Between the late 90’s and early 2000’s, almost everyone had best portable CD player, portable cassette player. It is kind of strange to see one nowadays when we have mobile phone, bluetooth speaker …, but owning and using one of these guys is more common than most people think.
Whether it is for listening to audiobooks or those original CDs you are so proud to have, a portable CD player can can offer a higher sound quality than most MP3/4 nano players (and even better, they have a longer battery life!).
In this article, we will take you through the benefits of owning a portable CD player, and we will tell you how to know if you are facing a really good device. Then, we will run down 10 best portable CD player available on the market.
Top 10 Best Portable CD Player Reviews
1. Insignia Portable CD player – Best Cheap Portable CD Player
The Insignia portable CD player is a user-friendly, affordable device with some great features. If you’re looking for something that will get the job done without hurting your wallet, then this might be the one for you.
This device comes with a nice skip-protection system but lacks an active memory when turned off, which isn’t good for audiobooks and concert records, and also has a short lifespan which weighs against its low price.
While the Insignia cannot play MP3 discs, it is able to play CD-R and CD-R discs, so you’ll be able to burn your library of songs from your computer to writeable CDs and play them from there on this player. The Insignia also has great sound quality, like many portable CD players, and it does it at a low price.
- Designed to be on the move, comes with a system with up to 60 seconds of skip protection.
- Can reproduce audios from any CD, CD-R and CD-RW disc format.
- Includes an electric adapter to save on batteries when there is an outlet available.
- You can pair its speaker with your smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth.
- New comes with a standard one-year warranty.
- Includes a pair of back-of-the-head headphones.
- Excellent sound quality
- Extremely low price.
- No memory lane, if you turn off the player the CD will start from the beginning.
- Quality may diminish in a short period of time.
2. Portable CD Player Wall Mountable – Best Sounding Portable CD Player
If you are looking for a multi-purpose CD player with several tops of the line features and high-quality performance, there are few products better than the portable CD Player from HANPURE. The player features a unique and innovative design and comes with a compact stand, nails, fixing screws and a wall-mount plate to place the player where ever you prefer or on the wall to save space.
The HANPURECD player is indeed multi-functional as it does not only work as a CD and FM radio player, but also as a USB Flash Driver player, Mini Home Boombox, and Hi-Fi Bluetooth Speaker.
It has a wide range of CD compatibility and can play various kinds of CD format like CD, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA, and MP3. The player comes with a full band FM radio, 3.5mm Aux input/output audio port for speaker/headphone connection, and built-in Bluetooth 3.0 which makes it perfect for both indoor and outdoor use.
The player supports remote control and cable-pulling switch feature that makes it extremely convenient to use, and also come with USB 2.0 interface to use the player as a U-disk or charge your mobile phone. Apart from the great sounds you stand to enjoy while using the player, you’ll enjoy 24 hours friendly customer service and 18-month warranty.
- Wide CD format compatibility
- FM radio support
- Built-in Bluetooth 3.0 (for use as a Bluetooth speaker)
- Can be used as a wired speaker
- Creative design with remote control support
- Reasonably priced
- Nice warranty and customer support
- A bit large and bulky
- No LCD interface
3. Sony D-NE319 – Best Sony Portable CD Player
The Sony D-NE319 is a musically-oriented, long-living sound machine. It has the longest battery life on this list at a staggering 41 hours on just one AA battery and it has the ability to suit nearly any musical style.
The sound quality of this piece is exceptional, even through the included headphones (which are good enough for most applications). In order to take advantage of both the sound quality and the focused listening possibilities, this unit comes with access to Sony’s music store and also to their native CD burning software, which is capable of burning CDs in that ATRAC3+ format, allowing for up to 500 songs to be put on one disc.
With great feature, Sony D-NE319 desire to be voted in best portable cd player 2016 list until now.
- Skip-Free G-Protection to prevent your music from crashing.
- Can reproduce almost 500 songs from a CD-R/RW ATRAC3plus format disc.
- Long battery life, up to 41 hours with an AA battery
- Is compatible with Sony’s Music store.
- Digital Mega Bass processor guarantees smooth and deep bass tones.
- Includes 18 play modes to fit your music’s styles.
