for audio books or sort audio book files by file name name or creation/modification date.

This one is the X52--per Amazon's Rufus.

Manual is here.

[haertig]

Rockbox is like a racing parts store's automobile carburetor. The bees knees in it's day, but not compatible with anything manufactured in recent decades. They're probably starting to find Rockbox devices in archaeological digs. It makes me sad - I fondly remember my old Rockbox SanDisk players.

Since there really aren't any well made super small MP3 players manufactured anymore, I've been forced to switch to my smartphone running Smart Audiobook Player for audiobooks, and Musicolet (like @Quoth) for music. Musicolet is a great music playing app.

[Doitsu]

Originally Posted by Catlady

This one is the X52--per Amazon's Rufus.

Manual is here.

Thanks again for the recommendation!


Apparently my Google Fu isn't up to the task.
It didn't show up when I searched for the model name, but I was eventually able to find it by searching for "64GB MP3 Player Bluetooth 5.3 Sport."

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by haertig

Since there really aren't any well made super small MP3 players manufactured anymore, I've been forced to switch to my smartphone running Smart Audiobook Player for audiobooks, and Musicolet (like @Quoth) for music. Musicolet is a great music playing app.

Musicolet can work well for audiobooks too. See settings for remembering position.

[Quoth]

Originally Posted by Catlady

This one is the X52--per Amazon's Rufus.

Manual is here.

Unavailable on DE, UK or IE marketplaces. US Imports have been a nightmare for years.