Earlier than there have been smartphones, smartwatches, or streaming music, there have been MP3 gamers: Small transportable gadgets devoted nearly solely to music playback. We loaded up our Zunes, iPod Minis, and Rio Karmas stuffed with digital tracks. They didn’t have touchscreens or wi-fi connectivity (at first), however they had been the right pint-sized vessels for enjoying our favourite tunes on-demand. In 2007, Apple modified the panorama by rolling an iPod, telephone, and web communicator into one gadget, and devoted MP3 gamers slowly slipped into obscurity because the business adopted the iPhone. However now the concept of the MP3 participant is returning in a contemporary embodiment—as a key characteristic in a few of right this moment’s latest wearables.
Smartwatch and health tracker makers have traditionally targeted their advertising and gadget performance on two areas: productiveness and exercise monitoring. These merchandise increase or replicate smartphone experiences by performing as a schedule supervisor and a notification hub for messages and alerts. They’ll additionally doc the gap and site of your exercises by way of GPS, monitor your coronary heart price, and monitor your sleep—conducting all this with or with out the assistance of smartphone at your aspect.
Now, music playback is turning into a key characteristic in some wearables, just like the not too long ago launched Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music. The $299 smartwatch is a follow-up to final yr’s well-reviewed Vivoactive 3, nevertheless it solely sports activities a handful of extra design and exercise monitoring options in comparison with its predecessor. (Ars Technica notes an upgraded glass-like bezel surrounding its display screen and superior sleep monitoring are built-in.) As an alternative, as its identify would indicate, music storage and playback are one in every of its principal promoting factors. You’ll be able to load as much as 500 songs on the gadget itself or stream music from iHeartRadio and Deezer (no Spotify or Pandora integration on the Garmin smartwatch platform simply but).
The Vivoactive 3 Music isn’t alone. Different smartwatches have additionally glommed onto music as a promoting level, together with the TomTom Spark3 Cardio + Music, the Fitbit Versa, and the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music. TomTom’s Spark3 was one of many first smartwatches to help music streaming with out a telephone close by and likewise shops as much as 500 songs. The Fitbit Versa and older Ionic smartwatches additionally help onboard music storage and a few music streaming, from Deezer and Pandora. Different smartwatches from large identify producers, such because the Samsung Gear S3 and Apple Watch, additionally help music storage and streaming. The S3’s seamless music expertise, which incorporates as much as 4GB of onboard storage, has been referred to as one in every of its “prime options.” The Apple Watch Collection 3, in the meantime, can pull out of your total Apple Music library for iPhone-less playback—sadly, you’ll want your iPhone close by to stream from different apps.
The pattern marks a altering perspective towards smartphones as our default music participant: As our telephones have gotten bigger and extra feature-packed, they’ve additionally gotten rather less transportable. Wearable gadgets, in the meantime, are as transportable as electronics get. It is sensible that the majority are enabling this functionality, and a few are even capitalizing on this shift by touting music playback of their names.
There are some notable drawbacks for these hoping to make use of a wearable as their MP3 participant 2.0. First, you’ll want a pair of suitable wi-fi headphones or earbuds—though that is primarily solely a downside if you happen to don’t have already got a pair. (Attempting to jog with earbuds plugged into your iPod was at all times a tad uncomfortable anyway.) Battery life is one other situation: Play music for any prolonged time period (notably if it’s broadcasting over Wi-Fi or mobile) and also you’ll forfeit a large chunk of the gadget’s cost. The music onboarding course of and streaming app availability may also be a problem. Just like the outdated MP3 participant days, getting music onto your smartwatch is usually a headache-inducing expertise. In most opinions, Fitbit scored lowest on its music-downloading system, whereas Samsung scored fairly excessive. However for contemporary listeners who deserted their Napster-downloaded MP3 libraries years in the past—or by no means participated within the MP3 period within the first place—streaming is the place it’s at. Samsung is likely one of the few to work with Spotify’s offline playlist syncing, however the Apple Watch additionally does a superb job with its music streaming expertise, though you’re restricted to the Apple ecosystem.
Nonetheless, wearables tout advantages over their predecessors, which some could also be shocked to study are nonetheless being produced and offered right this moment. Web connectivity—by way of LTE or Wi-Fi—and the provision of voice-based assistants allow expanded listening choices and a neater technique of navigation than tapping or scrolling via onscreen menus. “You couldn’t take a look at your iPod and shout ‘HEY IPOD PLAY GEORGE MICHAEL’ since you all of the sudden felt like taking part in one thing that wasn’t saved in your iPod,” the Verge wrote in a single evaluate. “With the LTE Apple Watch you may.” After which there’s the shape issue: A tool in your wrist doesn’t must be held or pocketed, and it gained’t by accident be left behind on a desk or bus seat. With on-demand streaming dominating fashionable audio consumption, it’s a sensible transfer for wearable-makers to pivot their methods and companies to accommodate music functions. MP3 gamers had their day. iPhones and good audio system are nice while you’re at house or sitting within the automotive. However for these on the go, wearables are making music listening handy in a approach we haven’t seen because the iPod Nano.