- Excellent sound quality regardless of the end system.
- Includes the software “SonicStage CD-burning”.
- Comes with a set of MDR-027LP Stereo Headphones.
- No electric adapter included
4. Sony DEJ011 – Best Rated Portable CD Player
The Sony DEJ011 Portable CD player lives up to its name. The CD player has an attractive full circle design with a solid build and comes with several tops of the line features. It has an outstanding performance and uses digital audio processing technology to produce high-quality sounds with clear highs and a deep, rich bass tones with a very low harmonic distortion.
It is compatible with CD-R and CD-RW discs; this allows you to create and play custom mixes from your personal music collection.
The player comes with Skip-Free G-protection to provide quick recovery from both vertical and horizontal shock. It also includes Bookmark Playback Function that allows you to program your favorite songs or tracks from multiple CDs with ease so you can simply play them with the push of a button. With this feature, it is easy for you to customize your playlist with your favorite songs.
There’s also a hold slide switch at the base of the player that helps to control accidental operation, and a digital LCD to display your track details and battery level. It is powered by 2AA battery, has excellent battery life and also compatible with AC power adaptor so you can use it both indoors and outdoors.
- Rich sound with powerful bass
- Skip-Free G-protection to protect against shock
- Comes with a pair of high-quality earbuds
- Customizable playbacks
- No FM radio support
- Does not come with AC adaptor
5. Wrcibo Slim Personal CD Player – Best Buy Portable CD Player
If you are looking for the best quality portable CD player with great sounds, impressive design and won’t break your wallet, then this Wrcibo slim offering might be all you need. From its cool design, and superb features to it high-quality performance, the Wrcibo portable CD player certainly gives other high-end CD players a run for their money.
The player features a sleek and compact palm size design that greatly enhances its portability. It adopts electric skip protection and anti-shock features. With this, you can simply carry it in your hand while you walk or in your bag while cycling to listen to your favorite songs on the go without any interruption.
It has a wide CD compatibility feature that allows it to play all kinds of CD records like CDs, CDRs, CDRWs, MP3, and WMA with no hassle. At that, you can create or burn your CD mix and play it anytime and anywhere you like. The player comes with a crystal clear LCD to show you the exact track number you’re on and ear protection design that to protect your ear from sudden exposure to high music volume.
Another enticing feature is the inclusion of the stereo earbuds that produces clear and impressive sounds. The player is also suitability for both indoor and outdoor use since it can be used with an adapter or 2 AA batteries. There is a HOLD button on the back to lock the player’s buttons and prevent accidental pressing and functions of the keys while playing your music.
- Sleek and attractive design
- Suitable for indoor and outdoor use
- Ear protection design
- Comes with a pair of stereo earbuds
- Comes with AC adapter
- No rechargeable battery included
- No FM radio support
6. Panasonic SL-CT700 – Best Small Portable Cd Player
This is another great piece by Panasonic, which is perhaps the leader in portable CD player production. The SL-CT700 is a top of the line offering from a great company that is sure to excite your ears and have you listening for hours on end.
Are you going on a long trip? Then maybe you want to save the batteries on your phone and get the long-lasting playback of this ultra thin CD player. If you’re looking for a top of the line, fully packed CD player, then this one may be for you.
This CD player is extremely thin — .66 inches to be exact. This makes it easy to travel with and comfortable to hold. It supports MP3 playback, which means that you won’t have to convert and burn all of your music files before making a mix CD. It comes with 45 seconds of skip protection on CDs and 100 seconds of backup protection on MP3s, so you don’t have to worry about that bump in the road or the turbulent plane ride interrupting your music.
One of the best things about this player is its battery life. It comes with 2 rechargeable batteries, to which you add your own 2 AA batteries. Together, they give you a total of 80 hours of battery life, which is nothing short of astounding in an era in which the smart phone you are holding (which is your everyday MP3 player) will die in a fraction of that time (leaving you both without music and without a phone to use).
- Very slim
- 80 hours of battery life
- Plays MP3s
- Slightly pricey
7. HOTT CD – Best Portable CD Player 2017
HOTT may not be a big name in the CD player production game — not at least as big as Panasonic, which everyone knows and has been around for decades making all sorts of technology — but this offering by them is nothing to ignore. It is a great, affordable, quality piece of music playing equipment that is sure to have you listening to all of your favorite music wherever you want.
