The Best MP3 Players for Luxury Listening in 2023

Audiophiles rejoice. Oozing luxury from every port, the Astell and Kern SP3000 is a stainless steel-plated beast of a digital audio device. With a bulky, heavy casing (using durable steel also found in some expensive watches), this high-end music player doesn't even pretend to be portable. What it does claim is the best auditory performance on the market, and after testing it out for a few weeks we’ve concluded it lives up to the hype. It supports all high-resolution audio files – with music of all genres sounding balanced and crisp at loud volumes when we tried it with the wired Sennheiser 560S. It has 256GB of storage built in, which is enough space for around 50,000 MP3s, but you can add an extra 1TB using a microSD card, too. Frankly, there’s so much going on under the hood – from the advanced circuitry to the silver-coated shield that limits electromagnetic interference – that you’d need a degree to understand it. Just want to stream? Yes, you can use it for Spotify too.

Sony’s Walkman (no, not the cassette one) is still around in 2023 – with the branding now being used for its audio players. Its newest device is the NW-A306, which has a much smaller form factor but similar feature-set to the Astell and Kern models on our list – and it's got a more lightweight and travel-friendly casing. You get a full colour touchscreen, wifi connectivity, headphone jack, expandable storage of up to 2TB and support for high-resolution files and all the popular streamers through its Android operating system. So, if you’re planning on venturing outside with your audio player, this is a better option than our luxurious top pick, plus the 36-hour battery life means there’s plenty of juice for your commutes or flights.

We’ve all got rent or a mortgage to pay, so we understand if you don’t want to cough up £3,000-plus for a digital music player. But if it's luxury you're after, check out the SR25 MKII. The angular aluminium case, off-kilter screen, and large metallic scroll wheel work in tandem to give an instantly recognisable aesthetic. While this is technically the brand’s “entry-level” player, it’s got all the usual Astell and Kern magic. One nice feature is that it supports use of a 4.4mm balanced audio cable (which enhances the quality, bass, and dynamic range of your tunes by limiting interference or distortion) and, of course, it works with all the usual high-resolution audio formats.

Do you need a portable player to take to the gym or pop into a pocket during a commute? How about a player that kind of resembles the form factor of the old-school iPod Nano? Don’t use high-end models like the device's above. You want the NW-E394. Sony’s slim and lightweight MP3/FM radio player is a top option for the basics. You get 8GB of internal storage – enough for around 1,800 songs – and up to 35 hours of battery life from a charge. The display resolution and build quality isn’t going to win any awards, plus there’s no support for high-resolution audio files or the streamers, but this is your best bet if you’re shopping for a simple digital audio player under £100.

Similar to the two Astell and Kern models – with a thicker body and large touchscreen – the Fiio M11 Plus is our top alternative to the SR15 above, especially as it’s £100 more affordable. Powered by a version of Android 10, this player supports all the major high resolution audio files like FLAC and WAV alongside standard MP3, plus it has both 3.5mm and 4.4mm headphone jacks. While the 64GB of internal storage isn’t the most impressive spec if you compare it to truly high-end models like the SP3000, we appreciate that you can pop in an external microSD card of up to 2TB – that’s 400,000 or more MP3 files. The menus are jam-packed with settings, including 120 volume levels and an adjustable EQ so you can change the mix in real-time, and there’s a touch-controlled slider on the side so you can alter the volume with a swipe. It’s certainly not the most portable, but we’re big fans of the chunky industrial design.