rockbox mp3 player with bluetooth

[giselegadot3]

I need a MP3 player for doing workouts, it should definitely be able to connect to Bluetooth headphones and it would be ideal if it has a colored screen and it should either clip to a fitness shirt or is small enough to fit in a pocket.

SDXC support would be ideal, so that it could technically access 256+ GB microSDXC cards.

And of course: Rockbox is a must... and I would either train without music if there's no player supporting rockbox.

[dz33]

If you're able to find a Rockbox compatible player you can add bluetooth capability. This is what I assembled:
Sansa Clip Zip with Rockbox v3.13, MPOW BH283A bluetooth receiver/transmitter, Taotronics TT-BH16 bluetooth earphones, optional PortaPow 3400mAh battery pack. Works well.
I'm not sure the max card size for Zips.

Edit> I was way out with my earlier recollection of battery life. Tested the batteries today from fully charged and at moderate music volume to empty: bluetooth earphones 6hrs (including final 1hr with 'battery low' audio warning every 5mins), MPOW 8hrs 27mins, Clip Zip 11hrs 3mins. External battery pack not used. The Zip is over 10 years old - not too bad.

[0liviero]

I bought the simplest solution to add bluetooth to my rockbox player:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005047848628.html :
2 in 1 Wireless Bluetooth Adapter Bluetooth Receiver Transmitter Wireless 3.5mm AUX Adapter Stereo for Earphones TV Car Audio
Euro 5.66 (sales/import tax included; shipped)
works great; pairs well with powerbeats pro.
one charge lasts a few hours. for longer play, if additional weight of a battery is acceptable, the bluetooth adapter can be externally powered via its usb-c plug.

[vitt13]

The is another way but it cannot be used natively with Rockbox yet.
There are some relatively cheap USB Bluetooth audio transmitters based on Qualcomm QCC3040, like HaiSenKeji/Vaorlo/etc. KB8/KB8P/KB9/KB9P.
KB9P also has analog 3.5mm input audio and with external power can be used as 'classic' Bluetooth audio transmitter.
HaiSenKeji Bluetooth audio transmitter works as USB audio class 1.0 device and needs OTG support (to get power) so it does not need Bluetooth stack in Rockbox at all. For all interaction (pairing, switching codec) with endpoint Bluetooth device it uses a single touch "button".
I cannot test KB9P with FiiO M3K since my M3K does not provide power to external USB devices.
But it works with my HiBy R3Pro (Ingenic X1000E platform with HiBy OS) as external USB audio device in HiBy (Ingenic's embedded Linux) OS.

[0liviero]

HiBy-R3Pro Saber 2022 has bluetooth but is 236 euro + 36 euro for shipping to France; no other shipping option available. (guess due to package recycling law issues this player is not available for shipping to some other major EU-countries)

[vitt13]

HiBy-R3Pro Saber 2022 has bluetooth

Yes, I meant it was proof-of-concept how to add Bluetooth to Rockbox compatible players with less future programming efforts. HiBy R3Pro is not one of them but has capable platform (Ingenic X1000E).

[gomezz]

I bought the simplest solution to add bluetooth to my rockbox player:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005047848628.html :
2 in 1 Wireless Bluetooth Adapter Bluetooth Receiver Transmitter Wireless 3.5mm AUX Adapter Stereo for Earphones TV Car Audio
Euro 5.66 (sales/import tax included; shipped)
works great; pairs well with powerbeats pro.
one charge lasts a few hours. for longer play, if additional weight of a battery is acceptable, the bluetooth adapter can be externally powered via its usb-c plug.

But can you Play/Pause using the controls on that device?  For me that would have to be the absolute minimum functionality.  I use similar devices but in receiver mode so I can play streams from my phone to wired earbuds usually for listening to sports commentaries through one earbud while working and needing to talk to others.