I would really like a music player that is very detached from my phone that has all of these nice features, has a crazy good battery life, and is reasonably modern in function. I feel like the only way to get that nowadays at a reasonable price is to make one, and universally the iPod deck is considered the best value for what you get, especially at used prices.
You be pleasantly surprised to learn that standalone music players are still a common thing in 2023.
https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/home-entertainment/bes...
I’ve modded a few, but at some point it becomes a different beast altogether.
unfortunately i think i fail at building this together. but if i find a good ipod with decent battery life i might consider building this.
my last ipod had very bad battery. you never know when buying used
Take a look on YouTube, most tasks like this just require a bit of pre-prep, time and a slow steady hand.