Updated August 2026. We re-checked every listing in this guide on 25 August. Two players we previously recommended, the SanDisk Clip Sport Go and the Innioasis Y2, are now unavailable on Amazon with no restock date, so they have been removed and replaced. Everything below was in stock and orderable on the day this was written.
Yes, you can still use a non-Apple player with the music you bought or ripped in iTunes. But “iTunes compatible” splits into two very different things, and picking the wrong one is the single most common way people waste money here.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Product links in this guide are affiliate links.
The short answer. If you own your music, meaning purchases and CD rips sitting in your Music folder as AAC (.m4a) or MP3 files, almost any player on this list will play it. You copy the files across by USB, the same way you would to a flash drive.
If you subscribe to Apple Music and want your streaming library, that is a different problem. Those tracks are DRM-protected and play only inside the Apple Music app, so you need a player that runs Android. Only three below do: the FiiO JM21, the HiBy Digital M300 and the Sony NW-A306.
The table sorts that out first, then the picks go into detail.
The best iTunes-compatible MP3 players at a glance
| Player | Around | Apple Music streaming? | Storage in the box | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. HIFI WALKER H2 | ~$124 | No, files only | 64GB card included | Most people. Best sound per dollar |
| 2. HiBy R1 | ~$79 | No, files only | None, card required | Smallest true hi-res player under $100 |
| 3. MECHEN M30 | ~$83 | No, files only | 64GB card included | 25 hours per charge, machined metal shell |
| 4. Surfans F20 | ~$124 | No, files only | 64GB card included | The most reviewed player here (5,000+) |
| 5. SHANLING M0 Pura | ~$129 | No, files only | None, card required | Pocket size. 36 grams |
| 6. FiiO JM21 | ~$160 | Yes, Android 13 | 32GB + 128GB card included | Cheapest way to stream Apple Music |
| 7. HiBy Digital M300 | ~$199 | Yes, Android 13 | 32GB built in | Streaming plus a speaker and FM radio |
| 8. Sony NW-A306 Walkman | ~$398 | Yes, Android | 32GB built in | Closest thing to an iPod Touch successor |
| 9. RUIZU Clip | ~$39 | No, files only | 64GB built in | Workouts. One ounce, clips on |
| 10. AGPTEK M3 | ~$36 | No, files only | 64GB built in | Kids and seniors. Buttons, speaker, radio |
Which one should you actually buy?
Three questions settle it in about thirty seconds.
- Do you pay for Apple Music and want your streaming library? You need Android. The FiiO JM21 at around $160 is the cheapest honest answer; the Sony NW-A306 is the nicest one if budget is not the constraint.
- Do you just want the music you already own, sounding better than your phone? The HIFI WALKER H2 at around $124 is the one to buy. It comes with a 64GB card, so it works out of the box.
- Do you want something cheap, simple and hard to break? The RUIZU Clip for the gym at around $39, or the AGPTEK M3 at around $36 for a child, a parent, or anyone who does not want a touchscreen.
One gotcha worth knowing before you order. Most of the dedicated hi-res players here (the HIFI WALKER H2, the Surfans F20, the MECHEN M30, the HiBy R1 and the SHANLING M0 Pura) carry no onboard memory and run entirely from a microSD card. What matters is whether a card comes in the box. The H2, the F20 and the M30 all include a 64GB card, so they work immediately. The HiBy R1 is sold in two packages, one with a card and one without, so check which you have selected. The SHANLING M0 Pura never includes one, and its listing says so explicitly, so budget another $10 to $20. We have flagged this in the table and in each entry, because it is the most common unpleasant surprise in this category.
1. HIFI WALKER H2: best for most people
Around $124. ESS ES9018K2M DAC · Bluetooth 5.2, sends and receives · 64GB card in the box, takes up to 512GB · about 10 hours playback · USB DAC and line out · metal body with physical buttons
If you do not want to read the rest of this page, buy the HIFI WALKER H2. It is the pick that asks the least of you: a 64GB microSD card is already in the box, so you plug it into a computer, drag your iTunes folder across, and it plays. The Surfans F20 and the MECHEN M30 are the others that arrive with a card already in them.