The HOTT portable compact CD player supports a variety of formats. It can play CDs, CDRs, and CDRWs, and it supports MP3s and WMAs. This is a great feature in the modern age, when few of us in fact walk into a music store and buy a CD.
More often, we are burning our own CDs as collections of songs that we already have in MP3 formats. Having a portable player that supports playing those discs back saves us the time of having to convert files, and it means that we can fit more songs on a single disc.
- Plays MP3s and WMAs
- Great price
- Some reviewers think it is a cheap device
8. Sony DF20 – Best Portable CD Player for Audiobooks
The Sony DF20 is a rather standard issue Sony CD player. That means that it is solid, it is worthy of being included on our list, but it is not exceptional. It does, however, provide the cost-conscious among us with a great place to look.
While nothing about this piece is particularly noteworthy, all of it is solid. It is heat-resistant, gets up to 20 hours on a single set of AA batteries, has 48 seconds of anti-skip buffering, and has a high-quality digital sound system that gives you great sound quality. It even comes with headphones.
The best thing about this CD player is its sound system. It has both a bass boost and 4 different musical modes to choose from, allowing some measure of EQ control (which is one of the things a lot of people love about CD players).
- Includes standard stereo headphones
- Heat resistant case.
- Up to 20 hours active life with AA alkaline batteries.
- Up to 48 seconds of anti-skip ESPMAX protection buffer.
- Mega-Bass sound for a deeper quality.
- Can reproduce your music in 4 different modes.
- Has AM/FM tuner, integrated with 30 preset channel.
- Clear high-quality digital sound system.
- Requires non-included A/C cord to run without batteries.
- Hard to find a new one.
9. Panasonic SL-SX320 – Best Portable CD Player with Speakers
Again, we have a Panasonic piece. This one is equally as good, although perhaps not as packed full of features, as the previous one reviewed. It does, however, come at a great price, and it is far from an economy model, featuring all of the things that you need from a great CD player.
This player is thin, as is becoming more and more common, and it is almost perfectly round, as is the custom among higher end portable CD players. It is in fact quite an attractive unit. Underneath its attractive exterior lies a great set of features — in every way this is an impressive offering.
This Panasonic player plays, like most portable CD players, CDs, CDRs, and CDRWs, making it easy to play the mix CDs you have assembled. It includes a hold button, which makes sure that you don’t accidentally change songs or activate any other features while you’re listening, and a resume button, which allows you to pick up right where you left off.
- Inexpensive
- High quality audio
- Plays CDR and CDRW CDs
- Not as full of features as other devices
10. Sony D-NF340 – Best Portable Radio CD Player
Continuous, we have a CD player made by perhaps the only company that can compete with Sony for the title of most renowned producer of portable players. Sony has been around for a generation, and they have their hands in just about every technological niche that exists.
They were the originators of the Walkman — both in cassette and CD forms — and their name has become synonymous with quality. Their products are not cheap, but neither are they prohibitively expensive. If you want top of the line, then this may be it.
This player has all of the usual bells and whistles — support for CDR, CDRW, and MP3 discs, a built in FM tuner with 40 presets, an LCD display that displays ID3 tags, digital meta bass technology (which is better than almost any other brand’s) and an intuitive control button.
With FM feature this model is best portable cd player for car in this list.
- Very high quality sound
- Great EQ
- Good skip protection
- More expensive than some devices
But beyond that, there is the overall quality of the thing. Sony CD players are known for both high quality sound and a long life — this won’t fall apart on you anytime soon, as many owners of decades-old Walkmans can attest to.
If you want top of the line, Sony is the place to start.
What Are The Pros of Using The Portable CD Player?
Next to newer technologies, a portable CD player might look like a big thing to carry around, but they do have a series of features that make them a better choice depending on your situation.
- High-quality digital sound: The most common extra feature of the portable CD players is that they use digital systems to ensure the quality of the sound’s output like the one used in your main CD player at home.
- Long-lasting battery life: Portable CD players usually come with an active battery life of about 10-30 hours. If you are taking a long trip, your disc player will probably be running far after your phone has died.
