Microsoft Zune is retired as of Nov. 15

theguardian.com

9 pointsrfjedwards4 comments

I still use a Zune 30GB player. When my original one finally stopped holding a charge, I got a refurbished one for under $100 on Amazon to replace it. The sound quality is pretty decent, which is the main thing I care about, and the Zune software is okay - a bit less loathsome than ITunes in my experience.

I always thought they looked like pretty good devices.

Anyone looking for a dedicated music player device should check out FiiO. They have high-quality audio components and support a wide range of lossless and lossy formats.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FiiO_X_Series

FiiO are only really popular with audiophiles who claim they can hear the difference. For everyone else, if you're going to blow $200 on an MP3 player you may have well get an iPod (e.g. iPod Touch) since it unlocks far more potential (apps).

I am personally rather partial to the "Sandisk Clip Jam." It is roughly $30-40, is a glorified micro-SD card player (up to 32 GB), and has tons of battery life. Great for when a smartphone is too large and cheaper than a iPod Nano.

The FiiO is just either too expensive or too large.

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