The reason it sounds better than your phone is the ESS ES9018K2M converter chip, which handles DSD128 alongside the ordinary formats: FLAC, WAV, APE, ALAC, and the AAC files iTunes creates. On decent wired headphones the difference is not subtle; on cheap earbuds you will not hear it, which is worth being honest about. If you are going to listen through $20 earbuds, save your money and buy the AGPTEK further down.
Two features push it past the similarly-priced Surfans F20. Its Bluetooth 5.2 works in both directions, so it can send audio to wireless headphones or receive audio from your phone and act as an outboard sound card. And it doubles as a USB DAC for a computer, plus a line out for a hi-fi. That is three jobs for one box, and it is the reason this is the pick rather than the more heavily reviewed Surfans.
What you are giving up: there is no Wi-Fi, no apps, and no Apple Music. The interface is functional rather than pleasant, and the 3.9-star average across roughly 3,900 reviews reflects that. People like the sound and grumble about the menus. Over 500 were bought in the past month, which for a niche audio product is a lot, and it is the strongest signal here that the thing does what it says.
2. HiBy R1: best small hi-res player under $100
Around $79. CS43131 DAC · DSD256 native, PCM 384kHz · Bluetooth 5.1 with LDAC and aptX · Tidal and Qobuz · 1150mAh battery, about 15 hours · no internal storage, microSD required, up to 2TB
The HiBy R1 is the cheapest player here that a person who cares about audio would be happy owning. The CS43131 is a genuinely good converter chip, the same one Shanling uses in the M0 Pura at $50 more, and it decodes DSD256 natively rather than converting down.
It runs HiByOS rather than Android, which is the trade. You get a fast, focused music player with Tidal and Qobuz support built in, and you do not get the Apple Music app. For an iTunes library of files you own, that distinction does not matter. For a streaming subscription, it rules this player out entirely.
Read this before ordering: the R1 has no built-in memory. Amazon’s own listing says it requires a microSD card, and its listing describes two bundles, a standard pack and a value set that adds a 32GB card. Amazon does not always surface both on the same page, so confirm what is in the box before ordering. It supports cards up to 2TB, which the manufacturer reckons is around 50,000 tracks, so the ceiling is not the problem; the problem is opening the box to find nowhere to put your music.
Battery is 1150mAh for about 15 hours, which is mid-pack. The MECHEN below runs 25. Bluetooth 5.1 is output-only, so unlike the HIFI WALKER it cannot act as a receiver for your phone. At 3.8 stars over roughly 515 reviews it is the least-loved of the sub-$100 picks on paper, and most of the complaints are about the small screen rather than the sound.
3. MECHEN M30: best build at the price
Around $83. WM8965 DAC with a TI TPA6530 amplifier · 2.0-inch 320×240 screen · machined alloy shell with a scroll wheel · 1500mAh battery, 25 hours playback, 2-hour charge · 176g · 64GB card included, expandable to 512GB
Twenty-five hours of continuous playback from a two-hour charge is the headline, and it is the reason to choose the MECHEN M30 over the HiBy R1 sitting a few dollars below it. If your use case is long-haul flights, night shifts, or a week of commuting between charges, that is enough for almost anything.
The build is the other draw. The shell is CNC-machined from alloy and does not hold fingerprints, and the control is a physical scroll wheel rather than a touchscreen, which sounds retrograde until you have tried to skip a track with gloves on. At 176 grams it is noticeably heavier than the Shanling, and that weight is the metal casing. Amazon is inconsistent about which metal. The listing title says zinc alloy and the feature bullets say aluminium, so we are not going to pick one for them.
Sound comes from a WM8965 converter paired with a Texas Instruments TPA6530 amplifier. That is a more modest pairing than the ESS and Cirrus Logic chips in the players either side of it, and we would not claim it matches them. What it does is drive headphones loudly and cleanly, which is most of the job.
