Ever since the iPod-shuffle resembling device smashed its $250,000 Kickstarter goal last year, workout-loving Spotify subscribers have been anticipating the release of Mighty Audio’s offline music player. On Wednesday, the company officially launches its playlist-saving device — originally slated to hit the market in November 2016 — allowing Spotify listeners to store more than 1,000 songs for playback during their off-the-grid hours.
The new device could prove useful for those who are tired of strapping a bulky cellphone to their arm during workouts or hikes, or manually adding and removing songs from their iPod shuffle via iTunes. Using the Might Audio player just requires a Spotify premium membership — the company is the first to partner with Spotify for the explicit purpose of offline listening.
“Mighty represents a new way to enjoy streaming music offline, and delivers an experience that our users have been asking for,” Ian Geller, Spotify’s Head of Global Hardware Partnerships, said in a statement. “We’re proud to partner with an innovative company like Mighty to deliver a new experience for our joint users.”
The Mighty music streamer comes in three colors, is water- and drop-resistant, features five hours of battery life, and is available for playback on both a built in 3.5 mm and Bluetooth connection for headphones or speakers. It is also easy on listeners’ data plan and cell phone storage space because it syncs and downloads all songs via Wi-Fi, and does not store tracks on both devices; songs that are paired with the Mighty Audio player only store on its own memory.
Connecting and storing music requires Bluetooth and Wi-Fi pairing within the company’s mobile app, which is available on both iOS and Android. Once the app is connected to your Spotify premium account, playlists can be synced, and as soon as songs are downloaded on the device, they are instantly available for offline listening.
We spent a brief amount of time checking out a Mighty Audio review unit in our office and found everything from syncing to playback to be extremely easy and intuitive via the app and physical interface on the device (which really does look just like an iPod shuffle). Syncing two 50-song playlists took us about five minutes and occupied nine percent of the devices’ storage, and the songs came through sounding just as good as they do via our cell phone’s 3.5 mm port. Bluetooth pairing to a JBL Flip 4 speaker was quick and painless, and playback was stable, even when moving around the room.
One small caveat that potential buyers should be aware of is that all playlists have to be public for the Mighty Audio device to be able to save them for offline playback. Representatives from the company say that they hope to make private and collaborative playlists available for storage soon.
The Mighty Audio device is currently available for sale on the company’s website for $86, which is about $40 more than an iPod Shuffle. Buyers who drop the dough now will have to wait until July 30 for it to ship.
In the meantime, if you are looking for content for your new device, be sure to check out our list of the best Spotify playlists.
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