This might be the best portable music player money can buy

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While you can store and play all your tunes on the latest smartphones, they just can’t fill the gap of a dedicated portable music player. Yes, I’m talking about devices like the Sony Walkman or now-discontinued iPod. But Astell & Kern’s newest release might be the best player money can buy, even if it is a high-end player.

Read more: Why I’m buying my first CD player in 20 years

The SP3000M is a follow-up to its already stellar SP3000, but in a smaller, lighter, and arguably more polished package. This thing is tiny compared to its predecessor, but Astell & Kern has crammed in all the good stuff without compromise. It’s packed with the brand’s award-winning HEXA audio circuit design, which is a fancy way of saying that it splits digital and analogue signals to keep them from interfering with each other. Most digital audio players just mash the two together, resulting in that tiny bit of noise no one wants.

Astell & Kern has kept its signature silver-plated shield can, which basically acts like a fortress for the audio block, shielding it from all the usual suspects like electromagnetic interference and noise. The difference here is that it’s using highly conductive, high-purity silver, which supposedly takes the performance a step further. How much of that you’ll notice on your everyday playlist is debatable, but it’s these kinds of details that make audiophiles weak at the knees.

Under the hood, there’s some serious grunt. The SP3000M comes with a Snapdragon 6125 Octa-core processor, paired with 8GB of DDR4 memory. That’s double what’s found in most DAPs, making this player not just another pretty face. The UI looks smooth, and there’s a sense that this player could handle anything you throw at it. Battery life? Around 20 hours on a single charge, and charging only takes about 2.5 hours.

The SP3000M is available now, so you can head over to Astell & Kern and nab one for $2300/£2300/€2600. It’s a lot of money for a device that just plays music, but this might be one of the best portable music players around.

Related: Best music streaming services – Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Tidal and more reviewed and rated

About

Connor is a writer for Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website. He has been writing for around seven years now, with writing across the web and in print too. Connor has experience on most major platforms, though does hold a place in his heart for macOS, iOS/iPadOS, electric vehicles, and smartphone tech. Just like everyone else around here, he’s a fan of gadgets of all sorts! Aside from writing, Connor is involved in the startup scene. This exciting involvement puts him at the front of new and exciting tech, always on the lookout for innovating products.