Wireless portable audio player options

MickeyD

(also posted this on rec/fitness, didn't know if crossposting is possible on boards?)

I'm in the market for a portable audio player that supports bluetooth (or similar tech) so I can listen to music wirelessly and not have to bring something bulky and expensive like my phone with me when I'm going to the gym/out for a run.

So far the iPod Nano is the best thing that I can find that matches my criteria, and as a bonus it has step tracking (via integrated nike+).

It seems that all of the smart watches I've seen so far require you to bring your phone out with you for most of the watch's functionality.

Has anyone come across any other options? Cheers!

nano not a bad option if you must have bluetooth. there are not that many small players with bluetooth. there have been some reported problems with the nano's bluetooth performance with headsets / earphones though - you may need to have it pretty close up to the earphones (i.e. in a pocket near your chest).

Personally although bluetooth sounds like a great idea it often doesn't work so well and it also means that you have to get a good set of bluetooth earphones which can be expensive for ones with good sound and also can be bulky. also it means that you need to charge both the player and the bluetooth earphones and if one of them runs out of battery you have no sound.

I'd recommend the newish sansa clip sport which has double the battery life (25hrs) of prior models. it's cheap and easily expandable via cheap micro sd cards (unlike apple). it also is great for sport in that it can clip onto your shirt/coat/ shorts. good in-ear earphones are available from 20 euro or so (e.g. xiamoi pistons from ebay - make sure that you get the real ones)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=clip+sport&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Aclip+sport

MickeyD

I already have a set of decent bluetooth headphones (sehnheiser mm100) so that's why I'd like the device to have bluetooth - it's just easier when exercising not to have to deal with wires. I was looking at the sansa clips in conjunction with a bluetooth adapter e.g. http://www.amazon.co.uk/JUSTOP-BTR006-Bluetooth-Wireless-Universal/dp/B005NDDEVQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=undefined&sr=8-1&keywords=bluetooth+adapter+3+5 but I'd prefer an all in one solution.

I also noticed the new sony smart watch 3 - it looks like it has bluetooth, onboard storage and built in GPS and other sensors so could be worth a look as it could track your route, how far you've run etc. too. Not sure if it has heart rate monitoring though.

a watch is unlikely to have much storage space in terms of gb for music. (it's only 4gb)
Nano seems like the best option but expensive and may not work amazingly well with your headphones.
(http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1467573)
To me, wires are not an issue when exercising. Run them down the inside of the shirt that you're wearing is what I do - out of the way and can't catch on anything. Sansa clip clipped onto shorts.