By Tammy Rogers

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Forget Spotify Lossless — I recommend these portable music players for hi-res streaming instead

Tammy Rogers

17 September 2025

And one of them costs less than $200

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(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

Best DAP under $200

Best DAP under $500

Best DAP over $500

Spotify Lossless, Qobuz, Tidal… all great ways of listening to hi-res music on the go. There are a couple of problems, though: limited (by extremely high standards) quality, massive data usage and high monthly costs are just a few.

But, if you’re looking for a way to listen to the very best music when you’re on the go — whether there’s an active internet connection or not — there is a different way. And it comes in the shape of what we call a “DAP.” A digital audio player.
Remember those MP3 players from when we were kids? They’ve grown up, gained some seriously impressive specs and become pretty special devices in their own right. Here are some of my favorite devices that I use to listen to high-quality music on the go.

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The pros and cons

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
Before I go through my favorite devices, it’s worth demonstrating why these devices are so useful. There are pros and cons to them, after all, and it all helps you work out whether or not they’ll be a useful and worthy addition to your portable audio arsenal.

Pro no.1: Incredible internals
Your phone is fine for listening to music. It has everything you need to get your tunes to your ears with as little fuss as possible. But it’s not the focus of your iPhone or Android device — they’ve got to be as good as possible at as many things as possible. To that end, they’re not excellent for listening to music.
A DAP brings that focus to the forefront. That means they’re filled with some top-notch components like dedicated DACs, powerful amplifiers, and even impressive Digital Signal Processing (DSP) to make sure your music sounds amazing. They’re the master of one to your jack-of-all-trades phone.

Pro no.2: No distractions

(Image credit: Future)
When I listen to music on my phone, I’m constantly interrupted by notifications. Generally, it’s an email about some new thing that I should probably look at — but it’s not ideal when I’m hour three into a long train ride and I just want to switch off.

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A DAP doesn’t get notifications about any kind of emails, messages or calls. They can connect to the Wi-Fi (so you can listen to the best music streaming services), but you won’t be installing any kind of communications apps. It’s just you and your music.

Pro no.3: Built in storage
My phone needs to be filled with many things. My storage is made up of apps, photos, videos, and other assorted digital detritus. My DAP? All music, baby, and loads of it. I have terabytes of files, and my DAP lets me take those wherever I may roam.
It also means there’s more room for some of the really big music files I have. See, there are tracks I have stored with qualities much higher than those found in any streaming service, and my DAP gives me all the space I need. Even better: Storage is generally expandable. Nice.

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Con no.1: costly
Even if you buy a relatively cheap DAP, it’s still an extra cost that you don’t need to make. Then there’s the cost of the tracks that you buy to fill it with. Sure, you can yoink the files of your CDs and put those in, but they won’t be as high quality as some of the tracks you can buy online.
Hi-res lossless tracks are expensive — ask me how I know. It’s certainly not cheaper than investing in a streaming service, that’s for sure.

Con no.2: It’s another device
Given the number of things you already have in your pocket, adding another thing to worry about losing might seem like an irritating problem. I think it’s worth it considering the benefits of a DAP, but your mileage may vary.
Best DAP under $200

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)
You know, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first tried out the Fiio JM21. “Is this a device that just takes the audio internals of a phone and puts them into a thing you can buy?” I wondered. “Is there any point to this at all?” I continued.
Then I plugged my headphones in and it all made sense.
There’s more detail in all the right places, and more control exhibited from all the headphones I tested with the device. It does a better job of converting the digital tracks from most sources, including streaming services like Qobuz and Tidal. Add to that 12 hours of battery life (it has to power the fairly beefy little internal amplifier) and a lovely design and you’ve got a great way to spend $200.
The perfect portable audio companion that doesn’t cost buckets of cash.

Fiio JM21: was $199 now $179 at Amazon
The little JM21 has no right to sound as good as it does, considering the price. There is a tangible jump in sound quality over using your phone and a headphone dongle. The UI is simple. The internals are top-notch. The screen is visible in bright light. There’s not much more you could ask for from a DAP that costs under $200.

Best DAP under $500

(Image credit: Activo)
The Activo P1 is a lovely little player. It really looks the part with its half-metal, half-plastic design and entirely black front fascia that hides the screen. There’s even a balanced port on the top for compatible headphones — something used plenty of times during my testing of the player.
The sound is, as you’d expect from something that’s had Astell & Kern’s DNA injected into it, glorious. There’s oodles of detail on offer, and it managed to do a great job of extending the soundstage of some of the headphones I paired with it. Even with streamed tracks, the P1 put on a mighty show.
Combine that with an easily legible screen and 20 hours of battery life and you’ve the recipe for a glorious little player. 64GB of internal storage not enough? Bump it up with the expandable SD card slot on the side.

Activo P1: $499 at Amazon
The Activo P1 is a pocket hero. It’s tiny, and yet packs in a whole host of great features. The audio internals are similar to Activo’s sister brand, Astell & Kern, and the sound quality is every bit as glorious as you’d expect. 20 hours of battery life sure doesn’t hurt either.

Best DAP over $500

(Image credit: FiiO)
I love my Fiio M15S. It’s a monster of a device, made out of metal and smothered with glass on both sides. There are physical controls on either side, and then a volume knob on the top for some wonderful, tactile feedback. That’s just the outside — the insides are something else entirely.
There’s something truly special about the M15S. Every single pair of headphones I plugged in benefited from the powerful internal amplifier and sounded better than I’d ever heard them before when on the go.
The screen is lovely and bright, and the 11 hours of battery is plenty for most of my journeys. Given the power on tap, I’m not sure you could ask for more staying power — I just plug it into a portable battery. It costs a whole lot — but goodness is it worth it.

Fiio M15S: $1,099 at Amazon
The Fiio M15S is an audio beast. Buckets of power to run even the most demanding of headphones, incredible audio internals to rival even desktop-based systems, and a design that screams “yeah, I love audio. And what?” It’s not cheap, but it’s my chosen way to listen to music on the go.

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Tammy Rogers

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Tammy and her generous collection of headphones have found a new home — Tom’s Guide! After a two-and-a-half-year stint as iMore’s resident audiophile, Tammy’s reviews and buying guide expertise have more focus than ever on Tom’s Guide, helping buyers find the audio gear that works best for them. Tammy has worked with some of the most desirable audio brands on the planet in her time writing about headphones, speakers, and more, bringing a consumer focussed approach to critique and buying advice. Away from her desk, you’ll probably find her in the countryside writing (extremely bad) poetry, or putting her screenwriting Masters to good use creating screenplays that’ll never see the light of day.

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