MP3 Player for Audiobooks

January 9, 2023 3:00 PM

I own many audiobooks as MP3s (they are quite vintage). I would like to get an mp3 player that plays well with audiobooks. Ideally, I could turn it off and have it start exactly where I left off or let me bookmark, but I would also settle for having it use folders and play the tracks in order with a reasonable ability to fast forward within a track. I’m not fussy about whether it has bluetooth or not. It does not need to support audible or checking things out from the library.
posted by Bottlecap to Technology (5 answers total)

Do you mean a full physical mp3 player or an app?

If you just want an app, "smart audiobook player" does all this pretty seamlessly on android. A cheap android phone with a microSD slot would work just fine!

I don't remember how much the app cost but it was fairly cheap and I've used it for hundreds and hundreds of hours and it's got everything you want ;)
posted by euphoria066 at 3:17 PM on January 9, 2023

Response by poster: A stand alone unit. I don’t have an android device to load an app on to, but if someone has a recommendation for one and that’s like … it for this market, I will adapt. But it really seems like overkill for playing a playlist in a folder. I would also prefer physical buttons over a touchscreen. So yes, I really am hoping for an actual mp3 player.
posted by Bottlecap at 3:29 PM on January 9, 2023

If you want something that's purpose-built for this (and likely over-built for your purposes), the models of Victor readers (the Stratus and Stream) do what you're looking for.

They're very pricey, owing to the fact they're very purpose-built (aimed at people who use DAISY digital talking books and need them to be fully-featured for that purpose along with other uses). If you're not someone who does, then they work very well for mp3 audiobooks and have the bookmarking and navigation functions you want and they're all about the physical buttons.

But if you just want to play a folder of mp3s, a SanDisk player will work just fine, in my experience.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:13 PM on January 9, 2023 [1 favorite]

I (still) use a Sansa/Sandisk Clip+ running the Rockbox firmware. Rockbox on any of their supported devices would probably meet your requirements - it'll play files in a folder, remembers where you left off, has various options for what fast forward/rewind do, and has some useful audio processing options for audiobook listening.
posted by offog at 6:16 PM on January 9, 2023 [3 favorites]

SanDisk is the way to go, the Jam model specifically, and you don't have to pay extra for one bigger than 8GB if you have a micro SD card hanging around. It even has an FM radio. There is an audiobook specific mode and there are some reviews that compare this model and the Go model for usage as a book player.
posted by soelo at 9:24 PM on January 9, 2023 [1 favorite]