In these modern days, technology has provided us with amazing options on how we can listen to our favorite audio books. Several years back, the introduction of portable CD players has enabled us to listen to our favorite music, anytime, anywhere.
With the invention of MP3 Players, iPods, and other players, the sales of portable CD players have reduced. For a moment, it seems that people forgot about their CD players. Still, a lot of people have drifted back to them, especially those who prefer to use them in order to listen to their favorite audio books.
A CD player plays audio CDs and is designed purely for audio playback. With the number of options that are currently present in the market these days, choosing the best one that will meet your needs can turn out to be challenging. To help you make a wise choice, read through this review, along with some recommendations of the options that you can consider.
Reviews for the Best Portable CD Player for Audio Books
1. Insignia NS-P4112 Portable CD Player – Best Overall Portable CD Player
Rating: 45
- This CD Player from Insignia offers up to 60 seconds worth of skip protection, making it perfect for listening to audio books on-the-go since your listening will not be interrupted by distraction, such as vibrations that are produced while running or walking.
- This player also features a behind-the-ear pair of headphones that offer a better and more comfortable fit regardless of any movements that you make.
- This CD player model is powered by 2-AA batteries, while the cover also comes with buttons and an LCD screen, which allows for better control over your audio book tracks, as well as other functions.
- This player offers support for CD, CD-RW, and CD-R discs, allowing for a wider collection of music and audio books while delivering amazingly clear sound quality. It does not come with built-in speakers, however, which means that it needs to be used with headphones or connected to a speaker.
2. Jensen CD-555 White/Silver CD Bluetooth Boombox Portable Bluetooth Music System – Perfect and Compact CD Player
Rating: 4.5
- The Jensen CD 555 CD player is a compact portable CD player. Among its features is its compatibility with Bluetooth and radio, producing high quality sound waves that can be enjoyed anytime and anywhere.
- This model runs on both AC current and batteries, making it quite useful and handy. It can be used while driving, and for playing your fave music CDs and audio books. As a bonus, it comes with a lightweight design with a sturdy handle.
- This device, with its portable design, features a top-loading design and is compatible with CD-R and CD-RW. It also allows for skipping or searching forward and back.
- This portable CD player supports all of the latest models of Bluetooth devices. It also features an FM stereo receiver, with a headphone jack, effectively picking up radio signals. The built-in speakers of this device are highly convenient since you no longer need to bring external speakers and cables with you everywhere.
- This CD player runs on 6 C batteries. The buttons and dials are easy to use. With this player, you can play high quality music or listen to your favorite audio books, and FM radio on the side, with all of the convenient and compatible in one.
3. Sony DEJ017CK Walkman Portable CD Player with Car Accessories – Versatile and Convenient
Rating: 4.5
- Sony is known as the company that introduced the Walkman brand to the world. With this player, you can expect a number of interesting features. For one, it comes with a Digital Mega Bass sound quality, meaning that you are up to an interesting listening experience.
- This player features 8 modes for playback, AM/FM radio that comes with 30 stations presets, and skip-free G protection technology. It also supports playback for both CD-R and CD-RW. It terms of ease of use; it is easy to set up, thanks to its digital volume control, along with other functions.
- The volume levels can be seen all the time from the LCD screen. It even comes with an automatic volume limiter setup, sustaining a stable output of volume when the levels are already lower than the distortion threshold.
- This portable CD player is also convenient to use, offering up to 16 hours of freedom from wires and cables, being run with two AA batteries. The batteries, however, are sold separately.
- Other items that are included in the package set includes headphones, as well as a car kit that allows you to enjoy your favorite audio books even inside the car.
4. Hamilton Electronics HACX-114 Personal CD Player with Headset – Best Budget Portable CD Player
Rating: 4.5
- The Hamilton Buhl HACX-114 portable CD player is a great choice for listening to music and audio books for those who are always on-the-go. Among its interesting features include 60-second skip protection as well as a digital volume control.
- It is compatible with both CD and CD-R disks, introducing you to a complete audio listening experience. Its 3.5mm headphone jack also allows for the earbuds included being used well. If you prefer different earbuds, you may do so for improved audio.
- This CD player features a small display for LCD, offering information regarding the current number of tracks, and making it quite easy to skip around and search for a favorite song. This is all thanks to its play and pause, skip, stop, and off features.
- This player is powered using 2-AA batteries, offering up to 2 hours of continuous listening on repeat. It can also be used with its included power supply, making it possible for longer playback.
5. GeekSpark Portable CD Player – Classy and Beautiful
Rating:
- Users agree that this portable CD player is both sleek and innovative in terms of design. It is lightweight, with a compact, handy design that is easy to carry along anywhere. It also delivers high quality sound, supporting several formats with its 5 sound effects, complimenting the listening experience.
- There are many features for you to enjoy. For example, it has to skip forward and back feature, key lock, and play and pause. The shiny and classic color, combined with its compact size, makes it trendy and simple to use.
- It also comes with an anti-shock feature and skip-free electronic protection that offers smooth sound delivery. It functions really well in conditions with mild ot moderate movements and turbulence, which usually happens during commutes or walking.
- It has less than 0.57 pounds in weight, making it very convenient to bring around without placing any burden on you as you hold it. In fact, its size is quite petite, fitting in your palm.
- This portable CD player is also compatible with MP3, CD WWA, CD, CD-R, and CD-RW files. It even has an AUX function that allows you to connect with other audio devices, provided that they have a 3.5mm audio input.
6. Gueray CD Discman – Best Rechargeable CD Player
Rating: 4.0
- This CD player from Gueray is no doubt being praised for being able to offer support for a wide variety of formats, including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, along with a wide range of sound effects available. This includes Classic, Rock, Jazz, Pop, and BBS.
