There are a huge amount of choices for digital voice recorders in the market. But if you are looking for a model that can be used as a perfect MP3 player as well, then you need to make your decision right.
Instead of giving you a bunch of cheap options that sounds like a bargain, I wanted to share more info you need to know to pick the best voice recorder with MP3 player feature. To do this, I am going to list a few things that are important to the people who will use voice recorders as MP3 players occasionally. And you will see the roundup of our top picks of the voice recorders with an MP3 player in 2021.
What Are Important to a Recorder with MP3 Player?
Portable Size
I believe most people who need a digital recorder with an MP3 player would like the recorder to be very portable and lightweight, so they can use it conveniently outdoor. That is why I put this in the first place.
A nice versatile recorder that can be used as an MP3 player should not come in bulky size, allowing you to put the product in your pocket effortless. And it’s supposed to have a protective design so that your microphones will not be damaged by the bumps and shocks on the road.
Decent Recording Quality
Although we are talking about the MP3 player feature in this article, you still can not ignore the recording ability when buying your voice recorder.
Basically, good things don’t come cheap. For digital recorders nowadays, they are most likely to record sounds in MP3 format and Wav format. Expensive models usually will be equipped with high-end microphones with noise-cancellation and noise-balance technology, making the recording files truer to the real environment.
It Reads & Plays MP3 Files Rapidly
When you use your recorder as an MP3 player, you definitely don’t want it to be stuck or lagging when you change songs. So an excellent recorder with an MP3 player should recognize the MP3 files that you put in from your PC smoothly.
The headphone jack should not create any noise to your ear when playing songs, and some upscale models are even better as they are Bluetooth-compatible so that you can use Bluetooth earbuds to work with the recorder.
Top Voice Recorders with MP3 Player & Nice Recording in 2021
Sony ICD-UX570 Digital Voice Recorder & MP3 Player
The Sony ICD-UX570 is a portable voice recorder that you can use as a legit MP3 player, and it is a great choice for people who don’t want to bother with USB cables. And I personally think is the best overall option if you are looking for a versatile recorder with an MP3 player function.
You will get enhanced recording performance and a modern slim product body thanks to its Built-in stereo microphone design. And it provides a voice-enabled function to reduce useless blank and silence in your recording. The internal storage is 4GB and it supports extra SD cards so that you can extend your recording time or put more MP3 files in to the player.
The recorder comes with three recording options to make sure your recording is clear and balanced. Additionally, the voice recorder is very quick to charge. Sony claims that you can have a 1-hour recording time with a 3-minute charge.
Olympus WS-853 Voice Recorder with 8GB Storage
The Olympus WS-853 has the same powerful recording ability with two true Stereo microphones, a voice balancer, and great noise cancellation technology. Although it may not look as fancy as Sony’s latest recorders, it is actually very good-performance when it comes to recording and playing audio files.
As a highly recommended voice recorder in 2021, the recorder comes with a USB Direct connect as well, which makes batter charging effortlessly. Compared to the Sony ICD-UX570, the Olympus WS-853 comes with a large built-in memory, which is 8GB. And you can expand it with its SD card slot too.
When you use it as an MP3 player, the mini body design of this recorder can give you more flexibility and portableness, especially when you running with it on the road. The recorder comes with two AAA rechargeable batteries, and it is easy to charge them. All you need to do is to connect this recorder to your PC, and the batteries can last 110 hours when fully charged.
Aiworth 16GB Digital Voice Recorder & MP3 Player
Products from huge companies always cost you more, where can we find a bargain? If that is your concern too, this Aiworth voice recorder may be interesting for you. It costs less than 40 bucks, but the features that it has may surprise you.
The little recorder has a built-in 16GB flash memory and you can expand it with separately-purchased SD cards. In addition, this voice recorder has voice-activation features, which allows the recorder to start recording automatically. The recorder features dual microphones and supports up to 1536Kbps PCM recording, which sounds great too.
Just like other recorders, this Aiworth digital recorder offers adjustable playback speeds and it is easy to control with its big buttons. But there is one thing I don’t like, the built-in battery is 800mAh, and they say you can continuously record up to 45 hours. It is okay when you look at the figures. However, compared to other models, I believe they should upgrade the batteries to make the batteries last longer.
Olympus Linear PCM Recorder LS-P4
Searching for a more advanced recorder? Check out the Olympus LS-P4! The expensive Olympus LS-P4 recorder is the world’s 1st FLAC voice recorder, which can offer you lossless-compressed audio files with smaller file sizes.
The LS-P4 recorder is a professional product for seamless video sound recording with its Slate Tone/Test Tone feature that matches up levels and the TRESMIC three microphone system that provides high-res sound. The luxury recorder pairs with a digital camera easily, and it can capture sound precisely and clearly while filming.
The product takes one USB Rechargeable NI HM Battery and the battery life is 39 hours, it is not very long but acceptable since you only need one battery. It has 8 GB internal memory, and you can add a micro sd card also. The best thing about this recorder is that it is Bluetooth-compatible, so it can be used as an MP3 player that works perfectly with wireless earbuds and the Bluetooth feature helps you control the recorder very wirelessly.
Sony ICD-PX470 Stereo Digital Voice Recorder with MP3 Player
The Sony ICD-PX470 is a very affordable model from Sony and it is suitable for people who need an MP3 player and a great recorder both.
There is 4 GB of built-in memory in this product and you will get a free SanDisk Ultra 16GB SD card in this bundle. And the Sony ICD-PX470 can be expanded up to 32 GB of extra memory, which will extend the recording time to 536 hours. If you want to use this recorder as an MP3 player sometimes, having a large memory space allows you to store more tracks and songs.
Besides, Sony’s renowned auto voice recording feature can help you get clear voice recordings without annoying background noise. And I love the portable design of this Sony recorder, its built-in USB design makes transferring audio files much easier. But you need to know that this model uses regular AAA batteries as well, it is easy to replace the batteries but it can not but charged by your PC.
