MP3 Players That Still Thrive in 2025 - Is MP3 Retro Now?

The humble MP3 file format turns 30 years old this year!

MP3 paved the way for compact, good quality audio available in smaller and smaller and smaller (and smaller!) devices over the last 3 decades.

Audio history buffs among you might be screaming at me that actually MP3 was around since 1991, not 1995, but technically it was called a ".bit" instead, so the "MP3" as we know it does turn 30 this year.

Once upon a time, in the early 2000's, MP3 players were as much a fashion statement as they were a symbol of tweens gaining the freedom to choose the music they wanted on their own player!

I'm once again hinting at my age, but I remember knowing where all the albums and tracks were on my MP3 player I took to school to the point I could navigate to specific songs without needing to look at the screen!

With 30 years of history behind it, how much longer is MP3 set to last, and are any MP3 devices still useful 3 decades later...?

Miniaturised Storage, Maximised Efficiency

Physical media like CDs and VHS tapes began to digitise in no small part due to the much smaller form factor.

MP3's being able to be stored in such small devices is a key part to their continued success.

Take the EP400 headphones. These are thin, lightweight bone conduction headphones built for running, cycling and other physical activity.

Thing is, Bluetooth and streaming (the most common method of accessing music nowadays) can cause all sorts of issues if you're planning on taking a run or a hike. Bluetooth itself can be unstable if the source and receiver are constantly moving, and then there's the worry that your music might cut out entirely if your phone loses data connection for streaming.

Using a Bluetooth speaker with internal storage and inbuilt MP3 player you can enjoy hours of music without any of the worry. All the data is stored on the device, and you don't need Bluetooth or internet at all. Hike where you like, sprint as fast as you can, and the music will just keep playing.

MP3 still provides a great balance of storage space vs audio quality.

Home Audio That Just Works

Another great thing about using speakers and headphones that can process local files, like MP3, is that they will often be able to process a host of other file types too.

This gives you the flexibility to choose your best storage space to audio quality ratio and listen to files you might have obtained in a different format.

A home speaker with USB ports like the MB420 allows you to plug in a USB in the speaker directly, bypassing the need for Bluetooth setup or radio reception. You can host a party, unwind after work or get on with chores all without risk of interference or ads.

The MB450K speaker even features an SD card MP3 player, so you can access even more audio more efficiently.

As of 2025, you can get a 512GB SD Card for under £50. 512GB is just a mind-boggling amount of space when we're talking MP3 files. In fact, a 512GB SD card can store between 8 and 12 hours of different music. You could stick that on shuffle for a work day and never hear the same song twice! The huge storage in such a small card makes an MP3 player with SD card reader one of the most efficient portable music solutions you can get.

MP3 Vs Streaming

In our article exploring CD players (Which, incidentally, are also SD Card reader MP3 CD players!) and comparing them to digital media we found a huge difference between the bitrate of physical CDs and digital files. Luckily, a portable CD and MP3 player can do both.

Now we are looking at just MP3s, though, how do they stack up against the next competitor; streaming?

Interestingly enough, music streaming services use the same bitrate as many MP3s. This is assuming you are on whatever subscription is necessary for the "Highest Quality" setting on your respective streaming app.

Therefore, the difference in audio quality actually comes from the communication rather than the data itself. By that I mean that a streamed song is made up of the same fidelity of data as a local MP3 version, but that because the MP3 version has physical high-speed connections to the output the audio can often sound better.

When you stream, you are adding a layer of detachment between the audio and the output. Not only is the data having to be processed and sent out your speakers, it's also having to be uploaded and downloaded over the internet beforehand.

This adds in more risk of interference, packet loss, bottlenecking and other errors.

How To Put Songs Onto an MP3 Player

About the only downside to MP3 solutions is having to manually load them up with songs, but even this has a silver lining!

When you stream music you are doing so at the behest of the provider. You have no access to any files, you can't save songs locally to copy onto USBs, SD Cards and MP3 players. In fact, music can be available one day and gone the next! (See: The Taylor Swift debacle).

To put songs onto an MP3 player you should:

1. ⚬ Check what storage your MP3 player has or accepts. This should be either internal memory accessed by a specific port (Check for USB, USB-C, Magnetic, etc) or external storage you insert (USB sticks, SD Cards).
2. ⚬ Collect a bank of MP3 music. Whether it's from ripping CDs, buying digitally, converting from a video or downloading through an app, there's a lot ways to get your hands on MP3 files. You'll need to make sure they are on a laptop, PC or tablet that can be connected to your MP3 player or the external storage you're going to use.
3. ⚬ Copy the MP3 files across. If your MP3 player has internal storage, connect it to your PC. If not, connect the SD card or USB stick to your PC instead. Then, simply open your file explorer and "Copy" the folder of your MP3s. "Paste" it into the storage device.
   
   Make sure you "Safely Remove" or "Eject" the MP3 player / storage device before unplugging!
4. ⚬ Change the device to MP3 mode if needed. Some devices have multiple modes, like an MP3 player and speaker that also has a radio reception for example. You need to made sure your speaker or headphones are in "MP3" or "Local" mode, or the mode named after the storage type i.e "USB" or "SD Card".

Explore Alternatives To Streaming in 2025

While streaming and cloud-based storage are all the rage, remember to scout your options when looking for audio solutions in 2025. Once you have an MP3 player set up with all your favourites, no one can take that away from you. You won't get ads, your provider won't remove songs from your device at will, and you won't have to pay a monthly subscription!

If you want to prioritise audio fidelity even more, you can read our post about CD audio vs digital audio here.

So, here's to the MP3 file, the safe and reliable middle-of-the-road choice for music for 3 decades!