The M30 has no onboard memory either, but unlike the HiBy above and the Shanling below it arrives ready to use. Amazon’s listing includes a 64GB microSD card in the box, and it takes cards up to 512GB. Keep the card in it; take it out and the player is empty. At 3.9 stars over 770 reviews with 100-plus sold in the past month it has a real track record.
4. Surfans F20: the most reviewed player here
Around $124. ESS ES9018K2M DAC · 32-bit/384kHz, native DSD128 · Bluetooth 5.2 · 64GB card included, expandable to 512GB · about 10 hours playback · scroll wheel
The Surfans F20 has been on this list longer than anything else, and it has now accumulated more than 5,000 reviews at 4.0 stars, by a wide margin the most evidence behind any player here. If you want the safest purchase rather than the best one, this is it.
It uses the same ESS ES9018K2M converter as our top pick and ships with the same 64GB card, which makes the comparison unusually clean. The F20 wins on the control surface. The scroll wheel is a better-made component than the HIFI WALKER’s buttons and is the thing owners consistently praise. The H2 wins on flexibility: two-way Bluetooth and USB DAC duty, neither of which the F20 offers.
The other difference is battery. Surfans quotes about 10 hours, the same figure the HIFI WALKER gives and roughly 40% of what the MECHEN manages. For a commute that is irrelevant. For a long flight, take a charger.
Format support is listed as FLAC, WAV, APE, WMA and MP3. Note that Surfans does not name AAC, the format most iTunes purchases use, though the players above and below it do. If your library is AAC rather than MP3, either check with the seller first or convert, which takes one menu command and is covered further down. As with every non-Android player here, Apple Music subscription tracks will not play.
5. SHANLING M0 Pura: the smallest hi-res player
Around $129. Dual CS43131 DACs · 32-bit/384kHz, DSD128 · 1.54-inch 240×240 touchscreen · two-way Bluetooth 5.0 with LDAC · 3.5mm jack and two-way Type-C · 650mAh, about 9.5 hours · 35.8g · no internal storage, microSD required, up to 2TB
At 35.8 grams the SHANLING M0 Pura weighs about a fifth of the MECHEN and disappears into a coin pocket. What is unusual is that shrinking it has not meant gutting it: there are two CS43131 converters in there, one per channel, a quoted 250mW into 32-ohm headphones in balanced mode against 100mW from the 3.5mm jack.
Read that balanced figure carefully, because the box does not contain the socket. Shanling quotes 250mW into 32 ohms from a 4.4mm balanced connection against 100mW from the 3.5mm jack, but the M0 Pura has only a 3.5mm output, and its listing states that balanced mode requires a separately sold 3.5mm-to-4.4mm adapter. The power figure is real; it is an extra purchase. Factor that in before choosing this over the HiBy R1 at $50 less, which is a closer call than the price gap suggests.
Bluetooth works in both directions. It can transmit LDAC, aptX, AAC and SBC to headphones, or receive LDAC, SBC and AAC from a phone. The Type-C port is two-way as well, so it can serve as a DAC or a headphone amp for a laptop.
Shanling’s own listing states the M0 Pura has no data storage of its own. Order a microSD alongside it, because unlike the other four card-less players here, no package option bundles one. Two other caveats worth stating plainly. It tops out at DSD128 rather than the DSD256 the cheaper HiBy manages, its 9.5 hours is the shortest quoted battery in this guide, and at 18 reviews it has far less feedback behind it than anything else here. It is a well-regarded product from a well-regarded manufacturer, but that is a thin evidence base and you should know it.
