Portable media player

A portable media player (PMP) or digital audio player (DAP) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. Normally they refer to small, battery-powered devices utilising flash memory or a hard disk for storing various media files. MP3 players has been a popular alternative name used for such devices, even if they also support other file formats and media types other than MP3 (for example AAC, FLAC, WMA).

Generally speaking, PMPs are equipped with a 3.5 mm headphone jack which can be used for headphones or to connect to a boombox, home audio system, or connect to car audio and home stereos wired or via a wireless connection such as Bluetooth, and some may include radio tuners, voice recording and other features. In contrast, analogue portable audio players play music from non-digital media that use analogue media, such as cassette tapes or vinyl records. As devices became more advanced, the PMP term was later introduced to describe players with additional capabilities such as video playback (they used to also be called "MP4 players"). The PMP term has also been used as an umbrella name to describe any portable device for multimedia, including physical formats (such as portable CD players) or handheld game consoles with such capabilities.

DAPs appeared in the late 1990s, following the creation of the MP3 codec in Germany. MP3-playing devices were mostly pioneered by South Korean startups, who by 2002 would control the majority of global sales. However the industry would eventually be defined by the popular Apple iPod. In 2006, 20% of Americans owned a PMP, a figure strongly driven by the young; more than half (54%) of American teens owned one, as did 30% of young adults aged 18 to 34. In 2007, 210 million PMPs were sold worldwide, worth US$19.5 billion. In 2008, video-enabled players would overtake audio-only players. Increasing sales of smartphones and tablet computers have led to a decline in sales of PMPs, leading to most manufacturers having exited the industry during the 2010s. Sony Walkman continues to be in production and portable DVD and BD players, which may be considered variations of PMPs, are still manufactured.

The term portable media player (PMP) generally refers to (but not limited to) playback of digital audio files rather than directly on tape or disc.

As of 2025^[update], PMPs tend to store such files on internal flash memory or removable flash memory cards, both of which are (along with USB flash drives) non-mechanical solid state devices. Due to technological advances in flash memory, these originally low-capacity storage devices are now available commercially, ranging up to high storage capacities. Because they are solid state and do not have moving parts, they require less battery power, will not skip during playback, and may be more resilient to hazards such as mechanical shock or fragmentation than hard disk drive-based players.

As recently as 2010, hard disk drive based players were common. At the time, these players had capacities ranging up to 500 GB. At typical encoding rates, this means that tens of thousands of songs can be stored on one player. The disadvantages with these units is that a hard drive consumes more power, is larger and heavier and is inherently more fragile than solid-state storage.

Portable CD players that can decode and play MP3 audio files stored on CDROMs (MP3 CDs) are also effectively MP3 players. When the first units of these were released, such players were typically a less expensive alternative than either the hard drive or flash-based players. The blank CD-R media they use is inexpensive. These devices have the feature of being able to play standard audio CDs. Since a CD can typically hold only around 700 megabytes of data, a large library will typically require multiple discs. However, some higher-end units are also capable of reading and playing back files stored on larger-capacity DVD; some also have the ability to play video content, such as movies.

Players that connect via (Wi-Fi) network to receive and play audio can also be considered PMPs. These units typically do not have significant local storage and must rely on a server, typically a personal computer also on the same network, to provide the audio files for playback. Smartphones can also be considered PMPs as they have most of the media functions of a typical PMP.