They're not all great, and they generally come with some caveats. But if you want a dedicated device for your music - or, maybe, a parentally curated set of songs to give to a kid who's not ready for a phone - there are still MP3 device options out there. Android phones, too, can play whatever music files you can load them up with.

Now, truth be told, if any of that applies to you, you still don't need an MP3 player - your iPhone can still sync music files from iTunes (on Windows) or the Apple Music app (on Mac), and it probably has more storage space than your old iPod ever did. Maybe you have rare, one-off live tracks that don't exist on mainstream services. Maybe you've got one too many subscriptions already, so why pay for one more when you already have a music library of thousands of MP3 files sitting on your hard drive? Or maybe you've meticulously crafted iTunes playlists, like mix tapes of old, that you don't want to recreate or transfer to another service. And the tracks are downloadable, too, so you can listen to your music even when you leave a Wi-Fi or cellular coverage area. You pay your $5 to $10 a month, and you get access to nearly every popular song ever recorded. Any iPhone or Android phone is an audio player that works with subscription music apps like Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music or YouTube Music. Standalone MP3 players dominated pop culture for a long time, but in 2023 almost no one needs one.

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