6. FiiO JM21: the cheapest way to stream Apple Music
Around $160. Qualcomm Snapdragon 680 · custom Android 13, installs streaming apps · dual CS43198 DACs · 12.5 hours playback · 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, plus a 128GB card included, expandable to 2TB
This is the pick that changes the shape of the guide. Not long ago, “a player that runs the Apple Music app” started at the Sony’s ~$398. The FiiO JM21 does the same job for around $160, and FiiO’s listing says so directly. The customised Android 13 build lets you install streaming apps including Spotify and Apple Music.
Underneath is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 680, a real phone processor, which is why the interface does not stutter the way budget Android players usually do. There is also a pair of CS43198 converters. It also arrives with a 128GB microSD card in the box on top of its own 32GB, so it is the best-provisioned player here out of the packaging.
The catch is battery. FiiO quotes 12.5 hours, and running a streaming app over Wi-Fi will not help that number. Anything with a screen and a radio pays this tax; the Sony’s 36-hour figure is the exception, not the rule.
The honest caveat is the review count: 29, at 4.2 stars. This is a new product and there is not yet much independent evidence about how it holds up. If that bothers you, the HiBy M300 below has 523 reviews and does a similar job for $40 more. We have listed the FiiO first because it is the better value if it works out; we would not pretend the evidence base is comparable.
7. HiBy Digital M300: streaming with a speaker and a radio
Around $199. CS43131 DAC · native DSD256, PCM 384kHz · Snapdragon 665, Android 13 · Bluetooth 5.0 and dual-band Wi-Fi · built-in speaker and FM radio · 2000mAh, 29+ hours with Wi-Fi and screen off · 3.5mm and USB-C · 32GB, expandable to 2TB
The HiBy Digital M300 is the well-evidenced version of the FiiO: same idea, more reviews, more money. Android 13 on a Snapdragon 665 means you can install whatever music app you subscribe to, and the CS43131 handles DSD256 natively, a step up on paper from the FiiO’s chip pairing.
It is also the only streaming player here with a built-in speaker and an FM radio. The budget AGPTEK has both as well, but nothing else here that runs Android does. Neither is what an audiophile buys a player for, and both are genuinely useful: the speaker for a hotel room or a kitchen, the radio for live sport. Combined with dual-band Wi-Fi and a touchscreen, it is the closest thing here to a small phone that does not make calls.
At 4.1 stars over 523 reviews it has the best evidence-to-price ratio of the three Android players. Against the Sony, you are giving up build quality and battery life and saving around $200; against the FiiO, you are paying about $40 for a much longer track record and the speaker.
Storage is 32GB built in, expandable to 2TB. That is enough for a substantial AAC library before you add a card, which puts it ahead of the three card-required players on convenience.
8. Sony NW-A306 Walkman: the premium pick
Around $398. 32GB plus microSD · Android with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth · up to 36 hours battery · USB-C · aluminium frame
The Sony NW-A306 Walkman remains the closest thing on sale to an iPod Touch successor. It runs Android, so Apple Music installs and signs in; it is built to a standard nothing else here approaches; and Sony rates the battery at up to 36 hours, which is nearly three times what the FiiO manages and the single most impressive number in this guide.
It is also around two and a half times the price of the FiiO JM21 for the same core capability, and that is the honest way to frame it. What the extra money buys is the battery, the aluminium chassis, Sony’s audio processing for upscaling compressed files, and a company that will still be supporting the firmware in three years. Whether that is worth $240 depends entirely on how long you keep things.
The 3.6-star average across more than 540 reviews is the lowest here, which surprises people. Reading through them, the recurring complaints are the price and the modest 32GB of onboard storage rather than the sound or the build. Both are fair, and both are things you can weigh before ordering. A microSD card solves the second.
Buy it if you want one device for a decade and Apple Music streaming matters. Skip it if the FiiO’s 12.5-hour battery would get you through your day, because you would be spending $240 on build quality and endurance rather than on sound you will reliably hear.