- Appearance-wise, it struts a modern design, a number of easy-to-use functions, and a durable case. For example, you will find the 4 built-in play modes, including the Repeat All, Repeat a Track, Play in Random Order, and Play First 10s of a certain track.
- It also features a 3.5mm port, which allows you to connect your player to speakers, headphones, as well as the AUX function of vehicles. It even has an LCD screen that displays vital information while playing your audio book.
- It also comes with a rechargeable lithium battery with a large capacity of 1400 mAh, offering up to 12 hours of playtime. The player is also equipped with a Hold option that prevents other keys from being activated accidentally as you place the player inside your pocket.
- To charge the player, you can easily utilize the USB cable provided, making things a whole lot easier when listening on-the-go or commuting.
7. JoyGeek Personal CD Player – Travel Companion
Rating: 4.0
- This portable CD player from JoyGeek allows you to go back to the classic style of listening to your favorite music or audio books. It comes with both black and gold colors while offering the basic playback features.
- It is also portable and lightweight, weighing less than just 260g. Its 5.6-inch size makes it petite, and easily be placed in the palm of your hands, and inside your bag. This will allow you to listen to your audio books wherever you are.
- This CD player offers wide compatibility, especially with formats including MP3, WMA, CD, CD-R, CD-R, and CD-RW audio files. It also comes with support AUX connection, along with other audible devices, via its 3.5mm audio port.
8. WOHOME Portable CD Player – Easy to Use and Versatile
Rating: 4.0
- This CD player from Wohome is designed to offer support to a wide variety of formats, including CD, CD-R, CD-RW, and MP3. It also comes with anti-shock protection, with more than 120 seconds of anti-skip protection against potential interruption on sound output.
- It also comes with a 3.5mm jack port that allows other users to connect their headphones for better privacy while allowing you to connect to the AUX function of a vehicle. The port also allows you to connect the player to other equipment such as speakers, phones, tablets, and others.
- The Bluetooth connectivity of this portable CD player also allows you to connect it to Bluetooth speakers and soundbars. This is perfect if you want to let others share the content that you are listening to. It does not have a built-in speaker, which is why a different output is needed.
9. HOTT CD711 Portable CD Player – Audio Books on the Go
Rating: 4.0
- This portable CD player is very convenient to use, thanks to its built-in lithium rechargeable battery that offers a large capacity of up to 10 hours of playtime. This means that there is no need for you to carry around AA batteries, or even the charger wherever you go.
- This player is also ideal for listening to audio books, music, as well as other bits of resources. Since it is also compatible with MP3, CD, CD-R, CD-RW, CD-DA, and CD-WMA formats, it can play a wide variety of sources and files.
- Sound can also be delivered using a 3.5mm audio cable, which may be used in connecting the speakers of your vehicle or other speakers at home. One thing to note is that it does not have built-in speakers, which is why you need to use a speaker or headphones to listen to your favorite audio books.
- You can also use its anti-shock and anti-skip features. In the case of vibrations, your CD is kept safe inside the player.
10. SOULCKER Portable CD Player – Immersive Listening Experience
Rating: 4.0
- This portable CD player from Soulcker supports a variety of formats, and can also be used in your vehicle, via the AUX port. It can also be used at home if it is connected with speakers or a pair of headphones.
- This player also features a slim and compact design, with several controls and an integrated LCD screen that allows for easy control, including an increase or decrease of volume, electronic skip protection, track control, and others. Overall, it has five sound effects, as well as four playback modes.
- To ensure that this model is as portable as possible, it even comes with anti-skip shockproof protection of up to 45 seconds. This is not recommended, however, for use while running, because of the possibility of the player being destabilized.
- All in all, this player is ideal for individuals who are interested in listening to their favorite music and audio books while experiencing real sound quality offered by CDs.
Buyer’s Guide – How to Choose the Best Portable CD Player
The audio book CDS that you had several years back may have a special attachment to you. They do not have to be tossed away just because a new player has entered. With these portable CD players for audio books, you can still listen to your beloved audio books. Take note of the following factors in order to get the best option out there:
Build and Quality
The best options out there usually have amazing build quality. In fact, this is one of the most important factors that need to be taken into consideration. A good portable CD player uses rigid transports that can hold and spin discs, thus preventing vibrations and ensuring a distortion-free listening.
Good models also feature reinforced chassis with great support bases. Some CD players even come with enough toroidal power supplies that supply a lot of clean currents, making it possible to listen to high-quality sound.
Bluetooth Technology
Portable CD players that come with Bluetooth Technology are not your traditional players. This is because they use Bluetooth technology, which connects to a soundbar, speaker, earbuds, and even phones.
They can also serve as both a wireless Bluetooth speaker, as well as a Bluetooth transmitter to a Bluetooth speaker. This will enable you to pair the CD Portable player, not just to your mobile device, but also to the audio system of your car.
Built-in Speakers
Aside from being able to be connected to a separate sound output, portable CD players that come with built-in speakers allow easy listening to your favorite tracks even without using earphones.
These portable CD players also come with remote control, even functioning as Bluetooth speakers that can connect to your other devices. On top of that, they also come with a headphone jack, which means that you can still listen to your favorite audio book in private. Models that come with these features are generally more expensive than the more conventional ones.
Other Features
There may be other features that you would want to see in your portable CD player, enhancing the overall listening experience even further. Those that do provide you with the option to use either batteries or adapter to power the player.
Some features allow you to listen to some good bass, thus boosting for a more robust and richer bass sound, with anti-skip protection that will allow you to enjoy your favorite audio book in an uninterrupted experience.
Conclusion
If you’re feeling a bit more comfortable going old school with the use of portable CD players for your audio books, having one for yourself makes sense. As you can observe, there are a lot of product options that are currently available out there on the market. Some of them offer high quality options at very affordable prices.
