MP3 players with variable playback speed

Jasmine France, Senior Associate Editor July 10, 2009

As its title may suggest, an MP3 player's primary duty is playing MP3s, which are more often than not music files. But audiobooks, podcasts, and other spoken-word content enjoy plenty of face time on portable audio devices, and why not? They offer an informative and entertaining way to pass the time. But for those of us who prefer our information and entertainment in condensed form, time is of the essence. Spoken-word content is one type of audio that (generally) doesn't sound completely absurd when sped up, and doing so gives the listener a way to get through said files with due haste.

Luckily, there are a handful of MP3 players on the market that offer a feature known as variable playback speed, which allows you to speed up (or slow down) audio on-the-fly--no clunky software conversions required. Of course, not all devices implement this feature in the same manner. For example, the iPod Nano only lets you choose between faster, normal, and slower speeds for audiobooks alone, not podcasts. The iPod Touch offers these same settings, but those with the latest firmware (currently 3.0) can apply them to podcasts as well. On the other hand, the Samsung players offer various levels of speed and will let you apply them to any audio file, music included.

More Resources

Best MP3 players for audiobooks,

Best MP3 players for podcasts,

Editors' top MP3 players,

Editors' top headphones