- Bass improving systems: There are many bass-improving systems available for portable CD players to ensure your music’s bass sounds deep and smooth.
- Rough environment oriented: Some of these players are meant to be used for people on the move, so they come in water and heat resistant casings and almost all of them include a memory buffer to avoid the old CD skips from happening while shaking.
How To Recognize a Good Portable CD Player
Just like when you buy any other device, not all portable CD players are the same. So when you are searching for the player that more fits your expectations, we recommend you to consider these features:
- Battery length: As we said before, a portable CD player usually enjoys a long battery life. Try to get something with more than 20 hours battery life using 2 AA alkaline batteries, which would be above average.
- Anti-skip system: Most of the portable players out there come with a skip-protection system, but make sure yours has one (and preferably above the 40 seconds of standard buffer).
- Formatting: This will be important to most of you in 2017. You want your player to support anything from conventional CD to CD-R, CD-RW, and MP3 to make sure you have a lot of music without swapping discs so often.
- Energy: You could want to use your CD player in a place where you do have access to energy, so being compatible and including an A/C cord or adapter is a nice feature to look for.
- Styles: Some CD players come with various playing modes that move with the processing and bass systems to get a better output according to your music.
- Additional features: Having some additional options like AM/FM radio, the possibility of setting a playlist or just a good turn-off memory so your audio starts where you left it are important to be considered.
FAQ Troubleshoot for Portable CD Players
1. CD players can’t read certain CDs or read error
This problem arises if the CD is cracked or dirty, not compatible with the CD format or dirty play head. Most of the time, this issue can be corrected by cleaning the head using the right CD head cleaner or carefully with the use of a piece of cotton.
Also, you need to try other CDs and check that you are playing a clean CD with the supported CD format without applying pressure. If the issue persists, after all, has been tried, the unit may need to be disassembled for easy repair. If you are having this issue, kindly refer the unit to a qualify repairer man.
For more detail about clean CD player, you can check our tutorial at here: how to clean a cd player
2. What should I do when my cd players are not powering on?
If your CD players are not powering on, the power it is receiving may be fluctuating or not powered at all. You have to check the battery compartment and make sure they are properly placed. If you are using an adaptor, try using a different power socket and check if the unit is working.
3. What should I do when the player doesn’t produce sound?
This issue occurs when the player on mute, if your earbuds are malfunctioning, plugged into the wrong port or if they had special earbud controllers on their cable. If your device comes with a remote, press the “Mute” button to un-mute the player, increase the volume and check if the issue has been corrected.
You also need to try your earbuds on another audio source to know if the problem is with the CD player or earbuds. If your earbud has special controllers on its cable, adjust the controller and make it ready for listening.
4. The CD player does not respond to remote control
Most portable CD players do not come with a remote control feature and are therefore exempt from this issue. If your CD player comes with a remote control feature, and you have issues using the remote control, then you need to make sure there’s no object obstructing the player’s line of sight for the Infra-Red signal.
Check and replace the remote’s battery as needed. You can also test the remote by viewing it’s LED using your mobile phones digital camera while pressing the buttons on the remote.
5. USB function is not working (optional)
If your CD player comes with USB functions but fails to work, you have to start troubleshooting by make sure you insert the USB fully into the device. Make sure your Flash disk or USB device contains the music files formats that are supported by your CD player.
6. What should I do when my portable cd player doesn’t spin?
This is long answer because there is many cause of this problem. It’s the reason why we created a guide for troubleshooting this issue at here: how to fix a portable cd player that won’t spin. Read our guideline and follow to find to root cause.
What is The Best Portable Cd Player ?
To finish with our list, the best portable CD player we recommend all-around is the Sony D-NE319, mainly taking count of its many features and the fact that it is musically oriented, it also has the longest battery life out there, making it the best choice and by far worth the price.
If you are looking more for a CD player to keep with you while training, the Sony DF20 can get to be a better option due to its remote control and lock-on system tough.
A portable CD player is a perfect way to listen to your music while getting that retro air in your look. They will always survive your workout hours and offer a higher-quality sound output.
Let us know your opinion in the comment section below, we hope this information was useful to you and that you enjoy the music!