Garmin Fenix 5x plus - battery life is more than adequate.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Problem is that Garmin only offers Spotify and Amazon music as the sources. I have a 200GB collection of mp3/flac files - and I'd prefer to be able to load it since a lot of what I like to listen is not even on Spotify.

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Next races on the schedule: none at the moment

Haven't got a Garmin Music myself, but this looks interesting: https://support.garmin.com/...DlVH09XB1169yYD5FIWA

You can upload 16GB on the Fenix 5x and 32GB on the Fenix 6 pro.

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Yeah I just realized that based on the other posts.
How's the battery life with both GPS and music over the bluetooth? On vivoactive I get maybe 3.5 hours per charge.

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My Ipod Nano is still (knock on wood) going strong, but after dropping it a couple of weeks ago the power button sometimes sticks. This is the MP3 I will probably get to replace it when that sad day comes: Sandisk Clip Sport

I run with my Fenix 4x a week and stream music to my bluetooth buds every time. I generally have a 2 hour long run, a 45 min shorter run, and two hour-long runs... So 5 hours? I also use the watch for all my swimming and I charge it every 8 or so days. Just about once a week.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

I listen to the sounds of nature.

Very lightweight and no battery issues.

The Mighty Vibe might be what you are looking for. I got one, but still use my Shuffle, so I can't tell you much today.

Yeah I got one but it is annoying to be limited to just spotify.

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Yes, I did NOT realize that. Disappointing. But I did see that Amazon Prime and Amazon Music Unlimited are now supported. I like to listen to Audible audiobooks and I don't see that it is supported either.

I thought mp3 was dead.

Same boat.

I generally use the Mighty Vibe. It's limited to Spotify or Amazon music, so there's no way to use your own personal MP3s. I have a few playlists set up and the Vibe syncs every night. The hardware is decent (but very slow, ~30s to power on fully), but the iOS app is clunky at best.

Since I also have a large collection of MP3s (including over 50 structured workouts), I also use one of the generic, Asian clones from Amazon. This one in particular, though there are others on the site. Quality is about what you'd expect for the price, but it's actually been pretty decent. Not waterproof or even sweat proof, but you can stick it in a small ziplock bag if you have pockets. Having a screen is pretty helpful when selecting a specific workout.

The answer here is always SanDisk Sansa Clip of some sort. If you need BT, then the Clip Sport Plus. I don't have one (I use other Sansa Clips that are wired, not BT). The Sport Plus is 16 Gb and is reported to have BT connectivity issues. The red one has been on clearance at Best Buy with availability on and off, but pretty inexpensive ($35?).

+1 for SanDisk Sansa Clip Zip. I have one and its worked well for years.

It has no bluetooth which is a deal breaker for me.

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The Delphin from Underwater Audio will do everything you're looking for, plus you can also use it for swimming:

https://www.underwateraudio.com/...reaming-media-player

Why not get another Shuffle? They are still available on ebay and/or Amazon. The water proof versions are available also. EDIT: never mind I just saw you must have bluetooth.

This looks pretty amazing!

Is the sound any good? Do you control with an app? Their manual is very bare bones, can't find much info.

https://fccid.io/2ANUWDLPN-01/User-Manual/User-Manual-3602555

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I only use it for swimming with their Swimbuds Hydroactive headphones. The sound quality is very good for that. With better headphones I'm sure it would sound even better. I had previously tried the Finis Duo, and these are FAR superior, sound quality-wise, than those. It's a touchscreen display, so that's the primary way of controlling it. For those whose eyes are not what they used to be when they were in their 20's, you'll probably need your glasses on to work some of the smaller elements on the screen. It's actually a full-function tablet device, and they ship it with a wireless keyboard, so a lot of the setup where you need to be entering passwords for apps and whatnot is much easier with the keyboard. I primarily use Pandora for music while swimming. I'll download the stations I want to listen to while swimming so they're stored locally, then I can put the device in airplane mode to save battery and it plays the stored stations. A couple of times I've forgotten to put it in airplane mode, and the wifi actually worked OK, since it's clipped to the goggle strap on the back of my head so not completely submerged.

Thank you! Ordering on amazon.

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Perhaps an entry level smart phone could work instead. Something like a Motorola G7 can be had for sub $100 on deals as they pop up every now and then. Pop in your sim card for mobile data and you're good to go to stream away (or just load music to the onboard memory). It's not one of those gigantic screen phones and can be easily worn on an phone armband or running belt pouch. It is bigger than a dedicated MP3 until though.

I personally won't go on any outdoor runs without a phone if I'm solo. After one incident where I sprained my ankle badly on a running trails (no cars) with minimal people due to time of day and had to hobble extremely gingerly over a mile to get home has taught me that lesson.

Apple Watch meets all your requirements (assuming "would be nice" for item 6 means it's not technically a requirement).

Question. Do you have to wear Fenix on the same side as the "head" unit of your bluetooth headphones?
Ie. with Vivoactive and Plantronics Backbeat I have to wear the watch on the right arm - else it keeps momentarily losing connection to bluetooth every now and then. My body is too watery.

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