An MP3 player with Bluetooth on top?

March 30, 2009 12:02 PM

Recommend an MP3 player that's compatible with stereo Bluetooth headsets?

I bought a stereo Bluetooth headset a few years ago to listen to MP3s on my cell phone as I walk to work. Now I'm married, and my wife is using the cell phone much more than I am. I can't afford (and don't really want) another cell phone in the family. I love the Bluetooth headset (and hate cables) and don't want it to gather dust; my wife doesn't like the fit so it's all mine to use. Any relatively cheap Bluetooth-enabled MP3 players you'd recommend? The iPod and Zune don't support Bluetooth, and beyond those relatively well-branded names I'm awash in a sea of jargon; it's proving hard to find a list of MP3 players that handle Bluetooth.

I don't need anything fancy, really -- I just want to listen to audio as I walk to work and back. I never found the 2GB card on my cell phone to be a huge problem for me, so storage space on the unit isn't much of a concern. Something I could use while running would be even better (I was always afraid of dropping the phone).

I'm aware that there are Bluetooth transmitters you can buy, but that's an entire other category of something I know nothing about: they all seem a bit fiddly and at around $50, more than 25% of what I'd like to pay for the MP3 player in the first place.

For bonus points, something that's available from the Canadian versions of TigerDirect, NewEgg, or a different PayPal-enabled retailer would be a huge asset. Thanks so much!

posted by Shepherd to technology (5 comments total)

I'm not a big fan of waiting, myself, but the current iPod Touch and iPhone will indeed support AD2P (for stereo) Bluetooth headphones with the 3.0 OS upgrade. June.

I also think it's ridiculous they didn't support it all along. Copy and paste, etc.
posted by rokusan at 12:14 PM on March 30

You're looking for stereo bluetooth, the acronym to look for on tech specs is A2DP. The iPod Touch will support it, most likely by mid summer.

This site, http://www.anythingbutipod.com/archives/bluetooth/ , looked promising initially, but doesn't seem terribly up to date. Same with http://www.a2dp.info/A2DP-Devices/A2DP-Players.html but at least that details some product names, although the BUY IT links I tried at random dead ended as out of stock. I'm not finding anything, and with the ~$40 budget you have in mind I doubt you will. In that price range, there's the ipod shuffle and countless Insignia-type players.

On preview, there is this 4GB player with Bluetooth for $129.
posted by now i'm piste at 12:24 PM on March 30

Thanks for the info. I recently bought some running shoes with Nike+, so now maybe I'll hold out for the iPod Touch. Am I to understand that this Touch upgrade will be retroactive, so if I bought a new one now it would be Bluetooth-enabled thanks to this OS upgrade in the summer?
posted by Shepherd at 5:38 AM on March 31

Yes, that's my take on it. Quoting from the 'support' link: "Apple's Greg Joswiak said that Bluetooth can be "unlocked" on the device during the iPhone OS 3.0 Q&A session". You'll most likely have to purchase the upgrade for $10 if you buy a iPod Touch more than 2 weeks before the new model/Firmware 3.0 is released.
posted by now i'm piste at 8:45 AM on March 31

This might be too late, but I just started looking for a new mp3 player (my old 4G iPod broke).

The Samsung P2 (and the P3, which is coming out soon) and the Cowon S9 (8GB, 16GB currently out, 32gb version is upcoming) both work with bluetooth headsets. I'm sure some others do as well, but both of those look like very good alternatives to the iPod Touch.
posted by JMOZ at 11:42 AM on April 3 [1 favorite]