9. RUIZU Clip: best for workouts
Around $39. Bluetooth 5.3 · 64GB built in, plus microSD up to 128GB · weighs about 1 ounce · about 20 hours playback, 1.5-hour fast charge · ABS body with an integrated clip
This slot used to belong to the SanDisk Clip Sport Go, which Amazon now lists as unavailable with no restock date. The RUIZU Clip replaces it and is arguably the better product: same one-ounce clip-on format, but with 64GB of storage built in against the SanDisk’s 32GB, and Bluetooth 5.3 the SanDisk never had.
The case for a dedicated gym player has not changed. You do not want to run with a $1,000 phone strapped to your arm, you do not want notifications mid-set, and you do not care about hi-res audio when your heart rate is 160. What you want is something light enough to forget, cheap enough not to mind about, and loaded with the files you already own.
Bluetooth 5.3 means it pairs with wireless earbuds, which is the main upgrade over the old SanDisk, though for sweaty workouts a cheap wired pair remains the sensible choice, and the 3.5mm jack is there. Charging is quick at about an hour and a half.
Against the AGPTEK M3 below it, which costs a few dollars less and has a bigger screen, the case for the RUIZU is the clip and the weight: one is built to be forgotten on a waistband, the other to be looked at. At 3.9 stars over roughly 1,160 reviews with 100-plus sold in the past month, it has a real track record. Transfer is drag-and-drop over USB, so your iTunes AAC and MP3 files copy straight across. If you want wireless earbuds to go with it, our guide to the best Bluetooth earbuds covers the sub-$50 tier in detail.
10. AGPTEK M3: best cheap player for kids and seniors
Around $36. 64GB built in, plus microSD up to 128GB · Bluetooth 5.3 · 2.4-inch colour screen · 500mAh battery, 2.5-hour charge · FM radio, voice recorder, e-book reader, pedometer
The AGPTEK M3 is the answer to a specific question: what do you give someone who wants music without an account, a subscription, a screen full of apps, or anything to manage? It has a 2.4-inch screen, the biggest of the budget picks, plus touch buttons and 64GB of storage already inside it.
Being the largest-screened cheap player matters more than it sounds for the two groups this suits. A child can navigate it without reading much; an older listener can actually see the track name. Neither needs to know what a DAC is.
The feature list is comically long for the money: FM radio, voice recorder, e-book reader, pedometer, A-B repeat. Most of it is filler. The parts that matter are the storage, the Bluetooth 5.3, and the fact that you load it by dragging files from a computer with no software involved. One caveat worth repeating from AGPTEK’s own listing: it says plainly that it does not support Apple Music or iTunes as apps. That is the same limit every non-Android player here has. Your purchased and ripped files copy over fine; a streaming subscription does not.
Battery is the one spec AGPTEK does not put a number on. The listing promises “long battery life” and gives a 500mAh cell and a 2.5-hour charge, but no playback hours, the only pick in this guide without a stated figure. We are not going to invent one: if runtime is the deciding factor for you, buy something that publishes it. At 4.0 stars over roughly 2,935 reviews it is the best-reviewed budget player here by some distance. If you are buying specifically for a child, our guide to the best MP3 players for kids with no Wi-Fi goes further into the screen-free and parental-control options.
What happened to the iPod?
Apple discontinued the iPod Touch in May 2022 and no longer sells any iPod. Remaining sealed units trade as collectibles at inflated prices, and refurbished ones are aging batteries in aging hardware, and we do not recommend buying either.
If what you miss is the Apple Music experience, an Android player is the honest replacement: the Sony NW-A306, the FiiO JM21 or the HiBy M300, all of which run the real app against your real library. If what you miss is the object, something small and single-purpose that plays the files you own, then the players in this guide do that better than an iPod ever did, for less money, with more storage.
Buyer’s guide
What “iTunes compatible” actually means in 2026
Two separate things, and you need to know which one you are buying for.
File compatibility. Music you bought from the iTunes Store or ripped from your own CDs is stored as AAC (.m4a) or MP3. Every player in this guide plays MP3, and every one except the Surfans F20 names AAC in its listed formats. You copy the files across by USB, exactly as you would to a memory stick. There is no syncing and no software to install.
