Is there a way to listen to music without having a phone?
This is a question that we have received more recently from youth, parents, and caregivers where access to a smartphone might be limited.
For example:
- A younger person may not be allowed a phone in the bedroom at night but wants to listen to music and audiobooks.
- Or a parent of younger kids may not yet be ready to give them a smartphone and wants to play music on the go.
Given that the era of the iPod no longer exists, with the iPod Shuffle ending in 2017 and the iPod Touch in 2022, are there any alternatives?
A big challenge today is that people don’t typically pay for individual songs. Most subscribe to music services like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. There is a plethora of MP3 players on Amazon, but most require managing the sound files as many music players did in the early 2000s.
Some smarter players, like an iPod Touch, claim to connect to services like Spotify, but they often have additional functions that some families may not want, as they may resemble smartphone features.
Recently, we discovered the Mighty 3, a screenless Spotify and Amazon Music player. They sent one to our studio for review. Mighty did not get to preview this review or pay for any part of it beyond sending the product. Marketed primarily as a workout tool but also emphasizes a screenless option for kids.
Here are some thoughts. First, it resembles a slightly larger 4th gen iPod Shuffle. It’s small and basic.
You listen from a regular 3.5mm headphone port; with Bluetooth opens available.
Charging is also via the 3.5mm headphone port. This is certainly not a common charging method. Definitely do not lose the included cable. Even here in the Studio, we do not have another such cable in our miscellaneous box. A USB-C charging port would be nice to have for more universal charging options.
Mighty claims a strong 8 hours of battery. The actual storage space in gigabytes is unknown but claims 1000+ Song storage.
Everywhere, branding is about freedom from the phone. And I think that’s somewhat true. But could be misleading. Getting your playlists onto the Mighty does require a phone at least at first. We can’t fault this too much because without smartphone features, how else are you to get Spotify or Amazon Music onto the device? This also has an additional benefit for parents with younger kids who do not have a phone, as a family can check and approve music playlists. May or may not be a deal breaker.
Of course, Apple Music is not compatible, because Apple would never let its service on non-Apple devices. This will also not work with the free music plans as a premium Spotify or Amazon Music subscription is needed.
To note, you will need to Sync the Mighty within every 30 days so your history can be sent to the music service to ensure the artists are paid. You do not need to manually update the playlist. Setting up a connection to your local Wi-Fi network, the Mighty can automatically update your playlists each night.
Playback controls are straightforward: volume up, down, skip forward or back, and can switch playlists by a simple button press. All this with voiceover playlist navigation.
Beyond that, there is not much more to share.
If you are truly looking for a no-screen music player that connects to Spotify or Amazon Music, we can’t think of any other way to achieve this beyond what the Mighty 3 has done. If you are looking to buy and manage songs directly, there are lots of classic MP3 players available, but they all lack Spotify and Amazon Music sync integration.
If you are looking to use this on the go, there are waterproof versions available.
