Got this for Christmas a few days ago. Opened the box and was surprised at the physical size of the device. It's smaller than I expected. I really like the way you put music on this device. You just copy over your iTunes library by going to your music folder and copying the files to the device directly. It mounts like it's an external drive. To be clear- this device plays music files. it does not stream from Apple Music subscriptions. It doesn't stream from amazon, or tidal, or Spotify. It's a high end mp3 player essentially- back from the days where you had to purchase your songs from iTunes or rip them from a CD. This is easy to do, but to those people who only listen through streaming services, it will feel foreign.
The player is well built. Heavy in the hand for its size, so it feels quality. The screen is bright. The interface is spartan for sure. There is the odd spelling error (scaning rather than scanning, etc...). It's pretty self explanatory. The sound quality with wired headphones is great. I use Audio technica ath m50's and they sound incredible- especially with the gain set to "high". My apple AirPods pros sound good too- but if I put the player in my knee level pocket of my pants it can drop the connection. This doesn't happen if the player is my in jacket pocket. The AirPods also are quieter than expected. There is a "bluetooth volume" setting but pressing the + or - doesn't actually seem to do anything and the players interface isn't response to it's touch. The regular physical volume buttons work normally though so no big deal. This is how you would normally change the volume anyways.
I won't say that it's a bug free device. I won't say the interface is as refined as an iPod. It does sound great though. Like really great with the right headphones. I also love the fact that it plays pretty much every audio format. I've been ripping my old cd's in AIFF format (uncompressed lossless) and the music sounds as good as my old cd player did.
So to recap- it's a little unrefined when it comes to its interface. Bluetooth works. To get the best out of the player though you'll want wired headphones of decent quality. To get music onto this thing you're gonna have to purchase it online, rip it from a CD, or other by "other means"- but you won't be able to connect to any type of streaming service and hope to listen to music that way.
What you will get is a distraction free way to listen to music. No text notifications. No constantly skipping tracks. no checking your email. It's a purpose built device that does what it's supposed to. I'd buy it again if I lost it. I might consider the more expensive h20 touch with its dual dac chips and larger screen but I think the size of this device is great when it comes to portability. The older model "h2" with its scroll wheel seems to be more popular online and may be very easier to use in the winter with a gloved hand. This uses an older dac chip though, which is why I didn't purchase that model.