Apple Music streaming. Tracks from an Apple Music subscription are DRM-protected and play only inside Apple’s own app. That means the player has to run Android: on this list, the Sony NW-A306, the FiiO JM21 and the HiBy Digital M300. No amount of file copying gets a subscription track onto the other seven.
One legacy trap. iTunes purchases from before 2009 may be .m4p files carrying the old FairPlay DRM, and those play only on Apple hardware. Re-download them from your purchase history, since Apple’s modern versions are unprotected, or convert them.
Check whether a card is included before you order
This is the trap in the category, and it turns on a distinction people conflate. Onboard memory is rare on dedicated hi-res players: the HIFI WALKER H2, the Surfans F20, the MECHEN M30, the HiBy R1 and the SHANLING M0 Pura all run from a card rather than internal storage, and most of them say so in listing text people never read, though the Surfans listing does not, so do not take silence for internal storage. What is in the box is the part that actually decides your evening. The H2, the F20 and the M30 include a 64GB card. The HiBy R1 ships in two configurations, with and without. The M0 Pura never includes one. The FiiO JM21 includes 128GB on top of its own 32GB.
It changes the real price by $10–20 and it changes whether the thing works on the day it arrives. Some of these players also ship in multiple package configurations, with and without a card, at different prices, so check the option you have selected rather than just the headline listing.
How much do you need to spend?
Around $35–40 buys a capable everyday player with real storage: the AGPTEK M3 or the RUIZU Clip. Below that, quality falls off a cliff. $79–130 is where dedicated audio hardware starts: proper converter chips, metal bodies, and a real difference through decent headphones. This is the sweet spot, and the HIFI WALKER H2 sits in it. $160–200 adds Android and streaming apps. Around $400, the Sony adds endurance and build quality rather than fundamentally better sound.
The honest advice: if you listen through wireless earbuds, the expensive players are largely wasted on you, because Bluetooth compression undoes most of what you paid for. Spend the money on the headphones instead. Hi-res players earn their keep through a wired connection.
How to move your iTunes music to any MP3 player
In the Music app on a Mac, or iTunes on Windows, find your media folder under Settings → Files. Connect the player by USB and it appears as a drive. Drag the artist or album folders across. That is the whole process.
If a player refuses a particular track, convert it to MP3 first: Settings → Files → Import Settings → MP3 Encoder, then File → Convert → Create MP3 Version. This creates a second copy and leaves the original alone.
Frequently asked questions
Can you really use non-Apple MP3 players with iTunes?
Yes, for music you own. iTunes stores files in standard AAC or MP3 formats that virtually every modern player supports, and you transfer them over USB rather than syncing. Subscription tracks are the exception.
Do these players work with an Apple Music subscription?
Only the three Android-based ones: the Sony NW-A306, the FiiO JM21 and the HiBy Digital M300. Everything else plays files you own, but not streaming-subscription tracks.
What is the best cheap MP3 player for a child or a senior?
The AGPTEK M3, at around $36. It has the largest screen of the budget players, touch buttons rather than a touchscreen, 64GB already inside it, and no accounts, apps or subscriptions to manage.
Do I need a memory card?
Only if the box does not contain one. The HIFI WALKER H2, the Surfans F20, the MECHEN M30 and the FiiO JM21 all include a card, so they play the moment you load them. The HiBy R1 ships in two configurations, with and without. The SHANLING M0 Pura never includes one, so buy a card with it. The Sony, HiBy M300, RUIZU and AGPTEK have built-in storage instead.
What if I want to play actual CDs at home?
Then you want a shelf system rather than a pocket player. We cover that separately in our guide to the best home CD players, which looks at micro hi-fi systems, multi-disc changers, and what the wattage numbers on the box actually mean.
More from our electronics guides: if the same household has a Nintendo Switch, see the best third-party Joy-Cons and Switch controllers, verified in stock and sorted by Switch and Switch 2 compatibility.