I'd go with any device that Rockbox (https://www.rockbox.org/) has a stable port for. I've been using a SanDisk Sansa Clip+ for 10 years and am still very happy with it.
What do you use for podcast management?
I've got this xDuoo X3 (bought it ages ago), which apparently has a pretty good DAC and is able to load from two SDCards, and has a third-party Rockbox implementation.
There's a new version ot (X3 II), which has a much larger display.